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

I think the iPhone could use an interface makeover...

TheSpaz

TheSpaz

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 20, 2005
7,032
1
The iPhone's about a year-and-a-half old now and the OS is starting to look pretty dated now. I think they should make it look more modern (I'm thinking MobileMe web interface here). Looking at the home screen with just little square icons on a black background looks kinda cheesy.

Anyone else feeling like the iPhone OS could use a new interface?
 
I was hoping that they would introduce some sort of dock (w/o JB of course) so users could pick and choose the apps that were visible. enable resizing as well....
 
You'd think something different would be refreshing, but after jailbreaking and trying different themes and looking across different sites at what people have come up with and Apple's interface is still the best IMO.
 
lostprophet894 said:
You'd think something different would be refreshing, but after jailbreaking and trying different themes and looking across different sites at what people have come up with and Apple's interface is still the best IMO.
Click to expand...

Id still like to see what else apple could come up with...
 
I'm pretty happy with the interface, but I have only had it since August 08.

One thing that bothers me thou is unlogical things in the GUI it self, like changing the EQ for the iPod should be in the iPod app imho.
But it's not a big deal because I set the EQ mode in iTunes and keep it off on the iPhone, that way it changes by itself.
 
TheSpaz said:
The iPhone's about a year-and-a-half old now and the OS is starting to look pretty dated now. I think they should make it look more modern (I'm thinking MobileMe web interface here). Looking at the home screen with just little square icons on a black background looks kinda cheesy.

Anyone else feeling like the iPhone OS could use a new interface?
Click to expand...


Hey I still like the interface...And hope they will just try to add more features like mail search, push notification. But other than that this classic interface is all I prefer.
 
lostprophet894 said:
You'd think something different would be refreshing, but after jailbreaking and trying different themes and looking across different sites at what people have come up with and Apple's interface is still the best IMO.
Click to expand...

I know Apple's interface is the best. If *Apple* changed the interface, it most likely won't look like the crappy themes people make. It would most likely look "complete" since it's Apple doing it and not hackers/wannabe-interface-designers. There are a couple of themes that look good, but the fact is... it's almost impossible to make it look good passed the home screen. There's lots of glitches and performance drawbacks to using WinterBoard. That's why I'd rather have Apple do it.
 
TheSpaz said:
I know Apple's interface is the best. If *Apple* changed the interface, it most likely won't look like the crappy themes people make. It would most likely look "complete" since it's Apple doing it and not hackers/wannabe-interface-designers. There are a couple of themes that look good, but the fact is... it's almost impossible to make it look good passed the home screen. There's lots of glitches and performance drawbacks to using WinterBoard. That's why I'd rather have Apple do it.
Click to expand...

You're right. I thought about that after I had posted. I'd be interested to see what they could come up with.
 
i think there are two interface changes they should make:

1. allow us to put small widgets on the unlock screen
2. allow for backgrounds on the application pages.
 
People do like to customize their phones.

It think one holdback is, if Apple allowed what is available on other devices... such as custom lock screen information / today screen... backgrounds... different app launchers... then the iPhone stands a strong chance of ending up looking like many other phones that have had years of customization available.

And that, far more than the fanboys' mistaken idea about no-keyboards-ever, is something that Apple could not stand to happen.

For instance, it surely won't be long before someone comes up with a Palm Pre theme and launcher for WinMo phones. Now imagine if iPhone owners had the same freedom of choice. Holy smokes, Jobs would spin in his bed if he heard of iPhones being shown off with a Palm theme !! :)

(with tongue slightly in cheek)
 
I don't see much wrong, but there are definitely some tweaks that could be done.

I would love to see shortcuts available. Every time I use my Jabra bluetooth headset, I have to go to settings, Bluetooth, unpair it, then pair it again. There needs to be a way to have an icon skip a couple of those steps. On the Razr UI, I could set "Bluetooth" to one of the shortcut buttons to save a couple of steps.

I think the idea of backgrounds is good. I don't really mind the black background because I'm not looking at it very often, but I don't see an issue with offering a choice.

One other feature would be a way inside iTunes to arrange the icons how you want. It takes FOREVER to move stuff around on the phone, and everything will get messed up if you add a new game, then move it back 5 pages and shift a bunch of crap down a page or two. UGH.
 
It works, but it`s getting a bit old. I'm thinking a la N97.

I'd love my RSS feeds, recent messages, etc. on the home screen as well. Only having apps is a bit limited.
 
This is what I want:

1. Widgets on the unlock screen

2. No more endless pages of apps

3. Instead I would like to see a organization system, that is similar to the Finder, a folder that has all of the apps in it, but they are subdivided into categories like, office apps, utilities, games. Kind of like what we have in OS X.

4. a more intuitive way to change settings. Say I want to change my WiFi settings, I would just tap the Wifi symbol up on the Info bar (top of the screen), instead of having to open settings then go to WiFi.

5. A scrollable Dock that has your favorite apps in it so you don't have to go into the app folder.

Pretty much, I just want the iPhone to have close to the same UI as OS X does. I know that its a pipe dream.

Don
 
I totally disagree!!

I remember when I first got my first-gen iPhone in 2007. The screen and icons were so pin sharp it looked like a printed sticker on the glass

But I work for a major mobile phone company and you should see just how awful looking the interface of some of the other phones are. Check out the new Night Effect Emporio Armani phone from Samsung for a truly dreadful looking interface on a nice looking 2009 phone.

Apple doesn't need to change the interface yet as very few other manufacturers have caught them up.
 
Ninja Dom said:
I totally disagree!!

I remember when I first got my first-gen iPhone in 2007. The screen and icons were so pin sharp it looked like a printed sticker on the glass

But I work for a major mobile phone company and you should see just how awful looking the interface of some of the other phones are. Check out the new Night Effect Emporio Armani phone from Samsung for a truly dreadful looking interface on a nice looking 2009 phone.

Apple doesn't need to change the interface yet as very few other manufacturers have caught them up.
Click to expand...

Its pretty but not practical. Its stupid to have to exit the ipod app and go into settings to adjust my EQ settings.
 
As Stephen Fry once said,
A grey box is not good enough, clunky and ugly is not good enough. Sick building syndrome exists, and so does sick hand-held device syndrome. Fiddly buttons, blocky icons, sickeningly stupid nested menus - these are the enemy. They waste time, militate against function and lower the spirits. They make the user feel frustrated and (quite wrongly) dense. Mechanisms so devilishly, stunningly, jaw-dropping clever as the kind our world can now furnish us with are No Good Whatsoever if they don't also bring a smile to our face, if they don't make us want to stroke, touch, fondle, fiddle, gurgle, purr and coo. Interacting with a digital device should be like interacting with a baby.

So, yes, beauty matters. Boy, does it matter. It is not surface, it is not an extra, it is the thing itself. Le style, c'est le truc, as De Buffon would have written today.
Click to expand...

http://daringfireball.net/2007/11/apple_needs_a_nikon
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/27/gadgets.digitalmedia
 
Ninja Dom said:
Apple doesn't need to change the interface yet as very few other manufacturers have caught them up.
Click to expand...

For better or worse, other manufacturers refuse to remove enough functionality to act like the basic iPhone UI. They continue to find ways to keep it all, but make it look nicer. After some false starts, they're beginning to succeed.

eplchamps0304 said:
Its pretty but not practical. Its stupid to have to exit the ipod app and go into settings to adjust my EQ settings.
Click to expand...

Bingo. Same for other apps. Poor UI design, when they could easily have had all options on the "backside" of each app or some other cute, but more useful, metaphor.

Shoving things off to a separate "Control Panel" is old style and awkward. I suppose it made sense when Apple thought they'd never have more than a dozen apps onboad.

If every one of hundreds of apps had their settings over there, it would be messy and hard to find what you want. You should only ever need look at, exactly what you want to look at.
 
TheSpaz said:
The iPhone's about a year-and-a-half old now and the OS is starting to look pretty dated now. I think they should make it look more modern (I'm thinking MobileMe web interface here). Looking at the home screen with just little square icons on a black background looks kinda cheesy.

Anyone else feeling like the iPhone OS could use a new interface?
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking too! I think the dock always looked a little out dated and I always wanted this keyboard as my main texting keyboard ( did a quick photoshop job )

securedownloadcopy.jpg


maybe with the top bar glossy black also :)
 
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