IOS7 not an option for those with poor eye sight

[JazzyGB1]

Hi,
Just tried out IOS7 for the first time today and think its 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
The main backwards step is how difficult it is to read a lot of the UI..
Text is so thin and light that for anyone (like me) with less that 20-20 vision, it's much more difficult to read than it was in IOS6 - even with the high contrast option and the bold turned on.
You can make text bigger for SMS & contacts, but even so its just a wall of white with black text on it.
For emails, the little text number icon telling you how many messages you have unread is very difficult to see and easily missed - and that's meant to be a bullet point!
For someone like me who has 6 email addresses, its MUCH more difficult to see which accounts have unread messages.
Likewise with the contacts. In IOS6 you have a nice, clear, blue dividing line between each letter, but that's been replaced with...you guessed it...white with a black letter showing when the alphabet changes.
All these changes would be fine...if they were optional but they are not...they are mandatory.
Don't get me wrong I'm not registered blind or anything, but I don't want to have to struggle just to read something that need not be difficult to read.
Its the same for the phone keypad and keyboard in text messaging too. All thin black on plain white.
Ironically the easiest keyboard to read in IOS7 is the one presented when you do a search using spotlight.
If all future iPhones are to have this UI, I genuinely believe it will stop being a viable option for many (like me) with less than perfect eye sight, who would otherwise be happy iPhone users.
It certainly stops me considering a new iPhone, which is real shame as I love them and have owned one since they first came out.
Apple's obsession with making everything difficult to read (grey on grey icons in finder in OSX and now ultra thin low contrast in IOS), has finally cost them a customer.
Not through desire, but through necessity. I simply cannot read their phones easily any more - madness!

 

[Naor]

My eye sight is -3.5 and I have no problem with iOS 7 whatsoever.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

I agree. I also really dislike the move away from clearly outlined buttons, to simple text icons to navigate the UI. The iOS 6 UI was perfected to instantly let any user navigate the interface.

Looking at the new interface is far from an enjoyable and pleasant experience in most cases. Why on Earth they moved away from a gorgeously rich coloured and full-of-life interface I do not know.

 

[VulchR]

Perhaps someday GUI's will be designed by people who actually know something about the visual system.

....

Nah.

 

[497902]

I don't see a difference between iOS 6 and iOS 7 in terms of text sizes.

 

[FlatlinerG]

Perhaps someday GUI's will be designed by people who actually know something about the visual system.

....

Nah.

I'm not sure which side your on. Sarcasm?


Either way, I think Ives and his team know more about design than nearly everyone on these forums with the possible odd exception who is registered here and is an actual designer working for a multi billion dollar company.

 

[TheKrs1]

Hi,
Just tried out IOS7 for the first time today and think its 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
The main backwards step is how difficult it is to read a lot of the UI..
Text is so thin and light that for anyone (like me) with less that 20-20 vision, it's much more difficult to read than it was in IOS6 - even with the high contrast option and the bold turned on.
You can make text bigger for SMS & contacts, but even so its just a wall of white with black text on it.
For emails, the little text number icon telling you how many messages you have unread is very difficult to see and easily missed - and that's meant to be a bullet point!
For someone like me who has 6 email addresses, its MUCH more difficult to see which accounts have unread messages.
Likewise with the contacts. In IOS6 you have a nice, clear, blue dividing line between each letter, but that's been replaced with...you guessed it...white with a black letter showing when the alphabet changes.
All these changes would be fine...if they were optional but they are not...they are mandatory.
Don't get me wrong I'm not registered blind or anything, but I don't want to have to struggle just to read something that need not be difficult to read.
Its the same for the phone keypad and keyboard in text messaging too. All thin black on plain white.
Ironically the easiest keyboard to read in IOS7 is the one presented when you do a search using spotlight.
If all future iPhones are to have this UI, I genuinely believe it will stop being a viable option for many (like me) with less than perfect eye sight, who would otherwise be happy iPhone users.
It certainly stops me considering a new iPhone, which is real shame as I love them and have owned one since they first came out.
Apple's obsession with making everything difficult to read (grey on grey icons in finder in OSX and now ultra thin low contrast in IOS), has finally cost them a customer.
Not through desire, but through necessity. I simply cannot read their phones easily any more - madness!

Settings --> General --> Text Size: Turn up
Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> "Larger Type": Turn on
Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> "Bold Text": Turn on

 

[hakr100]

The UI in IOS 7 is flat. If there's a jailbreak, it'll be changeable. I hope.

The high contrast and bold options in IOS 7 do help a little, for which I am thankful. I don't know what kind of folks design the graphics on these devices, but it is clear to me they never test their work output in the real world.

 

[PNutts]

Either way, I think Ives and his team know more about design than nearly everyone on these forums with the possible odd exception who is registered here and is an actual designer working for a multi billion dollar company.

Knowing a lot about design doesn't guarantee they will put out a good product.

 

[Smith288]

Knowing a lot about design doesn't guarantee they will put out a good product.

Either does a psuedo expert on a fan forum.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

That's too bad that people with failing eye sight can't enjoy the new IOS as much as the rest of use. On the plus side, they can hitch a ride to Iowa and get a permit to carry a gun!

 

[VulchR]

...Either way, I think Ives and his team know more about design than nearly everyone on these forums with the possible odd exception who is registered here and is an actual designer working for a multi billion dollar company.

Yes, and I probably know more about the visual system than most people here, having worked at the US National Eye Institute. Very few people have perfect vision to begin with, it degrades with age, and in addition to optical problems there can be neural issues that make visual perception difficult.

It's simple: one can make life harder for the visual system or one can make it easier. Inevitably when 'arteests' inject their notion of 'style', it makes it harder. This is not an issue about aesthetics, but equality.

 

[JazzyGB1]

Settings --> General --> Text Size: Turn up
Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> "Larger Type": Turn on
Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> "Bold Text": Turn on

As I stated in my original post, I have already done those things.
It helps (obviously), but its not nearly as easy to read as it was in IOS6.
making the text bold and large, just gives you thick black text on a plain white background in your contacts and garish white against pale blue in SMS.
It does little to help the overall experience and does nothing at all to improve the numeric keypad or keyboard.
Thanks all the same.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

I'm not sure which side your on. Sarcasm?


Either way, I think Ives and his team know more about design than nearly everyone on these forums with the possible odd exception who is registered here and is an actual designer working for a multi billion dollar company.

Nobody doubts his knowledge on design, but what he can't do is force the design he loves onto other people. It's not working for me.

 

[PNutts]

Either does a psuedo expert on a fan forum.

I'm not sure what that means. A pseudo expert on a fan forum doesn't put out a product.

 

[FlatlinerG]

Yes, and I probably know more about the visual system than most people here, having worked at the US National Eye Institute. Very few people have perfect vision to begin with, it degrades with age, and in addition to optical problems there can be neural issues that make visual perception difficult.

It's simple: one can make life harder for the visual system or one can make it easier. Inevitably when 'arteests' inject their notion of 'style', it makes it harder. This is not an issue about aesthetics, but equality.

One of the most objective and credible posts I've read in a while.

Nobody doubts his knowledge on design, but what he can't do is force the design he loves onto other people. It's not working for me.

You can't please everyone. Apple cannot force something on anyone, if your choice as a consumer was to purchase an iPhone then the OS and it's visuals go with it. I hate to sound so negative about it, but I really think all of these complaints about being force-fed iOS 7 and how people hate the 5C/5S and x-gate this and x-gate that just goes to prove that we as a people are becoming worse and worse consumers. All we do is complain instead of simply finding a different product that suits our needs.

 

[TheKrs1]

As I stated in my original post, I have already done those things.
It helps (obviously), but its not nearly as easy to read as it was in IOS6.
making the text bold and large, just gives you thick black text on a plain white background in your contacts and garish white against pale blue in SMS.
It does little to help the overall experience and does nothing at all to improve the numeric keypad or keyboard.
Thanks all the same.

My bad. I must have just skimmed your OP.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

One of the most objective and credible posts I've read in a while.




You can't please everyone. Apple cannot force something on anyone, if your choice as a consumer was to purchase an iPhone then the OS and it's visuals go with it. I hate to sound so negative about it, but I really think all of these complaints about being force-fed iOS 7 and how people hate the 5C/5S and x-gate this and x-gate that just goes to prove that we as a people are becoming worse and worse consumers. All we do is complain instead of simply finding a different product that suits our needs.

I guess we'll see how reception turns out when it's publicly released. If the majority of people are displeased with the update then it's a failure. If the majority welcome the update, then I and the other minority will just have to accept we have an unpopular opinion.

 

[Smith288]

I'm not sure what that means. A pseudo expert on a fan forum doesn't put out a product.

No, but many seem to fancy themselves more knowledgable on what a product should be rather than the proven ones in the field.


Being critical of the UI is fine but It's just funny to me that keyboard cowboys feel they seem to think they have superior knowledge of design and UX over those at Apple who have years upon years of experience, put the concepts through various studies and usability testing to come to what you see.

I really don't think Ive is sitting in a room all by himself, mocking up design and pushing that concept through without input from the standard methods all major firms go through to maximize, the best they can, the usability across all target groups.

It won't make everyone happy and refinements will come as more users see and use it but it's usually why small development companies have crap UIs. They just don't know or have the capabilities to make a nice UX/UI. Apple does.

 

[hakr100]

I guess we'll see how reception turns out when it's publicly released. If the majority of people are displeased with the update then it's a failure. If the majority welcome the update, then I and the other minority will just have to accept we have an unpopular opinion.

I suspect most people will download the update without ever seeing it "perform" first-hand. Isn't that usually the case?

 

[Rogifan]

And yet when Apple changed the font (I think it was beta 3) there were complaints about it and people wanting them to go back to the font in beta 1.

 

[VulchR]

...I really don't think Ive is sitting in a room all by himself, mocking up design and pushing that concept through without input from the standard methods all major firms go through to maximize, the best they can, the usability across all target groups...

I wonder - do any design programme include courses on statistics, psychophysics, and human factors research? Does Apple even have a human factors division? [Obviously I have my doubts, but I honestly do not know and would welcome any information.]

 

[2IS]

Settings --> General --> Text Size: Turn up
Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> "Larger Type": Turn on
Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> "Bold Text": Turn on

Too bad none of that changes the contrast which is pure crap from a eye fatigue perspective. And yes, I already know many apple enthusiests here have special eyes that don't fatigue after hours of continuous iOS 7 use. They are a special breed in more ways than one.

 

[FlatlinerG]

I guess we'll see how reception turns out when it's publicly released. If the majority of people are displeased with the update then it's a failure. If the majority welcome the update, then I and the other minority will just have to accept we have an unpopular opinion.

Fair enough. Either way, it's safe to assume that with iOS 8, there will be some changes. Apple has kept a pretty good history of giving, even slight, graphical updates and changes in UI design between iOS versions. There have even been some changes between the betas.


One thing I haven't fully understood is the issue with no "button design" for back arrows. Once people get in the hang of swiping to go back, I can foresee a lot of those complaints fading away. I never use back arrows anymore, all swipes.

 

[chriscl]

I have less than perfect eyesight - I've got astigmatism and keratokonus and am nearly blind in one eye, but to be honest I am actually finding iOS 7 better than iOS 6 as I can see the fonts better and the colour scheme seems to make the OS much easier to read for me.

Just my €0.02, of course.