„Just some beta bashing“

[Parowdy]

Originally titled „I have never downgraded from a beta, until now“

And I can only hope that until September they've figured out how to fix this abomination mess.
Black Wallpaper users will not be happy, unfortunately neither will be anyone else. All in all, it seems they have forgotten what their goal should be, because this readability nightmare isn't it, and the low quality app icons don't help. The inconsistencies in the UI are glaring and, frankly, an ugly downgrade.
I understand how it might look great on a case free 16 Pro Max, but the great thing about the previous design is how it goes with every screen, every case and basically every environment.
I never imagined to be let down by Apple's redesign but here I am, typing this on my MacBook while restoring iOS 18 on my 15 Pro.

Edit: how can something so „clean“ be so unpolished?

Edit 2:
TL;DR apparently I and everyone that dislikes the first available preview are the problem lol
I understand that things will change, they better do. But that doesn’t change the fact that this „unifying design language“ is dividing people.
First impressions matter, and Apple fumbled this one, not just in my opinion.
But if it makes you feel better for a second, tell me how wrong I am

Edit 3: changed the title and „abomination“ so you all can chill a bit.
But I keep my general standpoint, Apple fumbled.
If your biggest feature is a redesign, you better deliver the moment it is available to any portion of the public. Because people will be vocal about their opinions, especially if they don’t like what they see.
There is bad press even without this one thread.

See you all in September.

 

[Absrnd]

O my god, does Tim Apple know ?

 

[mattopotamus]

The overreaction is strong to a beta 1 release. If you have been a part of the beta since the ios7 days, you know things can change significantly from now - September.

 

[HouseLannister]

Black Wallpaper users will not be happy

Solid black with dark icons looks.... decent, I guess. Black with the Vapor effect is what I am using now. I'm not happy, but it will do. The light icons look real bad now with dark wallpapers. The grays in Camera, Calculator, and Settings are all horrible.

 

[mattopotamus]

Solid black with dark icons looks.... decent, I guess. Black with the Vapor effect is what I am using now. I'm not happy, but it will do. The light icons look real bad now with dark wallpapers. The grays in Camera, Calculator, and Settings are all horrible.

Just turn off transparency in accessibility settings and it looks better.

 

[Artemiz]

If only you had the patience to wait a couple hours you’d have saved yourself a whole lot more time restoring.

While there are some legibility issues with the new design I’m sure it’ll be tweaked overtime just like they did with iOS 7. And that “previous design” was introduced almost 12 years ago. Let’s circle back in 12 years and I’m sure you’d be just as happy with this one then.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Tim Apple gonna give you a whoopin'.

 

[mattopotamus]

If only you had the patience to wait a couple hours you’d have saved yourself a whole lot more time restoring.

While there are some legibility issues with the new design I’m sure it’ll be tweaked overtime just like they did with iOS 7. And that “previous design” was introduced almost 12 years ago. Let’s circle back in 12 years and I’m sure you’d be just as happy with this one then.

I have been reminding myself how bad ios7 was during the first few betas.

 

[Artemiz]

I have been reminding myself how bad ios7 was during the first few betas.

I couldn’t stand it. Went back and forth multiple times during the beta cycle and there were resprings, stuttering you name it.

 

[HouseLannister]

Just turn off transparency in accessibility settings and it looks better.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

View attachment 2518313

I celebrate the entire catalog.

 

[Parowdy]

The overreaction is strong to a beta 1 release. If you have been a part of the beta since the ios7 days, you know things can change significantly from now - September.

I have been a beta tester since iOS 9, so I’ve been around for some time.
Doesn’t change the fact that their first go at this is bad.
Like I said, I hope they change things, but I’m skeptical how much that will be. I appreciate the effort so far, but that’s it.

 

[Parowdy]

Just turn off transparency in accessibility settings and it looks better.

Better but not good. Turning off transparency shouldn’t be(come) the default.

 

[Parowdy]

If only you had the patience to wait a couple hours you’d have saved yourself a whole lot more time restoring.

While there are some legibility issues with the new design I’m sure it’ll be tweaked overtime just like they did with iOS 7. And that “previous design” was introduced almost 12 years ago. Let’s circle back in 12 years and I’m sure you’d be just as happy with this one then.

It’s not like it’s been bad for 12 years. Sure, there are people that still dislike the flat design language. I don’t expect them to like this much more.
Actually, it’s been so long I did the restore wrong, so I’m now sticking with 26 until my IPSW downloaded. Maybe I’ll try to be more open minded towards all the changes, but so far it’s not been a pleasant experience for me.

 

[Parowdy]

During the keynote I was already confused seeing the new Notification Center animation. First I thought surely this is a bug, because practically the same thing was happening for years because of a bug, but apparently someone at Apple saw this and thought it might es well be a feature.
Not being able to do a half open of the NC to glance at a notification is another big downgrade for me.

 

[Parowdy]

Tim Apple gonna give you a whoopin'.

I wouldn’t mind, would come right back at him.
I can’t believe we have iOS 26 and still no universal back swipe gesture or per App volume controls. I‘d make sure he understood why that’s ridiculous once I’m done with my whooping.
Personally, I didnt look forward to many new things, but at least these two. But nope, an unreadable Control Center was apparently more important. What a letdown of a redesign.

 

[Parowdy]

O my god, does Tim Apple know ?

Im pretty sure Cupertino is being flooded with critical feedback this exact moment.

 

[adrianlondon]

This is the first time in many years that I haven't installed the iOS and MacOS betas on day one.

I'm glad I didn't. I like the idea but not the beta 1 implementation of it. It'll improve; I just need to try and be patient

 

[HouseLannister]

Im pretty sure Cupertino is being flooded with critical feedback this exact moment.

Flooded might be an overstatement. There is plenty of feedback out there positive and negative. Just a matter of if Apple listens to what might be a vocal minority or insists they got it right and try to bend reality to their will.

Some developers have already commented about the design, both good and bad:

https://www.wired.com/story/designers-react-to-apple-liquid-glass/

 

[Parowdy]

This is the first time in many years that I haven't installed the iOS and MacOS betas on day one.

I'm glad I didn't. I like the idea but not the beta 1 implementation of it. It'll improve; I just need to try and be patient

Yeah it’s the first time I actually regret doing it. I’ve come close before, like with the, I think, first iOS 16 beta which was really really bad and unstable.
I honestly think I could have installed a jailbreak and it would have looked nicer AND had more interesting features.
Even scrolling around and replying here on MacRumors is just bad.

 

[Parowdy]

Flooded might be an overstatement. There is plenty of feedback out there positive and negative. Just a matter of if Apple listens to what might be a vocal minority or insists they got it right and try to bend reality to their will.

Some developers have already commented about the design, both good and bad:

https://www.wired.com/story/designers-react-to-apple-liquid-glass/

I meant that more in the way of that there are a lot of opinions going around.
Personally I can’t imaging how any respectable UI designer can not find the new design elements overwhelming and ugly. I get the esthetic and I can imaging it looking descent on the Mac or iPad, but not on the iPhone.
I feel (and fear) for Mini users.
I haven’t come across a single backdrop yet the Control Center doesn’t look bad on.
It isn’t even „form over function“. It’s is state of matter over visibility.

 

[gigapocket1]

I know some are saying hold tight, just wait.. Its sure to improve....
And yet last year they launched the photos app.. Which we all hated and just tolerate...

 

[hasanahmad]

The final design shown in Developer Session today looks nothing like the Dev beta 1 :

 

[Parowdy]

I know some are saying hold tight, just wait.. Its sure to improve....
And yet last year they launched the photos app.. Which we all hated and just tolerate...

I mean, they backtracked a little on that.
These changes are so radical, I expect them to add a mode that reverts the design to flat.

 

[Rogifan]

The final design shown in Developer Session today looks nothing like the Dev beta 1 :

Which session?