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Does anyone else find spotlight app suggestions completely useless?
- Thread starter dark_knight177
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its a completely broken idea in the most fundamental sense.
1. considering proactive is an additional swipe past the home screen, you always have a at least 3 steps to get to something: home screen > proactive screen > app button, versus only 2 steps for up to 28 apps that you've decided you want quickly accessible: home screen > app button.
2. your home screens are static, meaning apps are in a predictable place and you can benefit from muscle memory for navigating to specific apps. with proactive it is a constantly changing list, so even if the item you want is in the list, you will always have to hunt to a certain degree.
3. most fundamentally, even if you were to ignore all of the above, it would still only be of benefit if it was frequently correct or helpful. every time it is wrong and doesn't have what you are looking for, you have added the steps of navigating to that proactive page for ZERO benefit IN ADDITION to all the traditional steps of locating and launching an app that you now must take. every time it is wrong it is a feature that makes using your phone objectively slower. and judging by the responses so far (and my own experiences), it is frequently not giving useful recommendations.
i don't know how most people use their phones, but beyond a few predictable things like checking some websites when i get up, or maps before my commute or my calendar when i get to work, i don't adhere to some strict schedule of usage that a computer can easily predict. and for the tasks that i do, there are already dead simple mechanisms already in place, from that bottom bar of 4 favourite apps, to the notification shade that can be loaded with upcoming appointments, traffic conditions, etc.
right now proactive is suggesting i peruse my contacts app. aside from the fact that i never use the contacts app, what draconian logic could it be applying that states "there is a 25% probability that you'll want to spend your saturday afternoon scrolling through your address list".
i also like it when it suggests i should just open up settings and fiddle around. "you probably are frustrated with how iOS works anymore, lemmie fast track you to some toggles to flick around and see if you can make it any better."
1. considering proactive is an additional swipe past the home screen, you always have a at least 3 steps to get to something: home screen > proactive screen > app button, versus only 2 steps for up to 28 apps that you've decided you want quickly accessible: home screen > app button.
2. your home screens are static, meaning apps are in a predictable place and you can benefit from muscle memory for navigating to specific apps. with proactive it is a constantly changing list, so even if the item you want is in the list, you will always have to hunt to a certain degree.
3. most fundamentally, even if you were to ignore all of the above, it would still only be of benefit if it was frequently correct or helpful. every time it is wrong and doesn't have what you are looking for, you have added the steps of navigating to that proactive page for ZERO benefit IN ADDITION to all the traditional steps of locating and launching an app that you now must take. every time it is wrong it is a feature that makes using your phone objectively slower. and judging by the responses so far (and my own experiences), it is frequently not giving useful recommendations.
i don't know how most people use their phones, but beyond a few predictable things like checking some websites when i get up, or maps before my commute or my calendar when i get to work, i don't adhere to some strict schedule of usage that a computer can easily predict. and for the tasks that i do, there are already dead simple mechanisms already in place, from that bottom bar of 4 favourite apps, to the notification shade that can be loaded with upcoming appointments, traffic conditions, etc.
right now proactive is suggesting i peruse my contacts app. aside from the fact that i never use the contacts app, what draconian logic could it be applying that states "there is a 25% probability that you'll want to spend your saturday afternoon scrolling through your address list".
i also like it when it suggests i should just open up settings and fiddle around. "you probably are frustrated with how iOS works anymore, lemmie fast track you to some toggles to flick around and see if you can make it any better."
Your post pretty much nails it.
Spotlight so reminds me of the App Store search results: If I searched for "X" why the heck are these in the results?
It doesn't even display recent. Right this moment it shows me two I haven't opened since the 9.1 update or before.
- App Store - last opened two days ago
- Sunrise Calendar - last opened ... long ago - need to delete
- Settings - last opened four days ago
- Indoor Survey - last opened just after 9.0.1 install
I use it as a random "Im bored help me pick a random app to waste time with" feature.
It actually works quite good.
It actually works quite good.
I agree with the comments that Proactive has been a major letdown. I was expecting far more than what I've been experiencing. I complained about it 3 weeks after 9.0 was released, and was told to "give it time to learn". Now we're approaching 3 months, and there has been quite literally no improvement.
Suggested contacts seems to suggest completely random contacts each time. Sometimes, it seems like it gets it right, suggesting recent contacts. But it literally saves no time. Normally, I would go: Home Screen > Messages (on dock) > tap the conversation. With Proactive, I'd have to go: Home Screen > Swipe left > tap contact > tap "Message". An extra step, actually.
Suggested Nearby seemed like it would be the most useful to me. And it sort of is. Except at night. It routinely suggests places that close at 9PM. If I tap "Nightlife", why are all but one of the suggestions listed as "Closed" when it's only 10PM? What's the point? I know for a fact there are several, several places open past 10PM.
Despite HEAVILY customizing the News app, the news section in Proactive routinely suggests random news articles that I have zero interest in. Just plain stupid.
So yeah, disappointing to say the least.
Suggested contacts seems to suggest completely random contacts each time. Sometimes, it seems like it gets it right, suggesting recent contacts. But it literally saves no time. Normally, I would go: Home Screen > Messages (on dock) > tap the conversation. With Proactive, I'd have to go: Home Screen > Swipe left > tap contact > tap "Message". An extra step, actually.
Suggested Nearby seemed like it would be the most useful to me. And it sort of is. Except at night. It routinely suggests places that close at 9PM. If I tap "Nightlife", why are all but one of the suggestions listed as "Closed" when it's only 10PM? What's the point? I know for a fact there are several, several places open past 10PM.
Despite HEAVILY customizing the News app, the news section in Proactive routinely suggests random news articles that I have zero interest in. Just plain stupid.
So yeah, disappointing to say the least.