I loved the skeuomorphism... I feel that iOS had its soul ripped out at 7.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Former iOS Chief Scott Forstall to Attend Virtual Coding Event This Week [Updated]
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If that’s true then I’m even more glad Apple dropped him for HairForceOne.
Hate to see that iOS 7 redesign with him leading it.
The early iphone sold BECAUSE of its ability to make “apps on your iPhone look like real things”. The Programs invited you to touch them. A button, knob, tab did kinda what you expected it would.
I also agree that we were probably near the end of that by 2012. But go back to just Apple Music and the “new way” is a hot mess of “invisible” slides and buttons that has little visual representation of how the thing works... and arbitrarily changes every version with no visual cues. At least we didn’t go for for the full god-awful “flat GUI” that the people were chasing when they booted him.
Yeah the shredding is over kill, however I will say did have a smooth animation.
The tape recorder thing I actually missed. Looking back now it does look outdated. But what isn't captured in the screenshots are the animations and the extra love the UI had back then.
For example, as you played more of the podcast, the episode length (time) actually synced up to how much tape there was left to play. As in the further along you were, the more would be on the second wheel.
Then there was the "extra" love like when you hit pause, the tape would actually bounce the tension like it would in real life. It's that level of detail that used to make Apple care for the UI.
IMO, the UI design in MacOS and iOS is poor and inconsistent across their apps.
Thanks for explaining your use of iOS 6. You would remember the old calendars, todos, notepads etc.
Ah yes, back in the day when we used to have things called aeroplanes....
Haha.
Would love to see Scott fire up his own startup — he had some awesome & fun ideas. Let’s not forget we wouldn’t have the App Store without him.
Greatly miss the ability to color folders, and have those colors show in the sidebar. Life is so grey now.
In 2012, poor Apple Maps data wasn’t his fault. His software department was only in charge of the UI and how the app works. Apple Maps data was under Cue or somebody else’s department.
I can see why he didn’t want to apologise for something that wasn’t his fault, as corporate suicide that move was.
You can love skeuomorphism or you can hate it, that's perfectly fine with me. One thing is very clear, iOS on Scott leadership was ROCK SOLID...it was extremely rare the need to reset the iPhone/iPad...today, well, it's a weekly thing. Sometimes you don't need to, because a seven-days-apart "fixes" that you need to install do the restarting thing for you.
I really miss this guy... The current flat UI by Jony Effing Idiot is an abomination - and with the latter gone, macOS and iOS UI development is hopelessly directionless...
he lead the team that created Apple Maps. There was vision behind it that Apple continued to Forstall (ahem foster) but it was a lacklustre app due to the service and map content.
after creating iOS! Then taking care of apps submitted to have higher quality icons vs Android, then keeping the code in iOS fresh, creating Time Machine, I think we can cut him some serious slack!!
Tim didn’t like him as he was supposedly in contention to be ‘groomed’ for ceo, a rumour. I’m heavily guessing the rumour was due to Jobs giving Forstall the majority of his time in/out of work as company he preferred and when Jobs was gone retaliation and hate set into Tim’s sights. Forstall’s harsh leadership style mimicking Jobs’ own have perfect reason for Tim to kick me over board.
he wouldn’t apologize publicly of Maps and for Tim to ask vs just having Maps pulled shows Tim was being some sort of resentment as NO other executive was asked to apologize publicly for an app or service. Only Jobs ever did that.
did Cue apologize for hiccups in Apple Services (he’s the top executive for it)? Did Cue apologize for having a junior hightry to get a WWDC to rap on stage? (Personal a fresh personality is what Apple states they welcome YET she was shown no love but the door. And no Cur wasn’t asked to public show any embarrassment by Cook for that.
Did Federighi apologize for: giving the OK for a GM and a shipping macOS with no root password?!!!??? NO!
two executives after 6yrs gave the apology for poor design of the 2013 Mac Pro yet it was lightly stated in a written interview and very vaguely done. Cop out move.
did anyone in hardware engineering apologize for the butterfly keyboard???? NO! So Forstall should not have been ever asked to apologize for Maps especially since Apple continued to help it evolve. It’s purpose for being was and still is very sound!
To keep his job? Seems like a pretty decent reason to me. Especially since, VERY soon after he’d be personally responsible for all of the leaps and bounds made since then. It could have been a, “You want to be Steve? Show you can act like him.” occasion that he was unable to rise to.
Maybe they kicked him out thinking, “If he’s like Steve, he’d pull together his own group of highly talented folks, start his own company and show his ability to cultivate and enhance talent, drive innova... oh... he went to Broadway? Huh.”
I don’t think he would have the ability to. If you think about it, in professional life, he’s only had one tech job where he got paid, and that was under Steve at Apple. No one else has given him a position even remotely close to that.
So what you’re SAYING is... by apologizing publicly for the app or service, he would have actually proven that he’s MORE like Steve Jobs than everyone else? I agree, that WOULD have set him apart.
He is absolutely not coming back to Apple. Ever. Very few people want him to return, and essentially none of the right people want him to return. The man is toxic, which is why no one poached him after he left despite his pedigree.
“Don’t think he would have the ability” to open his own technology shop? Are we talking about the same person?
I think someone who reported directly to Steve Jobs and was responsible for major portions of the creation of the most successful product on earth can pretty much write his own ticket.
Of course, he doesn’t have to. His AAPL stock options alone mean he’ll never have to work another day in his life, unless of course he wants to.
Because those screenshots are taken completely out of context. It makes a lot more sense in normal use, on the actual device.
The shredding animation was on the screen for one second, so nobody would have time to stare at the details. Remember, this is in the days of 4-inch iPhone screens.
The Podcast app is taken from an iPad in the scrubbing mode; the user has dragged up from the cover art to access playback controls. You drag up to see only the playback controls, fiddle with them, then the cover art hides them. In this mode, you're specifically focusing on the limited set of controls. Because it's an iPad, the controls have to be easily within reach, but you need something to fill the rest of the screen.
These screenshots are like judging a character in a movie from a single still frame where he's making a weird face.
And, of course, is NOT writing his own ticket. Well, IS writing it, but on Broadway. And, he’s not even exceptional in any way in Broadway. It leads one to think that, were it not for Steve Jobs being his friend and giving him the job, none of us would know his name today. So, no, he doesn’t have the ability OR the vision to start his OWN tech startup.
And the Broadway show he produced has won 5 Tony’s.
So he’s a Tony-award-winning Broadway producer, and before that a multi-millionaire Senior Exec at Apple responsible for developing major parts of the iPhone.... But he “doesn’t have the ability or vision to start his own tech startup.”
Okay, sure dude.
5 Tony’s in 2015... how many in 2016? How many in 2017? How many in 2018? Where is the hit after hit that someone who SOME people think was “like Steve Jobs” would have produced in this time?
If he COULD produce continuous success he would. Unless the idea is that ”he doesn’t have to. His AAPL stock options alone mean he’ll never have to work another day in his life, unless of course he wants to.” And, he doesn’t want to because he knows he doesn’t have the ability or vision of a Steve Jobs! Can he co-produce Broadway plays? ABSOLUTELY! But don’t look for the IPO of his own tech startup anytime soon.
Sometimes teams need the voice of opposition to keep things healthy. Apple UI design since he has left has had more questionable choices with the focus on minimalism. It's almost like UI design and hardware design are two disciplines...
I hope that iOS 14 brings back familiarity and consistency in its UI design.
I hope that iOS 14 brings back familiarity and consistency in its UI design.
Anyone who knows the real story knows that he was obviously used as a scapegoat.
Anyway, glad to see Scott still doing what he loves and staying active in the software engineering community.
The reel to reel in the podcast app was sweet! Each side would spin at different speeds based on how much tape was on each side which was determined by how far in the episode you were in.
MAGA-Make Apple Great Again Forstall !!
Sometimes yes, but from usability point of view it worked and made sense also don't forget it was a different time when smartphones were not standard and iOS/iphone was basically that first phone in the world to have large screen+Apps+touch screen.
I believe the skeuomorphism is Job's work not Forstall because Jobs controlled everything back then so don't make anyone tell you otherwise, and second because people keep forgetting that Apple was built to make PC technology accessible to the average joe and that is the Jobs+Apple mindset and therefor making iOS mimic real life was the easiest way to make average people be able to use these apps without having to go through tutorials and computer courses. It makes lots of sense.
It was said that Apple kept the 1 button mouse because they believed 2 button mouse might confuse people, yes they went that far.
Sometimes yes, but from usability point of view it worked and made sense also don't forget it was a different time when smartphones were not standard and iOS/iphone was basically that first phone in the world to have large screen+Apps+touch screen.
I believe the skeuomorphism is Job's work not Forstall because Jobs controlled everything back then so don't make anyone tell you otherwise, and second because people keep forgetting that Apple was built to make PC technology accessible to the average joe and that is the Jobs+Apple mindset and therefor making iOS mimic real life was the easiest way to make average people be able to use these apps without having to go through tutorials and computer courses. It makes lots of sense.
It was said that Apple kept the 1 button mouse because they believed 2 button mouse might confuse people, yes they went that far.