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.
iOS 15 Beta 2 Tidbits: Redesigned Apple Maps Icon, Memoji Outfits, and More
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
OVER-SIMPLIFIED = LESS DISTINCTIVE.
I am used to the current icon for Maps, and think the new icon is an oversimplification that won't catch my eye as much as the current one.
The removal of the route symbol means the icon loses an important visual cue.
So I regard the new Maps icon as a case of "change for change's sake", and not as something that will enhance my use of iOS.
It's akin to changing the spelling of a word, just to make it seem like you are doing something new.
As with speed reading, the faster your eye+mind can recognise a symbol, the faster you can mentally process it.
Changing symbols slows down the process.
Once an effective symbol is achieved, leave it.
(Examples that come to mind are the question mark and exclamation mark; and road signs such as "Stop" and "Give way".)
Part of the reason that I'm commenting on this topic of icons is that Apple has previously taken symbol simplification too far, such as when they changed the icon for Photos to the colour wheel.
I suppose a colour wheel may make sense to people who do photo editing, but it has never conjured up "photographs" to my mind.
To me, the colour wheel is a more appropriate symbol for an art application.
I am used to the current icon for Maps, and think the new icon is an oversimplification that won't catch my eye as much as the current one.
The removal of the route symbol means the icon loses an important visual cue.
So I regard the new Maps icon as a case of "change for change's sake", and not as something that will enhance my use of iOS.
It's akin to changing the spelling of a word, just to make it seem like you are doing something new.
As with speed reading, the faster your eye+mind can recognise a symbol, the faster you can mentally process it.
Changing symbols slows down the process.
Once an effective symbol is achieved, leave it.
(Examples that come to mind are the question mark and exclamation mark; and road signs such as "Stop" and "Give way".)
Part of the reason that I'm commenting on this topic of icons is that Apple has previously taken symbol simplification too far, such as when they changed the icon for Photos to the colour wheel.
I suppose a colour wheel may make sense to people who do photo editing, but it has never conjured up "photographs" to my mind.
To me, the colour wheel is a more appropriate symbol for an art application.
Last edited:
I would guess that this is likely to provide a simple icon that is universal worldwide.
Sure the icon is an actual fragment of a real map and like a little Apple Easter egg. However, the interstate sign is very US centric. Here in the UK our equivalent of interstates are motorways and the signage is nothing like that so there is no obvious recognition to anyone who hasn’t driven in the US.
The new icon is effectively a generic map that could be anywhere in the world as it is “branding” free, but still retains the nod to Apple.
I agree there is familiarity but the new icon isn’t too different and possibly saves some confusion if people either don’t understand what the I280 is or maybe even think it’s just maps for the US.
Well, it really is quite likely that removing the 280 sheild is related to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junípero_Serra#Treatment_of_Native_Californians
It's really not. It serves no purpose at all if you have very few Apps - I have 10 on my phone, which the App Library brilliantly sorts into nine folders - and if you have a lot of Apps, you have always had the option of sorting them into folders anyway. There is no problem that it solves, it's just stupid and creates a second unnecessary page (out of three) on my phone. That's what groupthink looks like.
Why is the Messages icon still green instead of blue? It has become commonplace for iPhone users to dislike seeing green messages. I would think Apple would want to emphasize iMessage as much as possible, but I’m sure there’s some high level reason it’s still green.
Ten apps is not many, it’s safe to assume most users have more than ten. The iPhone comes with more than ten, for example. I find it extremely useful. It means I can have one homescreen with my regular apps, swipe right for widgets, swipe left for app library where my most used are there at the top. Otherwise swipe down for search.
But I get your use case doesn’t work like this. Hiding the screen would benefit you yes. It does solve problems for others, though. Lets not assume things on someone else’s behalf. It works exactly ike the app folder on macOS works, and you put your most useful where you can find them or else leave them be.
Yeah, but you already had the ability to create folders and store Apps in them, so it solves nothing.
It solves having to have folders at all. It solves needing to organise the inorganisable (apps with one single purpose, that you only need once in a blue moon, for example). its ok if you don’t like it, but your use case and wishes are yours alone. It doesnt solve anything for *you*, that’s not the same as it solves *nothing*.
It is a folder, just one that you swipe to rather than click on, organized into sub-folders using a logic you no longer control. It does nothing that you could do better prior to its creation. That’s not a different use case, it’s a redundant, sloppily designed and poorly considered waste of space. It’s objectively stupid.
Ha ha. This masterful design change was done to please the Android lovers for getting the Android style widgets every where on the icon tiles, just like the Android pseudo tablets, at the expense of making the icons layout really really ugly.
Taking away the "280" makes it art? The "280" made the icon intuitive?
Yes. It’s not just a number but is a symbol common to Highway signs. And the zoomed in streets look more like art than a discernible map. Now disagree with me.
It doesn’t, really. It’s just as intuitive as it’s always been with a big ol’ blue arrow on it. Eh, some folks never figured out how to use a mouse, some folks never understood touch interfaces, and some will never be able to tell it’s a Map icon and won’t know what they should tap on to get the map. Technology/Design marches on, the young and flexible of mind pick it up and keep going, others stagnate.
Highway signs only look like that in the US.Yes. It’s not just a number but is a symbol common to Highway signs. And the zoomed in streets look more like art than a discernible map. Now disagree with me.
Glad to hear the icon is slightly different. Maybe one of these decades they'll get around to creating a color scheme for the maps themselves that have some contrast and are actually legible in a bright sunlit car or a dark night. You know, when you'd actually use the maps app. & maybe, a search function in the maps app that can actually see the names in my contacts AND find their addresses when selected, instead of the usual, of just showing them momentarily and then forgetting and then pretending they don't exist and that didn't just happen. On iPad or iPhone, Maps is still dysfunctional after all these years.
Now you’re talking. Change for improved function, change for the better and not just minimalist aesthetic whims or just for something different with marginal (or reduced) utility. Ok so the sign may be US-specific. Apple is a US company that provides global products. The phone receiver in the phone icon hasn’t been used in the average American household for 20+ years, yet there it is. The camera type in the grey/black camera icon is used only by very, very few american hobbyists (and how many folk born after 2000?) and pro or pro-sumer users, yet there it lingers on.
