As a whole, I appreciate the design and functionality changes within iOS7. It's breathed new life into the OS, given people something new to explore and talk about.
But Apple seem to have lost their way when it comes to the basics of playing some music on an iPhone. It's become fiddly, complicated, fragmented and regressed - iOS6 had the right balance
Why? Well, based on personal experience and comments made by colleagues, friends etc, the most regular complaints are..
-- Why have users been forced to listen to podcasts in the separate app? Apple - not everyone listens to spoken word podcasts. We listen to music mixes etc.. Having those mixes in the SAME PLACE as our other music makes it a more seamless experience. Switching apps is a ball-ache
-- Why can't we delete entire Albums in one swipe any more? Track by track, is again, a ballache
-- The controls to scrub through tracks are tiny and barely usable. iOS6 allowed you to scrub and see the slider under your finger - now you have a tiny red line that leads to inaccurate movement thru tracks
-- Music control while the phone is locked is very very frustrating in iOS7 in a few ways...
1) iOS6 - you could double click the home button, the controls (large) would appear on screen. You could hit play and instantly listen to some shuffled music. In iOS7 - you have to swipe up,hit play then hope it starts a track (which it doesnt always do)
2) The above isnt too much of an issue when the phone is on a desk in front of you, or in your hand... but when you're using the phone while running, the clunky process is unhelpful and unintuitive. If you use an arm band to hold your iphone while you exercise try dragging the control centre up, selecting the music app and playing a track while you've got a plastic cover over the screen - it's nigh on impossible
3) You cant enter the music app unless there's a track already playing - why isnt Music.app quickly accessible from Control Centre? I'd use that more than a stopwatch
3) There's no indication that a track is playing unless you open control centre. Where has the triangular 'play' icon gone in the taskbar?
-- In Album view, the coverart icons are too large- takes longer to scroll thru a collection of albums, especially as the alphbetical slider on the right hand side of the screen is smaller and omits every other letter
Overall, the app is flawed / too skewed toward the purchase of media via the iTunes store
I doubt very much whether Apple will read this post or listen to customer feedback and deviate from their design vision. Apple regularly claim they identify a customer need and fulfill it - would be good if they were good to their word on this particular aspect of iOS7
But Apple seem to have lost their way when it comes to the basics of playing some music on an iPhone. It's become fiddly, complicated, fragmented and regressed - iOS6 had the right balance
Why? Well, based on personal experience and comments made by colleagues, friends etc, the most regular complaints are..
-- Why have users been forced to listen to podcasts in the separate app? Apple - not everyone listens to spoken word podcasts. We listen to music mixes etc.. Having those mixes in the SAME PLACE as our other music makes it a more seamless experience. Switching apps is a ball-ache
-- Why can't we delete entire Albums in one swipe any more? Track by track, is again, a ballache
-- The controls to scrub through tracks are tiny and barely usable. iOS6 allowed you to scrub and see the slider under your finger - now you have a tiny red line that leads to inaccurate movement thru tracks
-- Music control while the phone is locked is very very frustrating in iOS7 in a few ways...
1) iOS6 - you could double click the home button, the controls (large) would appear on screen. You could hit play and instantly listen to some shuffled music. In iOS7 - you have to swipe up,hit play then hope it starts a track (which it doesnt always do)
2) The above isnt too much of an issue when the phone is on a desk in front of you, or in your hand... but when you're using the phone while running, the clunky process is unhelpful and unintuitive. If you use an arm band to hold your iphone while you exercise try dragging the control centre up, selecting the music app and playing a track while you've got a plastic cover over the screen - it's nigh on impossible
3) You cant enter the music app unless there's a track already playing - why isnt Music.app quickly accessible from Control Centre? I'd use that more than a stopwatch
3) There's no indication that a track is playing unless you open control centre. Where has the triangular 'play' icon gone in the taskbar?
-- In Album view, the coverart icons are too large- takes longer to scroll thru a collection of albums, especially as the alphbetical slider on the right hand side of the screen is smaller and omits every other letter
Overall, the app is flawed / too skewed toward the purchase of media via the iTunes store
I doubt very much whether Apple will read this post or listen to customer feedback and deviate from their design vision. Apple regularly claim they identify a customer need and fulfill it - would be good if they were good to their word on this particular aspect of iOS7