iTunes & iPhoto interface inconsistencies?

mac+mac+
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Hi all,



While I realise that there are different teams working on the iApps, I am confused as to why certain interface features are not the same.



This may sound pedantic - but how come the iPhoto red/orange/green buttons are so squashed together and not evenly spaced out like those in iTunes or Safari?

Why isn't there a standard button size and 3D shadow effect for those 4 buttons at the bottom of the iPhoto Photo Library window - you know; add, play, info and rotate. These buttons are slightly different (I'm talking more about design here as opposed to functionality) to those used in iTunes. Ideally, I would have thought that the iApps would follow a uniform set of interface guidelines to ensure all buttons were exactly the same as each other for a consistent (anally retentive) user experience.

Also, how come there is not a trash can in iTunes, yet there is in iPhoto? I don't get why they have two different protocols for this.



Please shed some light on it for me.

Thanks.



(btw, I have iPhoto v2.0 and iTunes v4.0)
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    nebagakidnebagakid Posts: 2,692member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mac+

    Hi all,



    While I realise that there are different teams working on the iApps, I am confused as to why certain interface features are not the same.



    This may sound pedantic - but how come the iPhoto red/orange/green buttons are so squashed together and not evenly spaced out like those in iTunes or Safari?

    Why isn't there a standard button size and 3D shadow effect for those 4 buttons at the bottom of the iPhoto Photo Library window - you know; add, play, info and rotate. These buttons are slightly different (I'm talking more about design here as opposed to functionality) to those used in iTunes. Ideally, I would have thought that the iApps would follow a uniform set of interface guidelines to ensure all buttons were exactly the same as each other for a consistent (anally retentive) user experience.

    Also, how come there is not a trash can in iTunes, yet there is in iPhoto? I don't get why they have two different protocols for this.



    Please shed some light on it for me.

    Thanks.



    (btw, I have iPhoto v2.0 and iTunes v4.0)



    first of all, nice coloring

    secondly, it probably is because one is a carbon app and the other is a cocoa app...yet, when you think about it that way, the carbon application (iTunes) should look different.

    The buttons are not buttons but images that have different states (like down,up,disabled), so really Apple should be using their own damn buttons or make those kinds of brushed metal buttons avaliable to all developers.



    you are right, there are a lot of inconsistencies. I bet apple will release an interim update to iPhoto 2.0 and fix it there... check to see if any are out...
  • Reply 2 of 26
    applemasterapplemaster Posts: 144member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mac+

    This may sound pedantic - but how come the iPhoto red/orange/green buttons are so squashed together and not evenly spaced out like those in iTunes or Safari?



    Funny, I just noticed this yesterday and wondered the same thing. It seemed very un-Apple.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    westonmwestonm Posts: 140member
    The "squashed" buttons were introduced with the 10.2.5 update, and they are most likely a bug of some sort. iMovie has the same messed up buttons as iPhoto currently, hopefully .6 will fix this.
  • Reply 4 of 26
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by westonm

    The "squashed" buttons were introduced with the 10.2.5 update, and they are most likely a bug of some sort. iMovie has the same messed up buttons as iPhoto currently, hopefully .6 will fix this.



    I think it's because the UI in iPhoto and iMovie are made by someone not knowing anything about the Mac OS X interface.



    There are tons of UI elements in those two programs that are very badly made, and it's funny that even though iTunes 4 also has a 'fake' brushed metal UI, it looks just like a real brushed metal app.



    Apple should let the iTunes interface people work on iMovie and iPhoto.



    Three examples of the bad UI in iPhoto / iMovie:



  • Reply 5 of 26
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    The stop light bug in the "imitation metal" appearance used in iPhoto and iMovie was introduced in 10.2.5. I'm sure it will be fixed. This was done without the .nib resource for the metal appearance because they wanted iPhoto and iMovie to work on Puma (10.1.5), not just Jaguar. I'm a bit surprised some call the appearance so terrible, because except for the spacer bug in the stop light widgets, it's close. The screenshots above make the iPhoto metal field look a tad darker maybe, and the side window edge is a bit lighter.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    and i thought I had to much time on my hands





  • Reply 7 of 26
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    I'm a bit surprised some call the appearance so terrible, because except for the spacer bug in the stop light widgets, it's close.



    The edge is wrong.



    The metal is darker and have banded artifacts.



    The window titles are embedded into the metal.



    Close - perhaps - but why not make it identical? The iTunes team knows how to.



    Besides the terrible UI, iMovie and iPhoto are also the slowest iApps.
  • Reply 8 of 26
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JLL

    The edge is wrong.



    The metal is darker and have banded artifacts.



    The window titles are embedded into the metal.



    Close - perhaps - but why not make it identical? The iTunes team knows how to.



    Besides the terrible UI, iMovie and iPhoto are also the slowest iApps.



    Right, like I said, some minor differences. They might be pet peeves, but I just don't see the UI being "terrible" because of a few minor appearance niggles.



    Being slow is a totally diifferent discussion of course. iPhoto and iMovie place a lot of overhead on the computer to do things the way they do. The way they do things is a good idea except that the hardware can't keep up with thousands of pictures loaded into the cache, or trying to be as close to-real time as possible with its clips, effects ,etc.
  • Reply 9 of 26
    seppakseppak Posts: 38member
    Another inconsistency is how sheets work in iMovie/iPhoto. Instead of having the sheets come out of the window bar, they come out of the very top of the window...
  • Reply 10 of 26
    mac os x addictmac os x addict Posts: 322member
    It will be interesting to see if Apple comes out with 10.2.7 after 10.2.6. We can sort of assume that 10.3 is going to come out in the Fall and it should be about 4 months left to update the 10.2.x line. Maybe Apple will stop after 10.2.6 and just focus all their s/w developers on 10.3.
  • Reply 11 of 26
    mac+mac+ Posts: 580member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    and i thought I had to much time on my hands









    Yeah, you caught me out - a very indulgent post.



    But it sure is reassuring to see that it generated some discussion.



    I guess I'm just disappointed by a few of these little interface inconsistencies which detract from the professional quality that all Apple apps should exhibit. For example, if I were to release a suite of apps called iLife, I'd want to go over everything with a fine tooth comb and make sure that all the interface elements were uniformly set amongst all the apps. No different looks or different operating conditions. Meh, it's late and I'm waffling.
  • Reply 12 of 26
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    You're not the olnly one that's bothered by these quirks.



    I am too.



    I even hacked iPhoto's nibs many moons ago to use the real brushed metal instead of that fake crap. heh.



    What's also bothersome is how Apple has recentlty (6.1, IIRC) updated the QuickTime Player interface (the brushed metal, at least) but not the widgets. Blargh.
  • Reply 13 of 26
    thegeldingthegelding Posts: 3,230member
    blargh??





    geeks are phunny....





    nibs/widgets/gui....shit, i'm just happy my computer works and allows me to work on it (i can see the not too distant future when the keyboard samples my DNA as i type and shuts itself down as i am too old and dumb to use it....logan's run baby....weeeeeee)







    g
  • Reply 14 of 26
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by thegelding

    blargh??





    geeks are phunny....





    nibs/widgets/gui....shit, i'm just happy my computer works and allows me to work on it (i can see the not too distant future when the keyboard samples my DNA as i type and shuts itself down as i am too old and dumb to use it....logan's run baby....weeeeeee)







    g



    haha





    but i am not saying that its bad to be observant, nor will i cast the first stone for having too much time on their hands with my post count compaired to urs...oh i've wasted my life
  • Reply 15 of 26
    applemasterapplemaster Posts: 144member
    Here's some quick screenshots of the two differing red / orange / green buttons:







  • Reply 16 of 26
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    I should reinforce that I do find these quirks annoying. Actually, what bothers me most is how only iTunes has a way of teling that it's in the background while not other metal apps do not gray out anything.
  • Reply 17 of 26
    overhopeoverhope Posts: 1,123member
    I guess it either bothers you or it doesn't: certainly it does seem that Apple's been playing a tad fast and loose with its own Human Interface Guidelines of late.
  • Reply 18 of 26
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    Actually, what bothers me most is how only iTunes has a way of teling that it's in the background while not other metal apps do not gray out anything.



    Only iTunes? Every real brushed metal app does that: Safari, Address Book, Calculator etc.
  • Reply 19 of 26
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JLL

    Only iTunes? Every real brushed metal app does that: Safari, Address Book, Calculator etc.



    They don't. http://daringfireball.net/2003/05/in...vs_safari.html
  • Reply 20 of 26
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chucker

    They don't. http://daringfireball.net/2003/05/in...vs_safari.html



    I thought he meant the red, yellow and green buttons.



    The other elements are because of click-through support.
Sign In or Register to comment.