You mean like the Gear, Sony, Garmon etc etc etc watches have presented step tracking since they were released? Before the Apple Watch were released?
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Google Fit Updates With Apple Watch-Like Rings That Track 'Move Minutes' and 'Heart Points'
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You mean like the Gear, Sony, Garmon etc etc etc watches have presented step tracking since they were released? Before the Apple Watch were released?
The Nike Fuel app used the ring concept for a while before Apple produced a watch. It was more simplistic, but definitely used first.
Yeap and I totally agree with you.
It's easy to say something is common sense when peoples' memories are so short. They can say "people use circles to show progress" but fail to recognize that it's part of the brand identity of the Watch, which is why the concept is being criticized, rightfully so, here.
Entrust google with my health data. What could go wrong?
If you're pretty healthy and active it could be a good thing. If you're not it's probably best not to touch this with a bargepole if you have/need health insurance.
Thanks for just making my point. Circles have been used to show progress in many apps and websites for many years. Apple didn’t invent the ring concept. But none of that matters to people like you. If Apple releases it, it’s original. If anyone else does, it’s a copy.
So I don't get this. This an iOS app you'd use with a Google smart watch? Had no idea you could use a Google smart watch with an iPhone.
So are you implying this design wasn't inspired by Apple's because there were progress bars in the shape of rings before?
It doesn't matter who was the initial propagator, the point stands: when Apple sets trends other companies mimic them. Especially in design.
Same thing with the notch; existed before, Apple did it and now the industry follows, shamelessly.
I can't speak for Google's UI designers, but my personal feeling is that it probably was inspired by Apple's design. That said, there's a difference between blatantly ripping something off and recognizing that a certain UI element makes sense and using it. Like I said, circular progress bars exists long before Apple put them on a Watch and called them rings. Using rings makes sense on a small screen. There's more room to show progress. A horizontal or vertical progress bar would be less effective. Apple recognized this. I imagine Google did too. Just like the (many) other developers who were using this UI element before fitness trackers came along.
I'm less bothered by UI elements being borrowed/copied than by hardware design elements like the notch. To me the UI is more than one single element. Everyone borrows UI elements and ideas from each other. But when everything is added up, is the UI still original? That's what counts. I agree with you that Apple sets many hardware design trends. No argument there. There are fewer ways to innovate in hardware design, so copying a major feature like the notch is particularly glaring.
Sure. Apple also created the concept of completing a set of rings specific for activity types in a way to represent a daily achievement. It's an idea that was duplicated one-for-one; in my opinion the design is a mimick at best - so I do agree with you.
Google will always have a problem with design though, so I'm more disappointed in their lack of imagination in the concept level here. I hate the "it's the same but different" from them since they often push those envelopes. If they had done that, they wouldn't have to worry about diffing their design from Apple's.
There's a reason why no one was pointing to existing circular progress bars when Watch and Activity came around in contrast to this.
The next Pixel phone will look similar to the iPhone X. You are spot on with your assessment.
The copying goes both ways to be fair. I remember how blatant Apple were with the notification system a few years back!
I feel oddly liberated after moving on from the Apple Watch with its "rings", I was becoming a bit of a slave to it haha. Having to pop out at 23:30 to close my rings when I should be asleep (a health aspect they don't take into as much account right now) so I'll pass on this! Quite happily back on traditional step counting and awards when you break a record etc like on Fitbit, Samsung Health etc. To each their own of course. Rings do push you, so they do what they're designed to do.
Only if health insurance companies start demanding data from your smartwatches, in which case Apple Watch users would be in just as much bother. Google can't hand your health data (which under things like GDPR is considered extremely sensitive personal data) to third parties such as health insurers as it'd be highly illegal, at least within the EU.
(Yes, despite its HQ being in the US, Google is still subject to EU law within the EU, which is why they get fined by them sometimes)
Things are a bit up in the air in the UK of course, but that's a worry for when Brexit finally happens. It applies for now...
I feel oddly liberated after moving on from the Apple Watch with its "rings", I was becoming a bit of a slave to it haha. Having to pop out at 23:30 to close my rings when I should be asleep (a health aspect they don't take into as much account right now) so I'll pass on this! Quite happily back on traditional step counting and awards when you break a record etc like on Fitbit, Samsung Health etc. To each their own of course. Rings do push you, so they do what they're designed to do.
Only if health insurance companies start demanding data from your smartwatches, in which case Apple Watch users would be in just as much bother. Google can't hand your health data (which under things like GDPR is considered extremely sensitive personal data) to third parties such as health insurers as it'd be highly illegal, at least within the EU.
(Yes, despite its HQ being in the US, Google is still subject to EU law within the EU, which is why they get fined by them sometimes)
Things are a bit up in the air in the UK of course, but that's a worry for when Brexit finally happens. It applies for now...
I'm not going to go so far as to say that Apple created the ring concept as it relates to activity. I honestly don't know. Fitness apps and sites have existed long before the Watch and I honestly don't know who came up with the ring concept. I've seen a macro (food) tracking app on the iPhone that uses rings to show overall consumption of the various macros one is tracking. Was it available before the Watch? I don't know. Anyway, whether they created the concept or not, Apple definitely popularized it. Rather than create something just for the sake of being different, I think Google probably recognized that activity rings are a concept the public now understands, a standard if you will, so they adopted them too. Call it a mimic if you like, but I don't see it as a lack of imagination on their part.
I've actually been digging Google's more recent design and UI work. For years it was an absolute mess, but I recently tried Google Music for a while and the UI is much better than Apple Music. I feel the same about the Google Maps UI over the Apple Maps UI. If anything, I see Apple getting sloppier and sloppier in the UI/UX department while Google seems to be improving. As for this particular product, I haven't seen their watch or used their activity app, so I can't really judge the product. Certain aspects do resemble Apple's work, no doubt, but that doesn't mean it's a slavish copy. I'd need to use their watch before I could determine that.
I also don't think the Apple Watch is anything to brag about in terms of design or its UI. My mom gave my dad one last year for Christmas. He tried it for a week or two but just didn't get it, so he passed it along to me. I only wear it when I go to the gym or exercise. Apple has done a pretty good job on the activity tracking side, but overall I find the Watch UI a confusing, fiddly, over-complicated mess. Definitely not Apple's best work by a long shot. So I'm not willing to judge's Google's "lack of imagination" until I've used their product. Quite frankly, I hope they didn't copy WatchOS too much!
Oh come on, you know good and well that the only reason people are getting worked up about this is because Apple fans always need an enemy. I've been a fan/customer for nearly four decades. Back in the day it was Microsoft. Today it's Google. Apple fans seem to define themselves by how much they hate the enemy's products, how badly the enemy rips Apple off, how unfairly Apple is treated, etc. There's a lot of martyr/victim thinking in the Apple fan community. When I saw the Activity UI, I thought it looked pretty cool, but I didn't think, whoa, Apple has done something totally unique here! I've seen plenty of circular progress UI elements in my years. Apple's Activity UI was another well-executed example of a concept I'd already seen many times.