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Lighter typeface or heavier typeface in iOS 7?
- Thread starter bjcskier
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Comparisons...
Beta 1/2:
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Personally I think the older version looks nicer in a screenshot, but I prefer the thicker font on my actual phone screen.
Beta 3:
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Beta 1/2:
Personally I think the older version looks nicer in a screenshot, but I prefer the thicker font on my actual phone screen.
Beta 3:
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the lighter made it look better, the heavier makes it look like they're trying to go back to the iOS 6 font
I like the heavier. Looks a lot more clean. The ultra light version looks too futuristic.
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Found this on The Verge forums:
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Found this on The Verge forums:
It's a pet peeve of mine when people say Ultra Light, Ultra Light is used incredibly infrequently in iO7. It's only used for things like the lock screen time, world clock, and temperature. What changed was Helvetica Light went to Helvetica Regular/Roman.
Anyway, I prefer Helvetica Light, but maybe I just need to get used to the change.
Anyway, I prefer Helvetica Light, but maybe I just need to get used to the change.
Most people around my parents' age would struggle to read the original lighter style so, for their benefit & others like them, I vote for the newer heavier font with increased clarity.
On a non retina screen like the iPad mini's the lighter font doesnt look that great, especially with very small font sizes. They should try to fix this, Beta 3 is way better when it comes to this.
I honestly preferred the ultra light more. Now it just looks too bold...especially in the messages app. In the setting it's okay because the type has some space in between it, but it's too close to be that weight in messages. Maybe increase the leading? Or use the "light" weight? It's in between ultralight and regular. Maybe that'll be a nice balance of readability and aesthetics.
Thinner font looked neater but the the thicker version is the better choice. More consistently legible in more situations by more users.
The thinner version would be a step back in usability for many existing iOS 6 users. While you and I may be able to read it just fine, many can't, and I can't imagine anything that would tarnish the impression of the OS worse than "I used to be able to read it and now I can't".
The thinner version would be a step back in usability for many existing iOS 6 users. While you and I may be able to read it just fine, many can't, and I can't imagine anything that would tarnish the impression of the OS worse than "I used to be able to read it and now I can't".
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i doubt the change came as a result of feedback. I think what the final GM will have is ultra light beta 1/2 font for iPhones/ipods, and the regular beta 3 font for ipad's.
ios 7, is only ending up on retina display iphones, where the light font renders quite nicely. but its still coming to the non retina ipad 2 so they need to use the more legible on non-retina font there.
I personally like the light font. Even though my eyesight is bad, I can still see it fine. Although I do understand why some people would prefer the bolder/heavier version.
What I really don't understand is that while Apple is willing to give us different font sizes and the option for bold text, why can't they implement that change over the whole OS instead of only for apps that support it. I mean it's pretty clear that if someone wants to use bold font or a bigger font size, they want to see it across the OS, not just on some apps.
What I really don't understand is that while Apple is willing to give us different font sizes and the option for bold text, why can't they implement that change over the whole OS instead of only for apps that support it. I mean it's pretty clear that if someone wants to use bold font or a bigger font size, they want to see it across the OS, not just on some apps.
Idea...
How about the CHOICE to select which font you want? Personally, I dont mind the Beta 3 font throughout the OS, however it looks like **** in the Messages app. The lighter font looked so much better for SMS and iMessage.
And seriously, how bad is the majority of everyones eyesight? Mine is pretty bad and I could see the skinny font just fine.
How about the CHOICE to select which font you want? Personally, I dont mind the Beta 3 font throughout the OS, however it looks like **** in the Messages app. The lighter font looked so much better for SMS and iMessage.
And seriously, how bad is the majority of everyones eyesight? Mine is pretty bad and I could see the skinny font just fine.
I see via my twitter feed that Business Insider is running a "font gate" click bait story claiming bloggers scored one over on Jony Ive by getting him to change the font in iOS 7. They even get quotes from Marco Armet who seems to think Apple is making changes based off of things on his blog. I almost vomited up my lunch reading the story. According to Mark Gurnman at 9to5Mac, things we're seeing in beta 3 were floating around during WWDC.
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Yeah you're probably right. The more I think about it, I doub this font change was due to complaints on the interwebs...
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Yeah you're probably right. The more I think about it, I doub this font change was due to complaints on the interwebs...
I have to admit, the light font looks great on the device, but I had to squint to actually read. The regular one, while less pretty, is much more readable. Also, I don't see the need for an option, either.
While I prefer the lighter font myself, I don't mind the new one.. but my thought is, why not change the Bold switch in Accessibility to a toggle between normal (beta 3 norm) light (beta 1, 2) and bold (help, I can't see things)?
That would be nice.
While we're at it, let's get a dawn and dusk toggling day and night modes!
That would be nice.
While we're at it, let's get a dawn and dusk toggling day and night modes!
The funny thing is that I already adopted to the Ultra Light variation of Helvetica Neue, so that the normal one looks too fat now. But yeah, the heavier typeface is definitely better.