iOS 7: 8 Months Later

[sunking101]

Back to the Android v iOS thing...
My partner has a new HTC ONE M8 and the outright speed of the thing has impressed me no end. Apps open lightning fast, web pages load far faster than my iPhone 5 over cellular & WiFi, and the screen is very impressive. There is no 'lag' anywhere on that device.
However, after bemoaning the small size of my Apple screen, I have found the 5" HTC to be much too big. It is also a very heavy device and to be honest, the iPhone is much more pleasant to hold. I think that a 4.7" screen would be the largest I want to go.

 

[deluxeshredder]

I still hate iOS 7, eight months later.

I still don't know anyone who likes iOS 7, eight months later.

I'm still using Android, eight months later.

I still don't understand how iOS 7 is better, how many useful improvements and fixes it has, how it is as fast and stable as iOS 6, how the new UI skin is great, err, "magical" and "innovative", how it is not Android-derivative, how it is not fashion-tat, how it is pleasant to look at, how PowerPoint-style spaces and gradients are better than tasteful graphics, how it defers to content by mixing it with hyperlink-style buttons on white spaces, how crazy neon colors are nice, and oh, that yummy yellow on white!

Period.

 

[BillyMatt87]

Music App

I was one of the people that was really excited about iOS 7, so I rushed to download it and enjoyed for a while but the honeymoon did not last.

While the blinding white space in the apps, the cartoon icons, over saturated neon colors, hard-to-identify buttons and rail-thin typeface are all terrible UI design elements that have irritated and aggravated my enjoyment and use of my iPhone, I can somewhat get past that.

But what I cannot let go is how badly Apple screwed up the music app in iOS 7. Say what you want about iOS 6/6.1, but it had the best damn music player of any phone out there and iOS 7 butchered it and tried to fix something that was not anywhere near broken. Music-related products and services are what Apple usually does best but it's seems like they have lost their or they just don't give a **** anymore idk but I paid for a product that usually has the best music playing experience and now it doesn't work as advertised because Jony all of a sudden thinks he can design UI without any prior experience. It's not that I don't like change, I don't like change for the sake of change which is something I thought Apple stood for.

I digress, I used to love listening to music on my iPhone, but the iOS 7 update ruined it. Many of the UI design choices in iOS 7 I strongly dislike, but it pales in comparison to the lost functionality in the music app (artist pictures/artist album browsing, deleting mass amounts of music, viewing long titles and a terrible landscape view, etc.)

I'm hoping the music app would be fixed up in iOS 8 but if not, I may have to jump ship. That is a decision will be very difficult as I am not crazy about iOS's alternative (Android and Windows). I generally love Apple (a lot), I love the ecosystem and I usually stick up for them but unlike most fanboys, I will hold them accountable if they screw up instead of desperately trying to justify terrible decisions.

I would love to get an iPhone 6 (their hardware is consistently amazing) but iOS 8 will be the ultimate deal-breaker and the music app will be the primary determination of that.

I hope Apple can impress us in June...

 

[yinz]

I don't quite understand how iOS 7 can be so unstable. Don't they just put a new skin over old features?

I'm completely ignorant about software, so I just don't understand how new bugs can come out of a system based off of a stable software just because everything looks different.

I've heard issues with WiFi, Safari, etc. This is all just disappointing from a company that's supposed to bring about stability with their consistent need to "evolve" their products rather than "develop" new products.

I put these words in quotes because at this point, no one is using them correctly.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I don't quite understand how iOS 7 can be so unstable. Don't they just put a new skin over old features?

It is absolutely not that simple. Software design is not done with crayons.

Personally I love iOS7. The only minor issues I have are:
• Somewhat ugly icons.
• The old music app was better thought out.
• A bit too flat in some cases.

 

[Jambalaya]

I still hate iOS 7, eight months later.

I still don't know anyone who likes iOS 7, eight months later.

I'm still using Android, eight months later.

I suppose we just know different people. 90% of my friends are on iOS7 and none make any complaints, its a tool which does the job. Personally after the initial "wow it's different" I am a firm fan of iOS7 and the improvements it brought. iOS5 running on my iPad1 is very poor by comparison.

As for Android I only know a couple of people on that OS and both had the phone choice as the primary driver, they both say if iOS ran on their phones they'd switch and one intends to get an iPhone6 if/when it comes out with a larger screen.

 

[SMIDG3T]

My major complaint about io7 is the notification center. I think it's just terrible the way it works and looks now.

I really hope it gets revamped in ios8.

There's talk it will be revamped a little. Notification Center will simply have the tabs "Notifications" and "Today" instead of the three we have now. That will be better, no "Missed" tab!

 

[kmj2318]

I still love iOS 7. I'm very pleased with the interface design. I like how the focus is on text and symbols instead of illustration. I know I'm in the small minority, but I really like what we got with the app icons. I like how the icons use a small selection of colors and the grid, yet they are all easily identifiable from each other. I think the icons are genius actually, but I would have to type a lot more to explain. I also think iOS 7 was designed with future products in mind that the old appearance would be impossible to implement in a practical way.

I think sometimes it can be confusing when some text is colored to to be signify it can be selected, and other times, it means it's active.

 

[CutterSlade]

In general, I like 7.0 over 6.0, but definitely not because of its looks

For me, the problems with 7.0 are

- Way too simplified, bad looking, and worse performing UI
- Bad notification center design
- A brightness slider placement that only lets you adjust the brightness level when the screen gets darkened. I really want to meet the person who came up with this idea

As for the upsides

- The app switcher
- Much improved Safari
- Control Center
- New gestures

I don't really care for the rest.