Why Apple is choosing design over features?

[godzilla1200]

I managed to install iOS 7 on my iPhone 4S. I was excited to see and try all the new things that the OS offered, but then I realized that there's not much new. Although there are a lot of new little things as you can see in the "All new little things thread", there are no major new features.

I am bothered with this because I thought that iOS 7 would be the perfect opportunity to have it overhauled and do new things, but what Apple mostly did was just "repainted" the iOS while adding the usual little tweaks. Also, the flat design is really inconsistent. One example: When choosing the time for the alarm clock, it still is a "wheel", and since it is flat, it looks weird. It made sense before because it was clearly a wheel, and so the numbers would look like the went behind the wheel for a somewhat 3D effect. But with a flat design looks horrible.

I went to a Nokia Lumia Series presentation, and I see that Windows Phones and Android phones have a lot of features that are nice to have:

Example: Nokia has a lot of features for its camera app, like 360 panorama, animated pictures (gifs), etc. LG (android) has the ability to change faces and deleting an intrusive object messing with the picture (like a finger or something)..

And I can go on and on about features for a lot of apps that are very useful but Apple just ignore it. One little feature that I am begging for, is the ability to choose a contact while I am dialing the number. For example: If I am dialing 5534, then contacts will filter so that by then I choose the one I want. Right now, the contact name appear underneath the number until I am calling already.


In conclusion, Apple hasn't changed its iOS that much. Even with this design change, the OS is still the same since ages ago. I think that they are getting stuck when it comes to features and it sucks. They should really consider a completely new OS with useful features. It doesn't have to be as complex as android, but the simplicity of iOS is really getting too simple that it doesn't allow for much improvement and features.

What do you think?

 

[Menneisyys2]

In conclusion, Apple hasn't changed its iOS that much. Even with this design change, the OS is still the same since ages ago. I think that they are getting stuck when it comes to features and it sucks. They should really consider a completely new OS with useful features. It doesn't have to be as complex as android, but the simplicity of iOS is really getting too simple that it doesn't allow for much improvement and features.

Because, to put it blunt, the elderly / girls / women (the majority of iOS users), generally, don't want a true smartphone with excellent features - as opposed to power users / geeks, which are, unfortunately, a very small minority of iOS users. This is why we (the latter people) aren't catered for.

 

[Dalton63841]

^ This, plus not to mention that a majority of so-called "power users", instead of arguing for better features, cried out about wanting a new design, because the current one felt "stale".

 

[falconeight]

This is the stupidest question ever. You ask because you don't like the design. Function has been the most important factor in iOS 7 and its evident to anyone who doesn't walk around caring about other peoples fashion choices. The folders now have the ability to carry infinite apps, lock screen added a plethora of new function including notifications, command center, and the ability to answer notifications. Inside its even more. I would recommend you watch the video introducing iOS 7 and stop worrying about fashion choices.

 

[Menneisyys2]

^ This, plus not to mention that a majority of so-called "power users", instead of arguing for better features, cried out about wanting a new design, because the current one felt "stale".

Well, actually, "power users" like me have long been publicly asking for features already present in other mobile OS'es (or dialects of them); for example, tablet windowing support a'la Quasar (supported in WinRT and all Samsung Android devices, even phones). Or better Camera plug-in support, flawlessly supported by WP8.

What did Apple do? While they did give us some cool new camera API calls (of which I've written three full-sized tutorials here in the MR forums), it's still peanuts compared to the API support of both WP8 and Android.

 

[Dalton63841]

Well, actually, "power users" like me have long been publicly asking for features already present in other mobile OS'es (or dialects of them); for example, tablet windowing support a'la Quasar (supported in WinRT and all Samsung Android devices, even phones). Or better Camera plug-in support, flawlessly supported by WP8.

What did Apple do? While they did give us some cool new camera API calls (of which I've written three full-sized tutorials here in the MR forums), it's still peanuts compared to the API support of both WP8 and Android.

Well, when I put "power users" in quotes, it was more sarcastic than actually referencing real power users. Look at how many people on this forum and others, that have cried out for months on end about wanting an updated UI.

Frankly I could care less either way. I jailbreak, so I will always have the features I want. Although I think that ios7 will be the first time I've ever had the desire to theme my iPhone.

 

[Menneisyys2]

This is the stupidest question ever. You ask because you don't like the design. Function has been the most important factor in iOS 7 and its evident to anyone who doesn't walk around caring about other peoples fashion choices. The folders now have the ability to carry infinite apps, lock screen added a plethora of new function including notifications, command center, and the ability to answer notifications. Inside its even more. I would recommend you watch the video introducing iOS 7 and stop worrying about fashion choices.

You seemingly haven't ever handled a WP8 phone / WinRT tablet / high(er)-end Android device. Otherwise, you wouldn't state iOS7, on the API side, is powerful. It isn't - and I'm telling you this as a seasoned iOS / Android / WP programmer. It's a lot behind Android and even WP8 is better in some respects (e.g., camera lens with its free, excellent programming model).

----------

Well, when I put "power users" in quotes, it was more sarcastic than actually referencing real power users. Look at how many people on this forum and others, that have cried out for months on end about wanting an updated UI.

OK, got it.

 

[1member1]

I went to a Nokia Lumia Series presentation, and I see that Windows Phones and Android phones have a lot of features that are nice to have:

Example: Nokia has a lot of features for its camera app, like 360 panorama, animated pictures (gifs), etc. LG (android) has the ability to change faces and deleting an intrusive object messing with the picture (like a finger or

What do you think?

I tell you something. Nokia need to make more features for their default camera app because wp8 doesn't have lots of 3rd party apps as alternative like in iOS.
now about LG,Samsung and the rest - Tell all try to be different from each other just to get more customers. they make a lot of features but lots of them are useless, drain your battery and impact your overall performance.
I don't think apple should make features like that but instead give developers to develop them.

I agree about what you said on the dialler. they need to improve the search and make a auto-complete.

 

[Menneisyys2]

I don't think apple should make features like that but instead give developers to develop them.

We aren't allowed to or just plain can't. The API support, as of iOS7, is vastly inferior to that of Android and, in many respects, even WP8.

I'm the developer of a UbiPix client (basically, a video recorder with parallel location / compass recording) for all these three mobile op. systems. WP8 was the easiest because of the lens support; Android was considerably harder and, finally, iOS was the most complicated of all simply because I needed to re-implement everything present in the stock Camera app (touch to focus, flashlight en/disabling etc.) There is simply no way to extend / enhance the stock apps like Camera in iOS7 to avoid having to re-implement everything. In WP8, I could just add the add-on as a camera lens.

 

[0000757]

Because, to put it blunt, the elderly / girls / women (the majority of iOS users), generally, don't want a true smartphone with excellent features - as opposed to power users / geeks, which are, unfortunately, a very small minority of iOS users. This is why we (the latter people) aren't catered for.

Go away with your statistics you pulled out of your ass.

 

[macsrcool1234]

If Apple implemented some of the most popular downloads in Cydia, they would be light years ahead of Android. I'm glad they finally put toggles on for controlling things (something JB users have had for years).

Apple is the only thing holding Apple back.

 

[cmChimera]

I managed to install iOS 7 on my iPhone 4S. I was excited to see and try all the new things that the OS offered, but then I realized that there's not much new. Although there are a lot of new little things as you can see in the "All new little things thread", there are no major new features.

I am bothered with this because I thought that iOS 7 would be the perfect opportunity to have it overhauled and do new things, but what Apple mostly did was just "repainted" the iOS while adding the usual little tweaks. Also, the flat design is really inconsistent. One example: When choosing the time for the alarm clock, it still is a "wheel", and since it is flat, it looks weird. It made sense before because it was clearly a wheel, and so the numbers would look like the went behind the wheel for a somewhat 3D effect. But with a flat design looks horrible.

I went to a Nokia Lumia Series presentation, and I see that Windows Phones and Android phones have a lot of features that are nice to have:

Example: Nokia has a lot of features for its camera app, like 360 panorama, animated pictures (gifs), etc. LG (android) has the ability to change faces and deleting an intrusive object messing with the picture (like a finger or something)..

And I can go on and on about features for a lot of apps that are very useful but Apple just ignore it. One little feature that I am begging for, is the ability to choose a contact while I am dialing the number. For example: If I am dialing 5534, then contacts will filter so that by then I choose the one I want. Right now, the contact name appear underneath the number until I am calling already.


In conclusion, Apple hasn't changed its iOS that much. Even with this design change, the OS is still the same since ages ago. I think that they are getting stuck when it comes to features and it sucks. They should really consider a completely new OS with useful features. It doesn't have to be as complex as android, but the simplicity of iOS is really getting too simple that it doesn't allow for much improvement and features.

What do you think?

I think you should not make topics.

 

[falconeight]

You seemingly haven't ever handled a WP8 phone / WinRT tablet / high(er)-end Android device. Otherwise, you wouldn't state iOS7, on the API side, is powerful. It isn't - and I'm telling you this as a seasoned iOS / Android / WP programmer. It's a lot behind Android and even WP8 is better in some respects (e.g., camera lens with its free, excellent programming model).

----------



OK, got it.

Higher end android devices run the same software as the one you can get in a flea market for a chicken and two mice for the sellers snake. Yes I agree WP8 has some great features and is awesome. Too bad it has no ecosystem at all.

 

[AHDuke99]

Apple has always done this. The first iPhone didn't have 3G for gods sake. Apple only includes features when they work well with their design. Otherwise they don't include them.

 

[ac4155]

iOS 6 was met with calls that it needed a radical overhaul in its design. Not Bly updating it, but also unifying it across apps. iOS 6 design was seen as being out dated due to not having really been changed since its introduction.

It was even taking place on this forum, I was one of them doing such as well.

Apple have heard these calls and I for one welcome the changes.

Plus it is not like features are being ignored. Look at the Control Centre. This type of feature people had been asking for for years, especially with the introduction of the Notification Centre. Now we have it.

I can't wait for the full release to hit, I think it brings a much needed refresh to iOS.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Higher end android devices run the same software as the one you can get in a flea market for a chicken and two mice for the sellers snake.

Not necessarily. For example, only few models support touch-to-focus while recording video. Mostly new(er) and high(er)-end; for example, the GS3 and 4 but not the GS1 or GS2, not even after updating them to the latest, 4.x version. (With the GS1, an unofficial one to 4.1.2, of course.)

In addition, some manufacturers are constantly adding excellent features not present in stock Android yet; for example, windowing on Samsung's higher-end phablets / tablets. (See Quasar on iOS or the "snap" mode on WinRT.)

----------

Apple has always done this. The first iPhone didn't have 3G for gods sake. Apple only includes features when they work well with their design. Otherwise they don't include them.

Well, they should speed up implementing features - after all, iOS isn't in vacuum any more, unlike, say, in 2010, when the iPad 1 and the iPhone 4 hardware was unmatched by Android / WP / Windows manufacturers (or, for that matter, tablet-wise, even up until Autumn 2012, before the Nexus 10). It's really annoying they still don't bother giving us F.lux-alike functionality to set the screen to a much warmer (yellower) color in bedtime. F.lux is THE most important tweak I use on my tablets. Without it, bedtime iPad using would be a torture.

Samsung's (higher-end) Android phones have been having this for at least two years...

 

[JetBlack7]

Because, to put it blunt, the elderly / girls / women (the majority of iOS users), generally, don't want a true smartphone with excellent features - as opposed to power users / geeks, which are, unfortunately, a very small minority of iOS users. This is why we (the latter people) aren't catered for.

Exactly what I wanted to say, and also it is still a beta, so most features won't work properly until the GM release.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Go away with your statistics you pulled out of your ass.

Apple does cater for women and the elderly - generally, on the average, people that prefer technically simple-to-use devices. (Of course a lot of males also belong to this category - it's just that, on the whole, your males are, generally, more tech savy than either elderly people or women / girls.) Otherwise, if the majority of their customers were tech-savy people wanting as much functionality as possible, they would give us far more advanced functionality (windowing on tablets, for example - the OS is certainly capable of it, see Quasar).

BTW, here's some "pulled-out-of-my-ass" statistics for you:

Women want Apple's iPhone, men prefer Google Android, Nielsen finds:

"But Android found its greatest share when the results were viewed by gender: 32.6 percent of male respondents said they wanted an Android smartphone, while 28.6 percent of men opted for the iPhone.

Women, on the other hand, strongly prefer the iPhone, with 30.9 percent opting for Apple's handset, while 22.8 percent of women said they want a device running Google Android."

It's a late 2010 study. Samsung, in the meantime, started to advertise their Galaxy S'es for women too and their high-end phones became much easier to use because of the "Simple" mode. However, the article does show women did prefer Apple more than men. As is also emphasized by the following (mid-2012) article:

Why do women prefer using the iPhone over other smartphones?

 

[falconeight]

Apple does cater for women and the elderly - generally, on the average, people that prefer technically simple-to-use devices. (Of course a lot of your males also belong to this category.) Otherwise, if the majority of their customers were tech-savy people wanting as much functionality as possible, they would give us far more advanced functionality (windowing on tablets, for example - the OS is certainly capable of it, see Quasar).

BTW, here's some "pulled-out-of-my-ass" statistics for you:

Women want Apple's iPhone, men prefer Google Android, Nielsen finds:

"But Android found its greatest share when the results were viewed by gender: 32.6 percent of male respondents said they wanted an Android smartphone, while 28.6 percent of men opted for the iPhone.

Women, on the other hand, strongly prefer the iPhone, with 30.9 percent opting for Apple's handset, while 22.8 percent of women said they want a device running Google Android."

It's a late 2010 study. Samsung, in the meantime, started to advertise their Galaxy S'es for women too and their high-end phones became much easier to use because of the "Simple" mode. However, the article does show women did prefer Apple more than men. As is also emphasized by the following (mid-2012) article:

Why do women prefer using the iPhone over other smartphones?

4% difference for me, seriously? Thats not enough to rule out error. But you are right. Trying to get my wife to switch to android from iPhone. I would be easier trying to get her to donate her heart while still alive.

 

[Menneisyys2]

But you are right. Trying to get my wife to switch to android from iPhone. I would be easier trying to get her to donate her heart while still alive.

Well, the same here. My wife, who is absolutely tech-unsavy, has never had problems with the iPad. Unlike with any else computer / non-iOS smartphone. Fortunately (for her), I have four iPads and (currently) no Android / WinRT tablets so she can easily access the Net on the currently available hardware (at home). I fear what happens in the future if, for some reason (e.g., Samsung's or Microsoft's active-pen tablets become far superior to iPads), I switch to a competing platform. I think I'll have problems then, trying to teach her how the new system should be used

 

[VTECaddict]

1) It's still beta. UI glitches will be fixed and further refinements will be made.

2) It's still beta. Who knows what Apple has hidden from the betas and what final release only or iPhone 5S specific features they still have up their sleeves.

3) One thing at a time. Major UI overhaul or tons of new features. Can't expect them to do both at the same time and do a good job at either one. A new UI will give it a fresh feel to most of the consumer public so the iPhone doesn't feel the exact same as it has for 6 years. New features can come later in iOS 7 revisions or iOS 8 and beyond.

What are you really looking for in terms of features anyway? Most features other smartphones have touted are gimmicky things that are cool to show off but in reality dont work well or doesn't make practical sense to use anyway (case in point a lot of the Galaxy S4 stuff). Apple doesn't like to rush and cram in features just for the sake of spec sheets. They like things to work well and to their standard before they're implemented (save for a few exceptions like Maps).

 

[Menneisyys2]

Major UI overhaul or tons of new features.

It wasn't a major UI overhaul - more like style change and adding some add-on features like control center. A major UI overhaul requiring a lot of coding would have been like switching to a widgeted and/or windowed interface.

Most features other smartphones have touted are gimmicky things that are cool to show off but in reality dont work well or doesn't make practical sense to use anyway (case in point a lot of the Galaxy S4 stuff).

Features popular JB tweaks (f.lux, Quasar, Backgrounder/Background Manager etc.) have been having for years. F.lux is one of the most important of them. It would be so simple to implement (no need to make hardware changes - for example, introducing RGB backlight with easily settable color profile) - still, Apple don't seem to understand why one doesn't want to stare into a bluish screen in the night...

 

[falconeight]

Well, the same here. My wife, who is absolutely tech-unsavy, has never had problems with the iPad. Unlike with any else computer / non-iOS smartphone. Fortunately (for her), I have four iPads and (currently) no Android / WinRT tablets so she can easily access the Net on the currently available hardware (at home). I fear what happens in the future if, for some reason (e.g., Samsung's or Microsoft's active-pen tablets become far superior to iPads), I switch to a competing platform. I think I'll have problems then, trying to teach her how the new system should be used

Because my family uses iPhone, mac, and iPad it is impossible for me to switch. We use iPhoto, iMessage, iCloud, iTunes, FaceTime, Apple TV(made me get rid of satellite or cable), calendar, and share purchased apps on both mac and iOS. There is no other eco system currently out that even almost integrates like apple. When that plastic iPhone comes out it will be worse because my kids will be brought into the fold.

 

[Zerilos]

This is the stupidest question ever. You ask because you don't like the design. Function has been the most important factor in iOS 7 and its evident to anyone who doesn't walk around caring about other peoples fashion choices. The folders now have the ability to carry infinite apps, lock screen added a plethora of new function including notifications, command center, and the ability to answer notifications. Inside its even more. I would recommend you watch the video introducing iOS 7 and stop worrying about fashion choices.

He plans to start a thread like this everyday it appears. I believe this is the 4th time he's started this discussion this week.

 

[falconeight]

He plans to start a thread like this everyday it appears. I believe this is the 4th time he's started this discussion this week.

gives me something to argue about