Editorial: Apple's iOS 7 needs exclusive, distinctive features, not just a flat UI

1356713

Comments

  • Reply 41 of 257
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    But anyone with half an eye kept on the pulse of technology knows that every popular OS never stands still. Any opinion resisting change is meaningless.

    I agree with ChristophB's take on sflocal's comment. He stated that others called it stale despite the OS having major changes every year. He certainly isn't resisting change but acknowledging that it happens.


    Jobs (or maybe some other exec or Ive) has stated that they only change something when they have something better to offer. This might have been in regards to the Mac Pro casing, but I may be also applying it to that erroneously.

    Regardless, I'm all for not changing something for the sake of change — which seems to be common with other vendors — but I don't think it's anything to worry about since there are surely a huge swath of changes to come.Some will like the changes some won't; some will wish they did less whilst others wish they did more. The only thing that is certain is that people will complain regardless of what they do.
  • Reply 42 of 257
    a2gsga2gsg Posts: 26member


    indeed it's really only necessary for the company to clean things up a bit and


    here's an awesome list of 12 Things Apple Needs To Fix In The iPhone's Software


    [even if it requires Apple to delay the shipment of the next version of IOS and/or OS X]:


     


    http://www.businessinsider.com/things-apple-needs-to-fix-in-the-iphones-software-2013-5?op=1



    with respect to the 10th slide in the above article:



    Apple's native apps all need work.



    Reminders, notes, Mail, Maps, Passbook, etc. all need refinement. Third-party developers have all built apps that surpass Apple's native applications.



    check out these two former SPOT-ON articles:



    http://www.businessinsider.com/bad-apples-2012-12



    http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-software-update-needs-more-than-new-looks-2013-5

     

  • Reply 43 of 257
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    But anyone with half an eye kept on the pulse of technology knows that every popular OS never stands still. Any opinion resisting change is meaningless.

    I didnt think he/she was resistant to change, rather not a fan of empty rhetoric. Don't take me as one who thinks apple can stand still or the OS is pure perfection. . I've got my list of wants and needs that dates back to 2.0
  • Reply 44 of 257
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    But anyone with half an eye kept on the pulse of technology knows that every popular OS never stands still. Any opinion resisting change is meaningless.

    That explains why Windows XP still has 40% of the personal computer user base, 11 years after its original introduction.

    But even forgetting that, iOS doesn't really stand still. It gets annual updates, quite a few new features get added every year, and there's new hardware features added with every new model, whether that's apparent from picking it up or not, you might need to use them a bit to realize the updates if you weren't told they were there.
  • Reply 45 of 257
    ericboltericbolt Posts: 10member
    I would like to see deeper integration of Siri. Siri proxy on github has incredible potential. I think such a move will not only benefit the users but will support that exclusivity sought after.
  • Reply 46 of 257
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    a2gsg wrote: »
    indeed it's really only necessary for the company to clean things up a bit and
    here's an awesome list of 12 Things Apple Needs To Fix In The iPhone's Software
    [even if it requires Apple to delay the shipment of the next version of IOS and/or OS X]:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/things-apple-needs-to-fix-in-the-iphones-software-2013-5?op=1

    That's a solid list.
  • Reply 47 of 257
    jrogowskjrogowsk Posts: 8member
    Excellent article
  • Reply 48 of 257
    mj1970mj1970 Posts: 9,002member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Neither, since flat is the wrong decision.



     


    Why do you believe that?

  • Reply 49 of 257
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member


    I probably shouldn't do this but, being the cousin of a friend that once looked sideways at Jony Ive's sister's Uncle's nephew, I've had early access to iOS7 for a while now.


     


    While I can't show you everything, here's a screen grab of the lock screen:


     


  • Reply 50 of 257
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member

    One thing Apple can do that's hard for small developers is provide reliable server infrastructure. I would like to see them offer 5GB iCloud accounts to apps (i.e. as well as the current user's iCloud, apps can also access their own cloud, where all instances access the same one).


     


    Also, I think iOS7 will make better/innovative use of Retina. Not sure how yet, but it's often hardware advances that spur GUI changes.


     


    The main GUI problem I see is not staleness, it's conceptual: the notifications vs launcher conflict. With Desktop computers you traditionally sit down with a task in mind and launch the apps to do it: you are driving. If a notification comes along you want to quickly view it, and whisk it away, and get back to what you were doing. The GUI reflects this: the launcher is the "main" thing and notifications are some hidden slide away panel.


     


    When phones came along they copied this design, but if you are someone who is called, more than someone who calls, aren't notifications your real "launcher"? How to balance these two kind of "launchers" better needs more thought.

  • Reply 51 of 257
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    gtr wrote: »
    I probably shouldn't do this but, being the cousin of a friend that once looked sideways at Jonny Ive's sister's Uncle's nephew, I've had early access to iOS7 for a while now.

    While I can't show you everything, here's a screen grab of the lock screen:

    <img alt="" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="25587" data-type="61" height="621" src="http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/25587/width/350/height/700/flags/LL" style="; width: 350px; height: 621px;" width="350">

    [VIDEO]
  • Reply 52 of 257
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GTR View Post


    While I can't show you everything, here's a screen grab of the lock screen:



    Yikes, you wouldn't want to use that one absentmindedly.

  • Reply 53 of 257
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member


    I can't wait for them to un-uglify the Notes app so we can use it.  


     


    It's hideousness has engendered more replacement note taking apps in the store than almost any other category.  Most of them fail in some gigantic way or other though even though they have roughly the same functionality.  It would be so nice to have a simple default app that one could use without hurling.  Hopefully this is what we will see. 

  • Reply 54 of 257
    This article is pretty out of touch with reality. Obviously, Apple is doing a lot more than just removing the heinous skeumorphic garbage from the UI....so much more in fact they have had to divert resources away from the OSX team. At the same time, the UI is in disparate need of a refresh, but NOT because of that same hideous skeumorphism but rather because the OS is actually hampered in functionality by limitations in the UI design.

    Endless nests of app tiles is a HORRID way to organize things, the lock screen is one dimensional in functionality, the settings panels are endless nests of menus that have become progressively harder to use, and so much more is wrong with the UI. The hardware design has long since eclipsed the UI and the overall experience is stale and less useful than it should be.

    Finally, Blackberry and Palm and others have not failed because of a UI redesign as this article asserts, that's just a naive oversimplification of what has occurred in those companies that have lead to their problems. The idea the iOS UI is great just the way it is and that changing it would be disastrous is the worst kind of fanboyism. Shame on you, AI.
  • Reply 55 of 257
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    ascii wrote: »
    Yikes, you wouldn't want to use that one absentmindedly.


    Would put an end to drunk dialing one way or the other.
  • Reply 56 of 257
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Does that WWDC logo remind anybody else of Metro? Those colors are so garish! I really hope that doesn't represent the new color scheme implemented by Apple ....
  • Reply 57 of 257
    a2gsga2gsg Posts: 26member


    most certainly The One thing Apple can do that's hard for small developers is provide reliable server infrastructure


    is to rectify and rock solid the 'Calamitous State' of iCloud [again, even if it requires Apple to delay the shipment


    of the next version of IOS and/or OS X]:


     


    http://www.businessinsider.com/even-apples-biggest-defenders-say-icloud-is-in-a-calamitous-state-2013-3


     


    http://rms2.tumblr.com/post/46505165521/the-gathering-storm-our-travails-with-icloud-sync



    http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/03/frustrated-with-icloud-apples-developer-community-speaks-up-en-masse/

     


    The State of Cloud Storage 2013 Industry Report:

    A Benchmark Comparison of Performance, Availability and Scalability
    :


    https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www6.nasuni.com/rs/nasuni/images/2013_Nasuni_CSP_Report.pdf

  • Reply 58 of 257
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by soulbarn View Post



    Spot on. I have been playing with Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 and 8. These are inferior products hardware-wise, but in many ways superior computing platforms. Samsung/Android does more - though (lucky for Apple) it generally does more poorly. That will change, though. I want to see much more interoperability between IOS apps, more customization, and a better, more accessible file system. I want and expect IOS 7 to do more, well, and to do more than look different.


    Newbies and know nothings need never navigate into the waters of accessing the file system but the rest should be able to!  OS X still has Terminal though maybe 2-5% of users ever use it....

  • Reply 59 of 257
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    a2gsg wrote: »
    most certainly The One thing Apple can do that's hard for small developers is provide reliable server infrastructure
    is to rectify and rock solid the 'Calamitous State' of iCloud [again, even if it requires Apple to delay the shipment
    of the next version of IOS and/or OS X]:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/even-apples-biggest-defenders-say-icloud-is-in-a-calamitous-state-2013-3

    Now this I disagree with. iCloud use plenty of improving, especially when you consider the scope that the iCloud login connects to, but in no way do I see how it can be defined as a disaster.
  • Reply 60 of 257
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 896member
    Apple's new System 7 was mainly made to support new color capabilities rather than radically rethink the Mac's graphical computing environment.

    I had to laugh a little at that. When Apple added Color Quickdraw, that was one of the most exciting times ever... it was radical! :)

Sign In or Register to comment.