Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Former Apple TV Engineer Claims New Apple TV Interface Discarded 5 Years Ago [Updatedx2]

I don't mind the UI redesign. I like the colorful icons, since they're easier to see at a distance than the text... but if I'm not wearing my glasses I can't see the skinny little blue highlight around the currently selected icon, so I have no idea if I have the right thing selected. It's a bit of a blow for accessibility. The glowy blue blob of a highlight over the text interface is far more distinguishable than that little blue outline :(
 
TheUndertow said:
I think they're GREAT in action, specifically using AirPlay with an iPad.

I haven't updated my UI on the old yet but while it's nothing exemplary, it fits the styling language which is the "outpouring" over this change.

The "new" UI is basically like what most other vendors have been doing and apparently Apple could have come out with a while ago.

I'm about the replace/upgrade mine for the 1080p and will post some feedback.
Click to expand...

I was talking about the Samsung Smart TV's. I love Apple TV. It's literally about all I use. I use the cable box for live sports because I can't by MLB and NHL packages that aren't blacked out due to local restrictions. But when I turn on any TV, the first thing I see is an Apple logo in the center of the screen (they're all set up to turn on when TV turns on).

Make no mistake, I was simply saying that Samsung Smart TV's are a joke, as is just about every so-called smart TV I've seen. The best one, the LG's, are still decidedly lacking in the user-friendly interface department.
 
iBug2 said:
Consumers don't know the first thing about good design. They will accept whatever you give them.
Click to expand...

If your product has little competition, yes. That's not the case for the Apple TV. Unlike a lot of Apple's products, they aren't ahead of the competition in IPTV. Roku has a VERY strong product lineup that tends to be rated higher than Apple TV, at just a little over half the price.

Your argument holds water if you're talking Mac vs Windows (at least it used to), but not in this scenario.
 
mabaker said:
What is so bad about it? The fact that it uses the screen estate? Or that the icons are actually colorful?
Click to expand...

I just hate that only the top row shows a preview at the top of the screen. And that it looks kind of... cheap and step more towards a roku look than an apple look.
 
It just doesn't look good or new. It's a beautiful little black box and the interface doesn't look like what's inside of it. I do not like the preview at the top. It used to make sense with the previous interface. Now it's unnecessary. It looks like an ad banner that takes half the screen. It's also pushing the buttons off the screen which looks bad. I also don't get the bright colors or the crazy shadows and highlights. It's messy. It should be toned down. They need to get rid of the giant rectangles or at least decrease the radius of the corners.

I just have so much to say about it and I'm glad there's a conversation about this.
 
Burro99 said:
Sounds like you've got a few more years before they should be learning how to watch television.
Click to expand...

I'll take that as tongue in cheek shall I? My children are fine, thank you very much :D

Funny, but we don't have a TV service other than free view, and Netflix offers nickelodeon. Now, if only we had Lovefilm on it?
 
echo44 said:
Been using apple products since 1981

this is the first time i Have seen an Apple interface and thought it
was horrible. It is just uninviting and ugly?
Click to expand...

so what did you call the Calendar app, w/ its "corinthian leather" skeuomorphism? or the new Contacts app? both ugly, inefficient, and Jobs-approved.
 
Sol said:
Seriously, from the screen-shots of the new interface it looks like a good refresh. All those large graphics and different colours make it seem fun, which is the whole point of a media streamer. The original Apple TV interface that Jobs went with was functional but a little too dry, or dry by Apple standards.
Click to expand...

The new UI looks OK, it just doesn't function as well as the previous version. As soon as a user has more than a few TV shows they become hopelessly buried in lists that are arranged strangely. Finding a particular episode from a particular season used to take seconds. It now takes minutes of sifting through seasons that are organized by the date you added them to your iTunes library. It's oversights like this that make the UI so bad, not the color scheme of the main screen. A color scheme that, by the way, isn't even carried through the rest of the UI.

I've had apple TV's since version 1.0. Each revision to the hardware has brought huge improvements. Many revision to the software have brought a mixed bag of cool new features as well as oversights/bugs that compromise basic functionality.
 
bretm said:
Well, they removed the ability to turn it off. Used to be you just held down the center button a few seconds and it turned off. Now, nothing.
Click to expand...

didnt notic that, but that doesnt really have anything to do with the UI. Hopefully thats just a bug though.
 
The New UI is great but doesn't matter

The old UI or as I call it, the crossbar interface, was fine as long as you liked having everything buried in a slightly awkward way. The interface was becoming very skewed with the proliferation of items under Internet. This same crossbar interface is on the PS3 and I don't like it there either. The whole point of such an interface is that you have left-right, up-down controls and nothing more which was a natural fit for the tiny infrared Apple TV remote.

The new interface fixes the problems created by a growing number of content-oriented channels (MLB, WSJ, NHL, YouTube, etc.) being buried under Internet.
I never liked that TV Shows and Movies had things like Favorites and Search at this main screen. Going into Movies and TV Shows first and then navigating at the top is a much better design.

If I offered one point of criticism it would be that I don't like the star burst pattern behind the Movies, TV Shows, Music, and Settings icons. Granted not a serious issue.

As for why this doesn't matter, the whole interface will go away. The future of TV isn't having a TV with a user interface, or a TV tuner. Everything will be controlled from a Mac, iPhone or iPad in a content centric way. The TV will be reduced to a dumb monitor that can play Airplay content and a power button. No remote, no UI, just audio and video.
 
palmerc said:
The old UI or as I call it, the crossbar interface, was fine as long as you liked having everything buried in a slightly awkward way. The interface was becoming very skewed with the proliferation of items under Internet. This same crossbar interface is on the PS3 and I don't like it there either. The whole point of such an interface is that you have left-right, up-down controls and nothing more which was a natural fit for the tiny infrared Apple TV remote.

The new interface fixes the problems created by a growing number of content-oriented channels (MLB, WSJ, NHL, YouTube, etc.) being buried under Internet.
I never liked that TV Shows and Movies had things like Favorites and Search at this main screen. Going into Movies and TV Shows first and then navigating at the top is a much better design.
Click to expand...

I don't mind this new arrangement. I appreciate the effort that has been made to make new content discoverable, but I still want my old content to be findable.
 
Wirelessly posted

Let's all remember that Apple still considers the Apple TV as a pet project. They are throwing some stuff out there and seeing what gets a bite. I had alot of criticism for the old UI so I am glad they are trying something different, regardless of where it came from.
 
MultiMediaWill said:
This looks like the end of Apple. Without Steve here there is no QA.
Click to expand...

I think it is a sign that you can't replace good taste willy-nilly. The new interface is HORRIBLE looking (giant ugly icons that don't all fit on the screen? Ugh). The old interface wasn't 'great' looking, but it was CLEAN and fairly professional looking. This looks like a kid made it with those giant ugly icons.

ARM1968 said:
Wirelessly posted

Best get over it people. It's a sign of the TV UI to come.
Click to expand...

YOU get over it. It's a sign that if Apple keeps putting out mediocre CRAP for an OS GUI, they will eventually be OVER PERIOD. Apple used to be CLASSY looking. Lately, it seems like they hired Bozo the clown to design their UI elements (The first time I noticed it was REALLY getting bad was that god-awful iTunes icon; they've all looked like garbage. Now ALL their stuff is starting to look that way. I think they hired the wrong artists. OS9 was professional looking. Early OSX was a bit colorful, but at least it was consistent in its use of Aqua. With Leopard, they started mixing styles and now it's just tuti fruity (ironic considering they ditched all the color icons in iTunes because they were "unprofessional" yet they give them to use EVERYWHERE else. Color can be done tastefully, but AppleTV3 isn't it).
 
Last edited:
AgentElliot007 said:
I was talking about the Samsung Smart TV's. I love Apple TV. It's literally about all I use. I use the cable box for live sports because I can't by MLB and NHL packages that aren't blacked out due to local restrictions. But when I turn on any TV, the first thing I see is an Apple logo in the center of the screen (they're all set up to turn on when TV turns on).

Make no mistake, I was simply saying that Samsung Smart TV's are a joke, as is just about every so-called smart TV I've seen. The best one, the LG's, are still decidedly lacking in the user-friendly interface department.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I bought the high end LG 3D LCD a few years back. The UI looks nice but sparse. Mine was before the WIfI was built in so I use the Apple TV (and secondarily Comcast' awful UI).
 
CodeJingle said:
Wirelessly posted

Let's all remember that Apple still considers the Apple TV as a pet project. They are throwing some stuff out there and seeing what gets a bite. I had alot of criticism for the old UI so I am glad they are trying something different, regardless of where it came from.
Click to expand...

Yeah - its how they test the airplay stuff before the upcoming Game Console Box (come on Crystal Ball...be right)!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back