iPhone 13 Pro Max Tiny default fonts and lack of font scaling on 13 Pro Max

[BiggAW]

I got a 13 Pro Max a couple of days ago, and I've noticed that the default font sizes in a lot of iOS apps are TINY, and that there is no way to scale them. Many apps as well as the system have font scaling options, but they only apply to some elements, others seems to be fixed at a TINY size. I'm going to look into this more, but is there some particular issue with the 13 Pro Max's screen size and resolution that makes the default fonts TINY, or is this an issue across iOS? I never even thought of this as an issue coming from Android, for all the stuff that Android doesn't do well, I've never had an issue with the default font sizes, possibly a legacy of Google having to support multiple screen sizes and resolutions since the DROID came out in 2009, joining the G1, whereas Apple didn't really have multiple screen sizes until the iPhone 6 in 2014?

I'm very disappointed, as the phone is likely going to have to get returned, as I like a lot of other things about the iPhone, some obvious like battery life and overall OS smoothness, others not so much like the excellent audio quality that's far better than anything I've ever heard from a smartphone. If I get my broken Note 9 repaired, I can ride that out for a year or two until Samsung stops doing quarterly security updates, and then idk what I'll do.

 

[now i see it]

Most 3rd party apps are designed by clueless individuals in regards to usability issues. There’s countless thousands of them in the App Store with horrible hard to see buttons, minuscule interface elements and very poor color choices. These types of apps can’t be tweaked. Either use them or toss em.

 

[wilberforce]

Does this help?

Customize the text size and zoom setting on iPhone

On iPhone, customize the text size and zoom setting to magnify the screen.

support.apple.com

I use this setting on my 11 Pro Max

 

[BiggAW]

Most 3rd party apps are designed by clueless individuals in regards to usability issues. There’s countless thousands of them in the App Store with horrible hard to see buttons, minuscule interface elements and very poor color choices. These types of apps can’t be tweaked. Either use them or toss em.

I'm just looking at major apps like WaPo and Google Maps. I do find it hilarious that the iOS and Android versions of GMail are each missing features that the other has, and by some accounts, the iOS version is better than the Android version.

Does this help?

Customize the text size and zoom setting on iPhone

On iPhone, customize the text size and zoom setting to magnify the screen.

support.apple.com

I use this setting on my 11 Pro Max

Yes it does help to an extent, but something about the sizing and fonts are still a bit out of whack.

 

[BiggAW]

The 13 Pro Max is going back to Apple. Very disappointed at the font/scaling issues, it seemed like an amazing device otherwise. Going to try and get the Note 9 repaired and I'll figure out what to get in late 2023/early 2024 when security updates for the Note 9 have ended.

On a side note, even though I can't get 5G due to AT&T's stupid and petty policy of not enabling 5G on older plans, the iPhone 13 Pro Max's 4G LTE performance is insane. It's an absolute beast speed wise in weak signal areas.

 

[Fred Zed]

The 13 Pro Max is going back to Apple. Very disappointed at the font/scaling issues, it seemed like an amazing device otherwise. Going to try and get the Note 9 repaired and I'll figure out what to get in late 2023/early 2024 when security updates for the Note 9 have ended.

On a side note, even though I can't get 5G due to AT&T's stupid and petty policy of not enabling 5G on older plans, the iPhone 13 Pro Max's 4G LTE performance is insane. It's an absolute beast speed wise in weak signal areas.

Strange. As I’m also getting old and need large fonts. The basic settings within accessibility and display and certain apps was sufficient. There’s also a zoom function over and above the font sizing that makes everything bigger. Look how big my fonts are as I type this…
But alas, some apps looks nicer on android font size wise, like Fakebook for example.

 

[BiggAW]

Strange. As I’m also getting old and need large fonts. The basic settings within accessibility and display and certain apps was sufficient. There’s also a zoom function over and above the font sizing that makes everything bigger. Look how big my fonts are as I type this…
But alas, some apps looks nicer on android font size wise, like Fakebook for example.

The fonts that scale scale fairly well, but even with Zoom and scaled fonts, something is just off, and the UI elements are consistently inconsistent. I haven't done a whole lot of zooming in Android, I think only in Nova Launcher, which is totally customizable anyway everything else comes up at a relatively consistent and normal size by default. I think Apple is still suffering from having the first seven years of the iPhone all have basically the same screen size (with the 5 and 5s being elongated 4s screens).

I'm still surprised that this is an issue, especially since iOS is only two layers of software, an app and iOS, not four like on Android, where you've got apps, the launcher, and Samsung BloatWiz all running on top of Android and attempting to peacefully co-exist. I've also never had this problem on my iPad, which is the regular OG iPad size. The iPhone SE is consistently small, but manageable.

 

[Fred Zed]

The fonts that scale scale fairly well, but even with Zoom and scaled fonts, something is just off, and the UI elements are consistently inconsistent. I haven't done a whole lot of zooming in Android, I think only in Nova Launcher, which is totally customizable anyway everything else comes up at a relatively consistent and normal size by default. I think Apple is still suffering from having the first seven years of the iPhone all have basically the same screen size (with the 5 and 5s being elongated 4s screens).

I'm still surprised that this is an issue, especially since iOS is only two layers of software, an app and iOS, not four like on Android, where you've got apps, the launcher, and Samsung BloatWiz all running on top of Android and attempting to peacefully co-exist. I've also never had this problem on my iPad, which is the regular OG iPad size. The iPhone SE is consistently small, but manageable.

Web browsing on the s21U had the edge over the iPhone eye wise for sure.

 

[BiggAW]

Web browsing on the s21U had the edge over the iPhone eye wise for sure.

Yeah, I'm going to try and get the Note 9 fixed. The fonts aren't that big on it, but they're reasonably not tiny and consistent enough that they are fine.

 

[jm31828]

So does this mean that ultimately, default font size in apps on a 13 Pro Max would be the same size as it would on the mini- with the only difference really being how much fits on the screen?

 

[Fred Zed]

So does this mean that ultimately, default font size in apps on a 13 Pro Max would be the same size as it would on the mini- with the only difference really being how much fits on the screen?

There was a thread about someone saying the fonts were more legible on the 6.1 13 than the max pro.

 

[BiggAW]

There was a thread about someone saying the fonts were more legible on the 6.1 13 than the max pro.

That may very well be the case. Some of the UI elements seem to be connected to the screen resolution, although the pixel density is nearly identical on the two, so I'm not really sure why it's so messed up. The iPhone 13 and 13 Pro Max are 460 and 458ppi, the older button iPhones were 326-401 ppi, so I'm wondering if the UI elements are tied to resolution and not to actual size, so the density goes up and stuff starts showing up being way too small? If this is the case, I can't believe it hasn't been addressed, however, as the pixel densities shot up starting with the iPhone X, so it's not a new characteristic of the 13 Pro Max. AFAIK, Android isn't tied to resolution, as there are a near infinite number of screen resolutions, aspect ratios, and sizes out there in the Android world.

 

[Fred Zed]

That may very well be the case. Some of the UI elements seem to be connected to the screen resolution, although the pixel density is nearly identical on the two, so I'm not really sure why it's so messed up. The iPhone 13 and 13 Pro Max are 460 and 458ppi, the older button iPhones were 326-401 ppi, so I'm wondering if the UI elements are tied to resolution and not to actual size, so the density goes up and stuff starts showing up being way too small? If this is the case, I can't believe it hasn't been addressed, however, as the pixel densities shot up starting with the iPhone X, so it's not a new characteristic of the 13 Pro Max. AFAIK, Android isn't tied to resolution, as there are a near infinite number of screen resolutions, aspect ratios, and sizes out there in the Android world.

Here. I found the thread.

Display Zoom - Iphone 13

Does anyone know if the Iphone 13 6.1inch have the same display zoom as last years Iphone 12? I found the display zoom on Last years Iphone 12 made everything a bit bigger than the pro max version for some reason. Ordered the 13 pro max but thinking of returning if display zoom is still bigger...

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