I cannot stand this about the MacOS. It is a throw back to the horrible UI/UX of the mid-nineties. Mac sucks, Windows rules! I just HATE that they are so effing small. MacOS has not been properly updated except to add a bunch of nearly useless features that only work half the time. Make the dots bigger! I would like switch except for this one thing. I CANNOT STAND IT ANYMORE, Apple fix this! It is shameful that Apple has not given us a proper UI/UX update in decades.
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Is there any way in God's green earth to make the traffic light dots BIGGER?
- Thread starter Cape Dave
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It's not a flaw, it's working as intended. Looks like you would be better off staying on Windows.
No there's no way to make them bigger other than scaling, but then you will make everything else bigger too.
Also, maybe you should give this thread a read:
ux.stackexchange.com
No there's no way to make them bigger other than scaling, but then you will make everything else bigger too.
Mac OS didn't have buttons in mid 90s like it has now.
Yes they have. Mac OS has had UI refresh several times.
Also, maybe you should give this thread a read:
Is there a benefit to Mac OSX red/yellow/green title bar buttons being so small?
In Mac OS X, the red/yellow/green buttons in window title bars are much smaller and closely-spaced compared to other UI elements like toolbar buttons. Making UI elements small makes them harder to
Well, we see you leave and yes, thanks for any - if there was - constructive contribution here in the past. 🤜🤛
It's not a flaw, it's working as intended. Looks like you would be better off staying on Windows.
No there's no way to make them bigger other than scaling, but then you will make everything else bigger too.
Mac OS didn't have buttons in mid 90s like it has now.
Yes they have. Mac OS has had UI refresh several times.
Also, maybe you should give this thread a read:
Is there a benefit to Mac OSX red/yellow/green title bar buttons being so small?
In Mac OS X, the red/yellow/green buttons in window title bars are much smaller and closely-spaced compared to other UI elements like toolbar buttons. Making UI elements small makes them harder to
If it was a "proper" refresh, they would have fixed this. It speaks to inaccessibility.
Good article. This sums up my argument:
"In Mac OS X, the red/yellow/green buttons in window title bars are much smaller and closely-spaced compared to other UI elements like toolbar buttons.
Making UI elements small makes them harder to click, especially at higher resolutions on smaller screens, when using non-mouse (trackpad) interfaces, or for elderly/young/disabled users."
Also, they really do not even have to make them actually bigger. Just increase the "active" area around them like Windows did with their - _ X in the upper right of each window. A no brainer, Apple!
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In the Accessibility section of System Settings (or Preferences) you can enable Zoom to toggle between 2 zoom levels using keyboard shortcuts. Then you'd:
- press a key to toggle Zoom on
- move over the red/yellow/green button you want
- click it
- press the key again to toggle Zoom off
- press a key to toggle Zoom on
- move over the red/yellow/green button you want
- click it
- press the key again to toggle Zoom off
Zoom in on what’s onscreen on Mac
On your Mac, use your keyboard, mouse, or trackpad to zoom in on part of the screen.
support.apple.com
Change Zoom settings for accessibility on Mac
On your Mac, set options to make items on the screen appear larger.
support.apple.com
I'm not sure this would satisfy your needs, but perhaps you could try the keyboard shortcuts instead of clicking some of the buttons? Command+W for close, Command+Q for quit, Command+M for minimize, and Control+Command+F for full screen.
Snow Leopard had slightly bigger ones, but the size hasn't changed again since Lion IIRC.
You don't always have to click on things
🔴 command-W to close the window. (If it's a window with multiple tabs, command-shift-W to close them all, command-W to close one tab)
🟠 command-M to minimize the window to the dock.
🟢 command-ctrl-F to make the window full screen. Same combo to leave full screen, or press ESC.
There. Now you don't have to click at all. If you pay attention (instead of just ranting), you'll find you can do what you need without even using the mouse.
Also, since you mention accessibility, there's a HOST of features for elderly/young/disabled users in the Accessibility settings, which is a lot more comprehensive than just "make everything bigger". The solution to every problem isn't to just make a blown up Fisher Price version of the UI.
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What is MacOS?
ChatGPT please generate the rest of the response from the point of view of a OS/2 Warp fan.
Do you have a 8K monitor on a laptop with the display set to 'More Space'?
Yes, thank you. I kind of tried that, but I have been clicking for so long it is hard to change. If Windows keeps up with their insane ads, I may have to try again
LOL! Good one! ChatGPT please generate the rest of the response from the point of view of a GeoWorks fan. LOL!What is MacOS?
ChatGPT please generate the rest of the response from the point of view of a OS/2 Warp fan.
Do you have a 8K monitor on a laptop with the display set to 'More Space'?
And, like I said, they do not even have to make them bigger. Just change the "active" area to include the space ALREADY AROUND the circles.
Thank you all for your responses. I know it was a bit of a "rant", but I was getting no action from my usual categories in my favorite forum. Now I got action! And I did actually think that MAYBE there was actually a way to change this with some sort of theming app. This would take Apple about 15 seconds to fix (by changing the "active area" around the dots). I mean, they did manage to create and manufacture the Vision Pro.
It’s always fascinating to me to see what causes issues/concerns for different people. For the OP it’s the size of the close/minimize/maximize buttons on macOS and for myself it’s that Apple removes my way of working, which used to be the default e.g. leaving volume buttons with identical functions regardless of orientation on the iPad. (I still use the wrong button depending on orientation).
This really is a case of Apple Knows Best being a block to improving the system. When Macs were limited to a handful of screen sizes and resolutions it was less a concern, but comparing OSX Jaguar on a 15” 1024x768 iMac with macOS 14 on a dual 32” 6K Mac Studio should allow for more flexibility in UI/UX elements… not to mention the impact from using one/several of the myriad and seemingly limitless screen sizes and resolutions available from third parties such as a 49” 32:9 1800R curve 5120x1440 240Hz monitor…
Don’t even get me started on the complete waste of screen real estate (and unsuited to purpose) attempting to access Settings on macOS has become… on my dual 32” 4K displays. Really looking forward to a 6” box in the middle of my 40” 8K monitor when that becomes a thing. /end rant
I have great news, however! You’re going to find elements of eye scratching inanity in all OSes… I use Windows a bit and still hate it much more than I dislike macOS (especially when it comes to resolution handling). And I’m not about to take the weight of Linux on my shoulders except on a Steam Deck…
This really is a case of Apple Knows Best being a block to improving the system. When Macs were limited to a handful of screen sizes and resolutions it was less a concern, but comparing OSX Jaguar on a 15” 1024x768 iMac with macOS 14 on a dual 32” 6K Mac Studio should allow for more flexibility in UI/UX elements… not to mention the impact from using one/several of the myriad and seemingly limitless screen sizes and resolutions available from third parties such as a 49” 32:9 1800R curve 5120x1440 240Hz monitor…
Don’t even get me started on the complete waste of screen real estate (and unsuited to purpose) attempting to access Settings on macOS has become… on my dual 32” 4K displays. Really looking forward to a 6” box in the middle of my 40” 8K monitor when that becomes a thing. /end rant
I have great news, however! You’re going to find elements of eye scratching inanity in all OSes… I use Windows a bit and still hate it much more than I dislike macOS (especially when it comes to resolution handling). And I’m not about to take the weight of Linux on my shoulders except on a Steam Deck…
- Open the Settings app on your iPad
- Choose Sounds on the left-hand sidebar
- At the bottom, you can toggle on Fixed Position Volume Controls
Vertical window controls were a thing for some time in iTunes, though still on the left side.
This option is unavailable on newer iPad models (since 2021 or so), unfortunately. Apple decided to not allow fixed controls anymore when you buy a new device. The toggle is only for old devices released when fixed controls were standard.
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I think designers like to make things small because to them it looks better.
I bought my first airtag the other day and the instructions in the box were so small i had to get my phone out to magnify the words. The tiny letters could have been etched onto an atom. And there was about 80% unused whitespace as well
I bought my first airtag the other day and the instructions in the box were so small i had to get my phone out to magnify the words. The tiny letters could have been etched onto an atom. And there was about 80% unused whitespace as well