Apple drops Helvetica for San Francisco in iOS 9
The launch of Apple's iOS 9 mobile operating system officially brings its bespoke San Francisco typeface to the rest of its product lineup, as Helvetica's short run has come to a close.
Helvetica on iOS 8, left, and San Francisco on iOS 9, right
San Francisco is used throughout iOS 9, and also brings along a slightly tweaked keyboard design. The new keyboard switches between upper and lowercase keycaps, depending on the position of the shift key.
Overall, the move to San Francisco softens iOS's appearance slightly thanks to the new typeface's friendlier design. It's also easier to read in many instances than Helvetica, a welcome change for users who have complained about the thin lines since iOS 7.
iOS 9's new keyboard switches between lowercase and uppercase based on the position of the shift key.
Apple developed San Francisco for the Apple Watch, but hints that it would eventually expand past that product have been surfacing since its introduction. Notably, the new 12-inch MacBook uses San Francisco as the typeface on its keyboard.
iOS 9 is now available on iPhone 4s, iPad 2, fifth-generation iPod touch, and newer models.
Helvetica on iOS 8, left, and San Francisco on iOS 9, right
San Francisco is used throughout iOS 9, and also brings along a slightly tweaked keyboard design. The new keyboard switches between upper and lowercase keycaps, depending on the position of the shift key.
Overall, the move to San Francisco softens iOS's appearance slightly thanks to the new typeface's friendlier design. It's also easier to read in many instances than Helvetica, a welcome change for users who have complained about the thin lines since iOS 7.
iOS 9's new keyboard switches between lowercase and uppercase based on the position of the shift key.
Apple developed San Francisco for the Apple Watch, but hints that it would eventually expand past that product have been surfacing since its introduction. Notably, the new 12-inch MacBook uses San Francisco as the typeface on its keyboard.
iOS 9 is now available on iPhone 4s, iPad 2, fifth-generation iPod touch, and newer models.
Comments
Toyota used to make their designers wear glasses smeared with vaseline to let them see if they could operate controls inside of Toyota vehicle mockups.
From what I understand you change something because there's a noticeable difference.
I can't tell the difference. What's the point?
From what I understand you change something because there's a noticeable difference.
If you can't tell the difference, then you just move on. Others can tell the difference, which is why it was changed.
It's about time, it' was long over due. Why it wasn't all this time?
Exactly, why make a big deal about it when almost no one will notice.
I'm an older guy who wears glasses, but I think I still prefer Helvetica over San Francisco. The thinner lines make it more elegant, IMO.
I'm glad to see that upper/lower case keyboard change. Jobs always said that the reason why the iPhone didn't have a physical keyboard was so the keyboard could change depending upon what you were doing, but the keyboard didn't change as you moved from lower to upper case or back (except for the Shift key). And I always found the highlighting of the Shift key to be totally non-intuitive. If the regular state of the keyboard is lower case, why is the shift key grey for lower case and white (like the rest of the keyboard) for upper case? That never made sense to me. At least now, the alpha keys themselves will declare the current state.
Licensing fees for a font they created?
I don recall Apple making a big deal out of it. I don't think they even mentioned it in the keynote.
I'm an older guy who wears glasses, but I think I still prefer Helvetica over San Francisco. The thinner lines make it more elegant, IMO.
A Ferrari has nicer lines and more elegant than a Honda, but not very practical for most people.
Yes, I get what you're saying. That's why Helvetica is a classic...but is not optimized for small screen devices i.e. watch
In this case, usability trumps aesthetics. And it's not like San Francisco font is garish.
It's no Comic Sans.
Very disappointed. I was hoping Apple would change the system font to Wing Dings.
If Apple really wants to improve legibility and the user experience, they should enforce a minimum point size rule for app developers. Some of the text is so ridiculously small that it causes me eyestrain. When I was a graphic designer there was an unspoken rule that no type gets set under 8 pts if you really expect anyone to read it. It seems like a lot of app developers don't really give a damn about legibility. They'll just keep making the text as tiny as possible so that they can cram it all in one spot.
I must need glasses because I can't see the difference. Regardless of that, I'm still looking forward to iOS 9.