Apple updates iBooks & iTunes U with fresh, flatter looks for iOS 7

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 65
    Love the modern bookshelf & smoother transition to store, they still have all the goodness
    of the old iBooks for books "%u2764%uFE0F page-curl".
  • Reply 22 of 65
    zbernie is right, iOS is just too washed out. Unless you like pure minimalism, it is hard to derive any pleasure from the interface at all. Such minimalism works well with their hardware, but the hardware also has a surface texture and feel.

    Perhaps they need to back up a little and aim for something like Reminders and Calculator in OSX 10.8.5.
  • Reply 23 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by zBernie View Post

     

    It IS more difficult to use.  Especially for those who don't have 20/20 vision.  It's not just a matter of resistance to change, or one preference over another.  Many aspects of iOS 7 are simply difficult to read.  Not to mention anemic and lifeless looking.

     




    I loved the skeumorphic book shelf at least i could differentiate all my PDF documents now they just blend in with the sterile background. I agree with a previous poster this new look is so lifeless and sterile. IMHO the surface of the moon is more interesting..

  • Reply 24 of 65
    kibitzerkibitzer Posts: 1,114member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by zBernie View Post



    JONY IVE SHOULD BE FIRED!

    Okay, but if Ive gets fired, are you willing to give back your iPhone, iPad, aluminum MacBook Pro and all the other devices where he had a major role in creating? Presuming you had an infant son who farted in the bathtub, did you throw him out too along with the bath water? Just asking.

  • Reply 25 of 65
    v900v900 Posts: 101member
    gordio wrote: »
    I used to love iBooks. But when you compare the prices of a kindle book vs an iBooks book. It's insane how much cheaper kindle books are! How did apple get successfully sued for price fixing?

    Actually, some times IBooks is cheaper. It depends on what book, sometimes Amazon is cheaper, sometimes iBooks is cheaper. OVERALL though, I'd say that iBooks is usually a tad bit more expensive.

    I used to have an app, and use some websites that compare the prices of a particular ebook in all the different bookstores. I forgot the name, but try to search for something like this in he AppStore, its mighty useful!
  • Reply 26 of 65
    v900v900 Posts: 101member
    Yikes, it's ugly and bland as hell. Even Kindle looks nicer than this.
    (And like always, Apple keeps some of the old elements like the page curls and the shadow. The design of ios7 is really simplistic, boring and confused...)

    Like many others in here, I too prefer the old bookshelf. Guess this is one more Apple app I won't bother to update. There's nothing useful new features in it anyways...
  • Reply 27 of 65
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    foad wrote: »
    That is what I am thinking as well.  I think the undertaking of revamping the entire OS, plus improving the underlying the core (which they did quite a bit of), as well as updating their entire suite of apps all in about a years time, was probably one of the largest software undertakings known.  If you look at the sheer scope of how many things have changed, it is insane.

    I think with the new structure of development, software is going to be approached similar to their hardware efforts meaning that they will constantly refine the experience.  If you look at what are considered the questionable launches of iMovie, FCP and iWork, I think that Apple is in that sort of frame of mind.  Now with Jony Ive as the head of design, it will be even more so.  Constant refinement.  I also think that the apps, both Apple's and 3rd party developer apps, will start to find their style as more time passes.  I look at apps like Fantastical and Tweetbot and I can see where things can go.  Both of those apps are in the distinct vein of iOS 7 and yet they are much more refined.
    This is what's frustrating to me with all the iOS 7 hyperbole. Both Jony Ive and Craig Federighi have said this is just the beginning, they're just getting started. iOS 7 is version 1.0 that one can assume will get better over time, especially as they take into account user feedback. I'll be very surprised if iOS 8 doesn't have some visual changes, like less white.
  • Reply 28 of 65
    v900v900 Posts: 101member
    kibitzer wrote: »
    Okay, but if Ive gets fired, are you willing to give back your iPhone, iPad, aluminum MacBook Pro and all the other devices where he had a major role in creating? Presuming you had an infant son who farted in the bathtub, did you throw him out too along with the bath water? Just asking.

    That's ridiculous... Just because Ive is awful at designing software and a klutz at user interfaces, doesn't mean he's not a good hardware designer.
    I like his HW designs, and certainly out of all of the designers and design-aware users that were horrified at the look of iOS 7, nobody would argue otherwise...
  • Reply 29 of 65
    gordio wrote: »
    I used to love iBooks. But when you compare the prices of a kindle book vs an iBooks book. It's insane how much cheaper kindle books are! How did apple get successfully sued for price fixing?

    Apple doesn't want to lose money on books. Amazon doesn't care.
  • Reply 30 of 65
    v900v900 Posts: 101member
    [quote name="KennMSr" url="/t/160737/apple-updates-ibooks-itunes-u-with-fresh-flatter-looks-for-ios-7#post_2434963"][COLOR=000000]I loved the skeumorphic book shelf at least i could differentiate all my PDF documents now they just blend in with the sterile background. I agree with a previous poster this new look is so lifeless and sterile. IMHO the surface of the moon is more interesting..[/COLOR]

    Agree. One hundred percent.

    Guess, I'll just won't bother to update the app. Out of all of hour iPhones and iPads at home, we made the mistake of upgrading one of them to iOS 7. Thank god the iBooks app doesn't get updated automatically, so there's still a few places on it, that you can use without being blinded by all the sterile white that is Jonny Ive's latest craze.

    When I get the 5S and iPad Air next month, hopefully the iBooks app might be an older version that hasn't been updated yet. And there'll probably be a jailbreak some time soon, so I can either downgrade to iOS 6, or at least use a less garish theme and look...
  • Reply 31 of 65
    foadfoad Posts: 717member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by v900 View Post





    That's ridiculous... Just because Ive is awful at designing software and a klutz at user interfaces, doesn't mean he's not a good hardware designer.

    I like his HW designs, and certainly out of all of the designers and design-aware users that were horrified at the look of iOS 7, nobody would argue otherwise...

     

    My counter would be that this is just the beginning.  Not all hardware decisions by Jobs and Ives were good, but the constant attention to detail and the desire for perfection was always there.  I'm not going to argue that iOS 7 is perfect or that it doesn't need work, but I think to flat out call Ive awful or a klutz isn't providing enough credit to the amount of software development Apple has done in the last 12 months.  The core underlying frameworks are there and now since pretty much all their apps have been updated, they will start refining.

  • Reply 32 of 65
    Apple on Thursday issued a major update for its iBooks application,
    A major update?
    Really?...
  • Reply 33 of 65
    [quote name="Rogifan" url="/t/160737/apple-updates-ibooks-itunes-u-with-fresh-flatter-looks-for-ios-7/0_100#post_2434977"]
    especially as they take into account user feedback. /quote]
    Lol
  • Reply 34 of 65

    I have a section in my notes titled "Stupid S**t That Apple Does".   Apple, makes some great products (I love OS X), but they do some really stupid things as well.  Here's the latest -- In Messages 8.0 in Mavericks, the ONLY notification option is to play a sound!  Formerly you could have the icon in the dock bounce, or display a dialog box, or run a script, etc..  So, my wife came home from work one day and asked "Did you get my text message?"  I said no, I did not.  I looked and to my dismay saw a little red "2" on the Messages icon, indicating that I missed two text messages.  I must have stepped away when the 1 second notification sound played. 

     

    So now you have to actively look for missed messages, or you might miss them.  Give me a friggin option!  I don't want to miss important text messages on my Mac!  Let me display a dialo, that does not close until I close it, or something!

     

    Okay, speaking of notifications, here is one that has been nagging me since I bought my iPhone 4s about two years ago:

     

    THERE'S STILL NO MISSED PHONE CALL OR VOICE MAIL ALERTS!!!!!!!!!!

     

    Apple in their infinite stupidity, deems this feature unnecessary.   And you can't get an app for that, because Apple does not allow access to the phone internals.

     

    So yes, iOS 7 is just the culmination of a lot of stupid s**t that Apple has done over the years, and Jony Ive needs to be fired.

  • Reply 35 of 65
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    v900 wrote: »
    That's ridiculous... Just because Ive is awful at designing software and a klutz at user interfaces, doesn't mean he's not a good hardware designer.
    I like his HW designs, and certainly out of all of the designers and design-aware users that were horrified at the look of iOS 7, nobody would argue otherwise...
    So he only gets one shot at this user interface gig? It's impossible for him learn anything as he's been working more closely with software engineers? And he should be relegated only hardware design for the rest of his career? I remember the Mac OS Aqua interface and a lot of people hated that too. Does that mean Steve Jobs and his software engineers were awful software designers?

    iOS 7 is by no means perfect but it's not awful and unusable either. If it was that bad it wouldn't be running on over 75% of iOS devices and Apple wouldn't be selling boat loads of 5S's and iPads. Also, the new iPads wouldn't have gotten rave reviews. The Verge gave the Air and mini 9.3/10, the highest rated tablet they've used. Cnet gave it 4.5 stars and an editors choice rating. That doesn't happen if the software is as awful as some people claim.
  • Reply 36 of 65
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    What exactly what wrong with the bookshelf? Why the need to strip absolutely every single app of its personality and context, making everything look like a lifeless, limp fish? The bookshelf was gorgeous. At the end of the day, you're still flipping the pages, so the skeumorphic aspect is still there. Why rip out every texture, and every color, out of every app and make everything white/light grey? I guess I was naively hoping that they wouldnt take the ugly stick to iBooks, or at least have a bit more of a subtle refresh that maintains the bookshelf feel, which I think most people love and can relate to. Did the wood shelf really "get in the way"? No, if anything, it enhanced the covers, gave them weight, and made them stand out. I often forget what app I'm using now as there's absolutely nothing distinguishing them from each other. Why not, at least for this app, give users the option of different looks/textures for the bookshelf? Whats the harm in that? The app redesign is depressing, and just a bit less joyful. 

  • Reply 37 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

     

    What exactly what wrong with the bookshelf? Why the need to strip absolutely every single app of its personality and context, making everything look like a lifeless, limp fish? The bookshelf was gorgeous. At the end of the day, you're still flipping the pages, so the skeumorphic aspect is still there. Why rip out every texture, and every color, out of every app and make everything white/light grey? I guess I was naively hoping that they wouldnt take the ugly stick to iBooks, or at least have a bit more of a subtle refresh that maintains the bookshelf feel, which I think most people love and can relate to. Did the wood shelf really "get in the way"? No, if anything, it enhanced the covers, gave them weight, and made them stand out. I often forget what app I'm using now as there's absolutely nothing distinguishing them from each other. Why not, at least for this app, give users the option of different looks/textures for the bookshelf? Whats the harm in that? The app redesign is depressing, and just a bit less joyful. 


    Exactly.

     

    The iBooks app used to make a lovely example of why the iPad was such a pleasure to have and use. I don't think we'll be seeing too many more ads using it as a showpiece.

  • Reply 38 of 65
    foadfoad Posts: 717member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by zBernie View Post

     

    I have a section in my notes titled "Stupid S**t That Apple Does".   Apple, makes some great products (I love OS X), but they do some really stupid things as well.  Here's the latest -- In Messages 8.0 in Mavericks, the ONLY notification option is to play a sound!  Formerly you could have the icon in the dock bounce, or display a dialog box, or run a script, etc..  So, my wife came home from work one day and asked "Did you get my text message?"  I said no, I did not.  I looked and to my dismay saw a little red "2" on the Messages icon, indicating that I missed two text messages.  I must have stepped away when the 1 second notification sound played. 

     

    So now you have to actively look for missed messages, or you might miss them.  Give me a friggin option!  I don't want to miss important text messages on my Mac!  Let me display a dialo, that does not close until I close it, or something!

     

    Okay, speaking of notifications, here is one that has been nagging me since I bought my iPhone 4s about two years ago:

     

    THERE'S STILL NO MISSED PHONE CALL OR VOICE MAIL ALERTS!!!!!!!!!!

     

    Apple in their infinite stupidity, deems this feature unnecessary.   And you can't get an app for that, because Apple does not allow access to the phone internals.

     

    So yes, iOS 7 is just the culmination of a lot of stupid s**t that Apple has done over the years, and Jony Ive needs to be fired.


     

    Messages in Mavericks has a variety of options for notifications, including badging the icon, notification banners that automatically get dismissed while you actively use the computer but don't if you have been away, as well as alert banners that won't get dismissed until an action has been taken.  I suggest you look at the Notifications panel in System Preferences.

     

    On iOS I get missed called notifications and voicemail alerts all the time.  Check Notifications in the Settings app.  Other than that, I'm not sure what you're talking about.  Please clarify.

  • Reply 39 of 65
    It's a little plainer looking, but it is much faster. Faster is good.
  • Reply 40 of 65
    ronboronbo Posts: 669member
    Used to be beautiful. Now it's very plain. This is like some sort of weird technological Amish-ness. Beauty is repellant, and the only complement that matters now is "Plain. Very plain." Oh well.
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