iPad UI

[coldwarx]

What is it about mobile, that folks want a completely new UI every 2 years or so?
The desktop basic UI hasn't changed for 25 years!

20 year's ago

Last year:

Mac:

I would hate to have some of you in a creative meeting. It would probably end up being something like this:
Guy1: "hey we need to update the look and feel of our product, to reflect modern tech and have the edge over our competition"
Guy2: "nope... it's worked for the last 4 years, it should in theory work for the next 40 years.. nothing get changed"

 

[gatearray]

It seems to me that a lot of People who own iOS devices want to customize their devices. Just look at how many jailbreak their iOS devices. People do that to customize their device the way they want to.

According to a post I read last week, jailbreak me.com had around 1 million visitors. With 200 million iOS devices sold, that would be around 0.5%...

Even if it were 10 times more at 5% of all devices, Apple is quite happy catering to 95% of their user base.

 

[henchman]

According to a post I read last week, jailbreak me.com had around 1 million visitors. With 200 million iOS devices sold, that would be around 0.5%...

Even if it were 10 times more at 5% of all devices, Apple is quite happy catering to 95% of their user base.

So, by that logic, why haven't they added flash back?

 

[miamialley]

Some people say the UI is simple and should remain that way for other reasons, though.

Anyway, an 'advanced user' setting for 'basic things' will have several problems:
1)- it still won't do what some people want
2)- implementation isn't easy (Apple doesn't want to scale icons, it could look disastrous; size and position is complicated more than a little bit by orientation swaps; when you turn off 'advanced user settings' do all the icons get redistributed across home screens; what if you turn off only some settings, etc.)
3)- implementation would have negligible effect on sales or consumer satisfaction

So it's cool that people want these things, but I don't see a big incentive for Apple to spend time including them in the near future.

1) This is just silly. My MBP doesn't do everything I want, so should I not have bought it? Should I not use iPad unless the next update does everything I want?
2) You're making this much harder than it has to be. When the advanced user setting is off, everything goes back to the way it would otherwise. Think, "reset to default."
3) You don't know that, but still how could they sell better than they already do anyway? It would make the product more customizable. Will iOS 5 sell more iPads? The point is to update the product.

I created a thread a long time ago on here saying that I wanted landscape typing on the iPhone. So many people freaked out saying how stupid that was and people don't need it and it wouldn't work. Remember copy and paste? No wallpapers? Improvements people.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/620392/

Sometimes I think Apple fans can't see anything beyond what Apple currently does. I say that as an Apple fan.

Edit: reading that thread again is pretty funny!

 

[jagolden]

• Get rid of snap-to-grid, or at least let me put icons wherever I want (on the grid) without them all shuffling to the upper left. Allow a 2x2 (or 2x3) option for icons that could be somewhat like widgets with live updated info displayed.
• Allow a unique wallpaper for each home page. Might help user keep track of where he/she is. Might lead to some clever "theme" series wallpapers.
• Add a 3D effect to it that shows up when you pan from page to page.
• Make the apps optionally self-sorting. The ones you use more gravitate to the default Home page.
• Add a clean-exit option to the dev kit so apps can be rewritten to close leaving nothing behind. Won't even show up as "recently used".
• Make icons for still-running apps do something to indicate that (they are still running). Pulse/blink/dance/whatever/.
• Add a little "back" icon that stays in the same place relative to however the screen is rotated. Simply takes you one-step back to the last thing/page/app you were at.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Now here are some ideas I like.

 

[Carouser]

1) This is just silly. My MBP doesn't do everything I want, so should I not have bought it? Should I not use iPad unless the next update does everything I want?

No, that's not what I wrote. You said 'why don't they just do basic things' and my response is that if they implemented 'basic things' it wouldn't satisfy what other people are asking for in this thread.

2) You're making this much harder than it has to be. When the advanced user setting is off, everything goes back to the way it would otherwise. Think, "reset to default."

There is no 'way it would be otherwise', especially since you haven't specified exactly what people would be allowed to alter under advanced settings (unless you just mean it would be a list of apps and the default wallpaper, which is an inelegant solution, and prompts further demands, like saved layout states so that one can revert to them, etc.). It's also not the only potential problem (you'll noticed I listed others, but it's far from an exhaustive list). It sounds easy when you imagine it working it right in your head, but you have to think of the contradictions and problems that are possible. Have you ever done hands-on UI design?

3) You don't know that, but still how could they sell better than they already do anyway? It would make the product more customizable. Will iOS 5 sell more iPads? The point is to update the product.

I bet a gazillion dollars that implementing the changes you propose would not sell sufficient iPads to pay for the cost of implementation. The point of updating the product is to satisfy consumer demand, which is measured in sales.

I created a thread a long time ago on here saying that I wanted landscape typing on the iPhone. So many people freaked out saying how stupid that was and people don't need it and it wouldn't work. Remember copy and paste? No wallpapers? Improvements people.

I'm not arguing against any of those things, because that's a different thread. Anyway, I'm not saying that Apple shouldn't make alterations like you suggest. I'm saying there's little incentive to do it, that it's harder to do than just imagining it, and that it won't enhance usage appreciably.

 

[MRU]

Contrary to poular belief, the grass is not always greener on the other side.



I have a HTC Motzart, Samsung Galaxy S2, iPhone 4 and a Palm (HP) Pre 2

I have an iPad 2 as well as a rooted CM7 Nook Color and most recent purchase a 16gb Blackberry Playbook

Despite using most of the competing operating systems extensively i find iOS to be the most fluent and coherent of them all. It's the one with greater support and possibly greatest batterylife be it ob phone and tablet.

Whilst UI may not be bells and whistles, It works, it's always fluid and smooth - somthing that can certainly not be said for competing operating systems.


Whilst I love experimenting with new operating systems, if I had to choose one only it would be iOS

 

[spiderman0616]

It sounds like a lot of you guys want Apple to run 2 OS's on every device--Regular iOS and also a version of iOS that you are not "bored" with. Unfortunately, that's not how software works.

I get so sick of this conversation. The UI is boring because it's the first thing you see when turning your device on, and it's the last thing you see when you turn it off. Switch to another device and you will get sick of that UI eventually too. But how much time do you actually spend sitting there just messing with the UI? Do you sit there and swipe back and forth to different things and take notes on what you do and don't like?

My opinion: if the OS works, is easy to use, and gets you where you need to be, then who cares? You want widgets? Go to Android, or see what the new notification system is like in iOS 5. (I think it will largely solve a lot of these silly widget complaints.) Hopefully, it will let you dock weather conditions into it so we don't have to hear about that anymore. Android users seem to want to check their phones for weather forecasts at least once every 10 minutes because those weather widgets are really really important to them.

For those of you waiting for iOS to get more and more complicated to "keep up" with Android, don't hold your breath. It's not what Apple is all about.

 

[miamialley]

It sounds like a lot of you guys want Apple to run 2 OS's on every device--Regular iOS and also a version of iOS that you are not "bored" with. Unfortunately, that's not how software works.

I get so sick of this conversation. The UI is boring because it's the first thing you see when turning your device on, and it's the last thing you see when you turn it off. Switch to another device and you will get sick of that UI eventually too. But how much time do you actually spend sitting there just messing with the UI? Do you sit there and swipe back and forth to different things and take notes on what you do and don't like?

My opinion: if the OS works, is easy to use, and gets you where you need to be, then who cares? You want widgets? Go to Android, or see what the new notification system is like in iOS 5. (I think it will largely solve a lot of these silly widget complaints.) Hopefully, it will let you dock weather conditions into it so we don't have to hear about that anymore. Android users seem to want to check their phones for weather forecasts at least once every 10 minutes because those weather widgets are really really important to them.

For those of you waiting for iOS to get more and more complicated to "keep up" with Android, don't hold your breath. It's not what Apple is all about.

I'm not sure how wanting UI tweaks equates to wanting a separate OS. Are accessibility features a second OS also? I think we should go back to iOS 1.0 because anything else is too complicated and too much worthless effort for Apple.

 

[Blakjack]

When they change the UI, they change the UI. My vote is to stay the same.

The functionality of the current UI plus the OS features that are coming in iOS 5 are what make the iPhone so desirable to the many different types of consumers that use it. It's not about the look and if it was, I would have to argue that the current look is still beautiful.

Why do u think Apple is pissed Samsung has ripped off it's design. Don't think the look of the UI is going to change anytime soon.

 

[ctbear]

The UI of iOS is getting quite boring, but it's okay because it's still very functional. I'm just kinda disappointed that Apple didn't do much to it when they put it on the iPad...very minor differences between the iPhone and iPad version.
Being kind of lazy if you ask me.

 

[4DThinker]

There is change for change's sake, which I'm not an advocate of. I'd just love to see the UI more efficient. Folders are at least a little help until you have more than a page's worth of apps in one. Then of course when you have a slew of folders it gets even worse since they generally all look alike. Search helps, until you have more then a few results with each search.

I appreciate honeycomb on android tablets because I can:
- Arrange my icons biased to the bottom right where the hand I pick them with is closest to.
- I can stack related apps in columns, starting at the bottom row. All video apps for example like the stock video app, MobiPlayer, Youtube, the TWIT app, etc..
- Widgets, despite how much iPad addicts seem to detest them, are incredibly useful. Often good ones present enough updated info there is no need to open the related app.

and so on.

 

[psonice]

Is the iOS UI starting to seem boring to anybody? The UI hasn't gotten a major refresh ever. Newer Operating Systems like Windows Phone 7, Windows 8, Web OS seem to be just as good as iOS or better. The problem is though the OS doesn't have enough app choice or they just came too late to the smartphone buisness. Do you think apple is getting to comfortable?

Not read the rest of the thread, but...

I think apple try to get a good UI to begin with, then just polish it a bit with each update. Look at OSX, lion is nearly identical to snow leopard, which is almost the same as leopard, and so on. The interface hasn't really had a big update since 10.0. Yet it still looks good, and if you put 10.0 and 10.7 together they're worlds apart.

I think they'll do the same with iOS, until they come up with something significantly better. While it gets a little 'boring', if they change it just for the sake of it, you might like the new version less. It works, it's generally liked, let it be.

(And note that iOS 5 is getting the same polish + tweaks treatment, as we've seen already with notification centre!)

 

[Branskins]

• Get rid of snap-to-grid, or at least let me put icons wherever I want (on the grid) without them all shuffling to the upper left. Allow a 2x2 (or 2x3) option for icons that could be somewhat like widgets with live updated info displayed.
• Allow a unique wallpaper for each home page. Might help user keep track of where he/she is. Might lead to some clever "theme" series wallpapers.
• Add a 3D effect to it that shows up when you pan from page to page.
• Make the apps optionally self-sorting. The ones you use more gravitate to the default Home page.
• Add a clean-exit option to the dev kit so apps can be rewritten to close leaving nothing behind. Won't even show up as "recently used".
• Make icons for still-running apps do something to indicate that (they are still running). Pulse/blink/dance/whatever/.
• Add a little "back" icon that stays in the same place relative to however the screen is rotated. Simply takes you one-step back to the last thing/page/app you were at.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Isn't this just Android?

 

[darngooddesign]

What is it about mobile, that folks want a completely new UI every 2 years or so?
The desktop basic UI hasn't changed for 25 years!

Really??

While the basics behind the UI (folders, icons, etc.) haven't changed, it has grown more robust in how you deal with your info; just look at widgets, dynamic info in the dock, freedom to arrange icons, running multiple applications side by side, etc. That's what people are asking for, keep the basics but increase the capabilities. This is coming form someone who hates widgets on my Droid.

According to a post I read last week, jailbreak me.com had around 1 million visitors. With 200 million iOS devices sold, that would be around 0.5%...

Even if it were 10 times more at 5% of all devices, Apple is quite happy catering to 95% of their user base.

Comparing the total number of iOS devices to a the newest single iteration of jailbreaking is not a fair comparison. Due to the fact that the JBM finally provided a JB for the iPad2, while iPhones iPad1s and iTouches were already jailbreakable previously, its safe to say that the majority of those 1M visitors were iPad2s; however, many visits were multiple JBs. Ancedotal evidence points to around 10% of all iOS devices have been jailbroken. While Apple is happy catering to the non-jailbreakers, they have a history of including JB-only features int heir OS.

 

[mattraehl]

I never thought the UI was entertaining in the first place, so it wouldn't have occured to me to get bored with it. I pick up my iPad to use the apps.

But I think some people want to see a shift in how the iPad is used. Despite it's drastic depature from a traditional PC, the iPad still fundamentally asks you the same question as a PC when you turn it on - "What do you want to do now?" It sounds like some of us want to turn on their iPad and have it tell us "Hey, here's some stuff you can do or look at!" based on their past app usage and messages and social networks and app notifications and such.

Personally I don't want that (It's already way to easy to waste time on the iPad!), but I can see the appeal.

I would like to be able to set an icon for folders, though.

As a side note, I will never understand this obession with being able to see the "weather" all the time. Weather at a glance is useless eye-candy. I can guess the current temperature close enough at any given moment, I don't need a fancy icon to tell me if it's sunny or stormy or whatever, and if I need more info than that I'm going to have to pull up a full forecast from somewhere anyways. Not to mention, the "exact" temperature it's telling you is at least 20 minutes out of date based on observation station update frequency, how quickly those updates are propogated to whatever service you're using, and how frequent your widget/app/whatever polls the service. And it's almost certianly not the correct temperature for where you are standing at the moment anyways!

 

[WordMasterRice]

I never thought the UI was entertaining in the first place, so it wouldn't have occured to me to get bored with it. I pick up my iPad to use the apps.

But I think some people want to see a shift in how the iPad is used. Despite it's drastic depature from a traditional PC, the iPad still fundamentally asks you the same question as a PC when you turn it on - "What do you want to do now?" It sounds like some of us want to turn on their iPad and have it tell us "Hey, here's some stuff you can do or look at!" based on their past app usage and messages and social networks and app notifications and such.

Personally I don't want that (It's already way to easy to waste time on the iPad!), but I can see the appeal.

I would like to be able to set an icon for folders, though.

I have an iPhone and an iPad, and I use them for different things. The biggest problem I have with the iPad is that I hate that it is nothing more than a big iPhone. 99% of the time the extra screen space is wasted. The iPhone's version of multitasking works great on the iPhone, but it isn't quite at home on the iPad.

Normally Apple comes up with creative solutions to problems but the iPad is a distinct lack of any solutions. Every stock app on the iPad took the iPhone version and made it bigger with a few minor adjustments. The multitasking bar on the iPad is rather pathetic, they couldn't come up with a better solution than take the iPhone multitasking bar and put more icons on it? What about an expose look or something? What about dashboard like on OSX for the few widgets, that can be invoked similar to how the new notification center works, with some gesture and it overlays whatever you are doing.

I wish it were just a bit more like a PC and just a bit less like an iPhone, but with the way apple is moving with Lion it looks like even our computers will be big iPhone's too.

 

[mattraehl]

I have an iPhone and an iPad, and I use them for different things. The biggest problem I have with the iPad is that I hate that it is nothing more than a big iPhone. 99% of the time the extra screen space is wasted. The iPhone's version of multitasking works great on the iPhone, but it isn't quite at home on the iPad.

What apps are you using? I will never understand the "it's just a big iPod Touch" complaint. That's the whole point! The screen is bigger and the processor is better so now you can do more stuff!

The larger screen is better for web browsing and email. Better for reading a digital magazine on the couch, or a newspaper at the kitchen table. Better for recipes/cooking in the kitchen. Better for my kid to watch videos on a road trip. Better for showing photos to someone. Better for browsing TV listings with the FIOS DVR app. I mean for Pete's sake it's even better for playing stupid casual physics games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope!

 

[psonice]

Multitasking is a whole lot better with the new gesture support (assuming it's built into iOS5?) Instead of the endless double-pressing the home button, you just swipe your hand up to get the task list, or left/right to switch apps. It's a small change, but it makes a huge difference - I REALLY miss it on the iphone.

It would be nice to have options like side-by-side though. Maybe they'll implement something like that when the rumoured 'HD' ipad comes out. Doing it now wouldn't work, as all of the apps expect a full screen. Doubling the screen res, you could run 4 apps at once without losing any detail, or two at once side by side. That could probably be handled by the OS too.

Downside would be that any 'heavy' apps would really kill performance (imagine running 2 high end games at once!) and finger sized buttons would suddenly get small. So I doubt apple will do it, it's too much of a compromise.

 

[4DThinker]

It would be nice to have options like side-by-side though. Maybe they'll implement something like that when the rumoured 'HD' ipad comes out. Doing it now wouldn't work, as all of the apps expect a full screen. Doubling the screen res, you could run 4 apps at once without losing any detail, or two at once side by side. That could probably be handled by the OS too.

Downside would be that any 'heavy' apps would really kill performance (imagine running 2 high end games at once!) and finger sized buttons would suddenly get small. So I doubt apple will do it, it's too much of a compromise.

The 4:3 screen ratio doesn't lend itself to simple side-by-side app windows. Only one screen ratio [1:sqrt(2)] does, and Apple won't go there. A 2x2 (4 apps) grid works fine on any screen ratio though. Should the next iPad have a 4-core processor then keeping 4 challenging apps running at the same time shouldn't be a problem.

 

[kuwisdelu]

And to the people that say, "i spend 0 time looking at the home screen"..
well why would you, there's nothing there. It's a portal to different apps. But what if the home screen was both a hub to all your apps, and a information screen that told you your latest emails.. or stocks.. or weather, calendar, download status..

Even on my desktop computers, I don't spend any time staring at my desktop background or widgets. I can see myself doing it on my iPad, either. And why should I spend time looking at the home screen waiting for a download to finish or waiting for an email to arrive? The OS will tell me anyway even if I'm in another app.