First look: iOS 9's totally redesigned app switcher
Apple's next-generation mobile operating system comes with many visual tweaks, but the all-new, simplified app switcher is perhaps the most radical change to the user interface.
The release of iOS 9 marks the third consecutive redesign for the app switcher, which first appeared --?in a much more limited fashion -?in iOS 4. iOS 7 brought app screenshots to the party, while iOS 8 added a list of frequent contacts, pressing the app switcher into double duty.
iOS 9 does away with almost every interface paradigm established for the app switcher in the five years since its introduction. It's still accessed by double-clicking the home button, but nearly everything else has changed.
The familiar row of icons at the bottom of the display is gone. Now located at the top, the icons are smaller and the app names are larger.
App screens are no longer shown in their entirety. The "deck of cards" metaphor adapted from webOS has been taken more literally in iOS 9, and apps are now arranged in a manner more reminiscent of Apple's Cover Flow, minus the unobstructed central item.
Perhaps the biggest change is that the home screen is now on the right side, rather than the left. Millions of frequent app switchers will have to rid themselves of that muscle memory.
A couple of other things do remain from the days of old: you can still force-quit apps by swiping up, and a single click on the home button will jump directly back to where you were when you called the switcher. Overall, iOS 9's new app switcher is a welcome change that seems much more in line with iOS's overall architecture than its immediate predecessor did.
The release of iOS 9 marks the third consecutive redesign for the app switcher, which first appeared --?in a much more limited fashion -?in iOS 4. iOS 7 brought app screenshots to the party, while iOS 8 added a list of frequent contacts, pressing the app switcher into double duty.
iOS 9 does away with almost every interface paradigm established for the app switcher in the five years since its introduction. It's still accessed by double-clicking the home button, but nearly everything else has changed.
The familiar row of icons at the bottom of the display is gone. Now located at the top, the icons are smaller and the app names are larger.
App screens are no longer shown in their entirety. The "deck of cards" metaphor adapted from webOS has been taken more literally in iOS 9, and apps are now arranged in a manner more reminiscent of Apple's Cover Flow, minus the unobstructed central item.
Perhaps the biggest change is that the home screen is now on the right side, rather than the left. Millions of frequent app switchers will have to rid themselves of that muscle memory.
A couple of other things do remain from the days of old: you can still force-quit apps by swiping up, and a single click on the home button will jump directly back to where you were when you called the switcher. Overall, iOS 9's new app switcher is a welcome change that seems much more in line with iOS's overall architecture than its immediate predecessor did.
Comments
With the larger phones, using four fingers is very easy, but does nothing. I'd like to see the four finger move on both devices.
I'm also not sold on the overlapping screens, I don't see how that going to be better. You still need to swipe between them. And why move it from the bottom to the top? What does that accomplish? With the apps at the bottom, swiping an app away seems right when swiping up to an empty screen. But now, it seems as though we're going to be swiping into the the apps.
For the first time, I'm in the beta program for iOS. When it comes in July (I hope), I'll try it on my iPad Air 2. I'm pretty hyped about split screen, and some other features, and I'll see if I prefer this or not. My iPhone is too critical to test on, so I'll wait.
That's a developer-side thing, if I remember well.
Weirdly - why does this not scroll from right to left?...
On any iDevice - you start at the first screen of apps, then then swipe from right to left to view the next page of apps and so on.
So in the app switcher, if you're starting point is the springboard screen or an active app, shouldn't everything else be in line with the same paradigm?...
Or are Apple saying that launched apps live to the left of the Springboard in 'reality'?...
I actually used the contacts on top more often than I thought I would. Probably will use the Launcher app more to call/message my favorites. I hope this does function better and is not just change for change's sake.
Yeah, it is mostly up to the developer. The OS takes a screenshot when you navigate away from the app. If there's enough memory and your app doesn't get killed it should basically pick up where it left off. But if it was killed, it's up to the developer to implement the app resume feature to configure the app as it was when you navigated away. A lot (probably most) apps don't really do this, even though it's not that hard to implement.
I actually used the contacts on top more often than I thought I would. Probably will use the Launcher app more to call/message my favorites. I hope this does function better and is not just change for change's sake.
I think the quick contacts got moved to the Search menu, but it hasn't been real clear how they work or if they are configurable. I turned off the recent contacts in the app switcher, so it would instead always show my favorite contacts in a set order. The recent list in the switcher just didn't seem that useful to me, as the most recent people would already be at the top of the list in Messages. Perhaps a "Most Frequent" list would be better.
I see this change as bringing the app switcher closer to how the screen-over will act, and perhaps may actually be one and the same by the time iOS9 is out of beta.
I keep going on about mouse-miles but it seems like Apple could decrease the distance between interface elements on so many apps. On large screens, it's getting ridiculous. On iOS devices, our thumbs are great on the bottom third. Try to maximize on that idea. On OS X apps, avoid the lower right corner. Everywhere else is great.
I think the quick contacts got moved to the Search menu, but it hasn't been real clear how they work or if they are configurable. I turned off the recent contacts in the app switcher, so it would instead always show my favorite contacts in a set order. The recent list in the switcher just didn't seem that useful to me, as the most recent people would already be at the top of the list in Messages. Perhaps a "Most Frequent" list would be better.
Interesting. How are you able to customize the App Switcher to turn off recent contacts and only show favorites?
You can barely see the apps without scrolling through them. After watching that clip and opening the switcher on my phone, I prefer the iOS 8 implementation. This looks like a step backwards.
Agreed, and why kill the muscle memory by placing the Home screen on the right? I don't understand that. I was cool with the scroll change a few years back in OS X but this makes no sense.