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iOS 19: What to Expect From Apple's Dramatic Design Overhaul?
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Circular icons instead of squares with rounded corners. Wow, such innovation!
He’s probably referring to the drama that will unfold in forums like this one here.
If Apple were to do a major overhaul of it's various operating systems, I would hope they focus on three areas:
1. There are lot's of inconsistencies between and within what we have today. I think that the root of this is less of a focus on proper UI design, as opposed to lot's of discussion of "pretty" things like the shapes of icons, etc. Having said that, I'll contradict myself by saying there's lots of room for improvement in the design of icons. But that improvement should be from a functional UI point of view where shapes, colors, functionality, etc enhance intuitiveness and usability. I personally like the current Camera icon in iOS 18.3.2, the design makes the shape of the icon sufficiently neutral that it fades away so that the visual impression is the camera itself. On the other hand, we have been stuck with the Contacts icon for so long. Perhaps it's me, but I find it hard to pick out. It doesn't seem fit well visually.
2. Recently it's occurred to me how many settings there are today. Compare that to the original Mac UI where the goal was simplifying to the extent that users didn't need to be too concerned with settings. I can understand the opportunity for playing with so many settings might appeal to the geeks among us who can alter the way the system works to suit particular needs. It's a minefield, especially when one can cause problems by incorrectly toggling options without realizing dependencies among settings. The user shouldn't have to know about interdependencies among settings. The system should be making it much simpler for the user. This is particularly the case with more recent settings associated with the need to improve security.
3. And I think this should have the highest priority. Many of us are complaining about what we see as bugs. It seems it's an ever growing list that generally takes much too long to fix. Granted, as the code base expands, one should expect opportunities for bugs to rise with it. I see an opportunity for organizations such as MacRumors to play a helpful role. I understand that MacRumors is a site for users to enjoy the speculations and often insightful rumors. But Macrumors also provides opportunities for users to take advantage of the large body of expertise that participates in discussions. I see that as a powerful contribution. However I think MacRumors could also play a powerful role on behalf of the community by highlighting the need for Apple to do a better job of avoiding and squashing bugs.
1. There are lot's of inconsistencies between and within what we have today. I think that the root of this is less of a focus on proper UI design, as opposed to lot's of discussion of "pretty" things like the shapes of icons, etc. Having said that, I'll contradict myself by saying there's lots of room for improvement in the design of icons. But that improvement should be from a functional UI point of view where shapes, colors, functionality, etc enhance intuitiveness and usability. I personally like the current Camera icon in iOS 18.3.2, the design makes the shape of the icon sufficiently neutral that it fades away so that the visual impression is the camera itself. On the other hand, we have been stuck with the Contacts icon for so long. Perhaps it's me, but I find it hard to pick out. It doesn't seem fit well visually.
2. Recently it's occurred to me how many settings there are today. Compare that to the original Mac UI where the goal was simplifying to the extent that users didn't need to be too concerned with settings. I can understand the opportunity for playing with so many settings might appeal to the geeks among us who can alter the way the system works to suit particular needs. It's a minefield, especially when one can cause problems by incorrectly toggling options without realizing dependencies among settings. The user shouldn't have to know about interdependencies among settings. The system should be making it much simpler for the user. This is particularly the case with more recent settings associated with the need to improve security.
3. And I think this should have the highest priority. Many of us are complaining about what we see as bugs. It seems it's an ever growing list that generally takes much too long to fix. Granted, as the code base expands, one should expect opportunities for bugs to rise with it. I see an opportunity for organizations such as MacRumors to play a helpful role. I understand that MacRumors is a site for users to enjoy the speculations and often insightful rumors. But Macrumors also provides opportunities for users to take advantage of the large body of expertise that participates in discussions. I see that as a powerful contribution. However I think MacRumors could also play a powerful role on behalf of the community by highlighting the need for Apple to do a better job of avoiding and squashing bugs.
I would like the option to list my apps alphabetically and keep that as my default
No! No! No!
No to circular icons!
Whatever else - frosty background, translucent anything, glassy bla bla bla, but not circular icons!
Bring back skeuomorphism if you want, I don't care!
But not circular icons!
Please!
No to circular icons!
Whatever else - frosty background, translucent anything, glassy bla bla bla, but not circular icons!
Bring back skeuomorphism if you want, I don't care!
But not circular icons!
Please!
I will accept circular icons only if they also provide a circular display.
To date most displays are rectangular with rounded corners, so please Apple keep the square icons with rounded corners.
Don't be Sonos; don't try to reinvent the wheel.
To date most displays are rectangular with rounded corners, so please Apple keep the square icons with rounded corners.
Don't be Sonos; don't try to reinvent the wheel.
I just can’t imagine round icons on the iPhone. It’ll look stupid! App icons curvature follows the screen edge curvature perfectly as of right now. Mixing all kind of shapes is not a great idea!
So since Apple Intelligence was launched 2 years before it was ready, and only about 10% of it is useful, and Siri remains as inept and unreliable as ever, Apple hopes to distract users away from that mess by overhauling iOS design. Great. I just read an article about how what Apple needs most right now is another Snow Leopard release, where they spend a whole year fixing bugs and focusing on stability, and instead they're going to introduce a design overhaul that is going to have its own bugs and stability issues for years afterward.
As far Circular Icons go ...this has no utility. The icon becomes about 20% smaller, which decreases the space available to the icon art and the touch target itself. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
I am expecting way more than circular icons. We've heard that navigating is supposed to be simpler, and easier to learn for new users. This is definitely an area that has gotten too complicated over time. I am not fan of the pull up drawers that take 90% of the screen. They behave differently across apps, and look awkward. I've also never liked the way the app switcher rearranges itself based on how long you've been looking at the current app. You never know the correct direction to swipe.
As far Circular Icons go ...this has no utility. The icon becomes about 20% smaller, which decreases the space available to the icon art and the touch target itself. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
I am expecting way more than circular icons. We've heard that navigating is supposed to be simpler, and easier to learn for new users. This is definitely an area that has gotten too complicated over time. I am not fan of the pull up drawers that take 90% of the screen. They behave differently across apps, and look awkward. I've also never liked the way the app switcher rearranges itself based on how long you've been looking at the current app. You never know the correct direction to swipe.
I wished iOS was less buggy, but unfortunately it's getting more and more complex, so I assume harder for them to maintain.
A comparison between 10 major versions:
- iOS 8.4.1 for iPhone 6 Plus had 2.2 GB.
- iOS 18.4 RC for iPhone 16 PM has 9.2 GB.
iOS 19 will most likely reach 10 GB.
Even the latest ISO of Windows 11 24H2 is only 5.4 GB.
A comparison between 10 major versions:
- iOS 8.4.1 for iPhone 6 Plus had 2.2 GB.
- iOS 18.4 RC for iPhone 16 PM has 9.2 GB.
iOS 19 will most likely reach 10 GB.
Even the latest ISO of Windows 11 24H2 is only 5.4 GB.
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Hopefully there’s a toggle for circular or square-rounded icons, i.e an addition to customization options for round corner radius. This would not rock the boat too much. I’m all for translucency, and ffs please bring back parallax and greater depth effects (again, customization toggles to reduce effects if they impact a minority with motion sickness.) Don’t dilute your style completely Apple. Circular icons are not new, or an iconic move to a new design language.
I hope Apple gives us the option to keep our app icons the current shape if we don’t like the circular shape.
I thought they’ve been circular icons by default for ages? Android 15 on the Pixel 9a shows circle icons in the screenshots. Last time I used android though you could go into edit home screen and choose from a variety of shapes
Edit: I googled the home screens for stock android 15 all the way down to Android 10 and they all had circle icons. I stopped looking there.
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All the talk about translucency and circular icons reminds me of the ios7 control center. I had some circular icon jailbreak themes and I liked them.
Expose and stage manager - it just feels very unlike apple to have two sets of window managers. Almost like … Microsoft.
Launchpad. I don’t know. It just has always felt very tacked onto the 1980s macOS way of storing and launching applications.
In iOS, you know where all of your apps are. In macOS your apps might be in launchpad but they might not.
Something that feels more elegant and integrated anyway.