iOS 11 UI design.

[karolynaz]

Obviously you're very passionate about your opinions on pre vs post-iOS7 changes (and I mostly disagree with you on almost every point), but I have to pick out this part of your post in particular. You're talking about how the toolbars disappear when you scroll down on a page? How is this anything but good? They go away to give you more screen space to view your content. And when you need it back, you simply scroll up or tap on the top or bottom where the toolbars were and they reappear. Simple, useful, and not in the way when you don't need them. Much like an on-screen keyboard. There when you need it, not there when you don't.

Also, you can always just download another browser with always on top toolbar.
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Tolerance for "hiding things so they're not in the way" seems to be a very subjective thing, where some love it and are fine with the extra clicks/swipes it takes to get to tools that used to be in front of you for quick/efficient access. I dislike being forced to use hidden toolbars (with no option provided to perma-show them) because the pain outweighs the supposed gain for me. The pain is having to do now two actions now that used to take one (first you scroll then press the back/forward/tabs/favorites tool). Those add'l actions really add up after a while, to me at least. Secondly, with today's larger iPhones, the gain/benefit isn't nearly what it might have been back during the 4s/5/5s days when iOS7 erupted. Also, ironically, another dumb fad of sticky headers used by many sites (Apple included, such as the user help forums) that take up that screen area revert you back to the same screen area we had before disappearing toolbars (sometimes less, since sticky toolbars seem unnecessarily oversized often, as if they're trying to say "hey, look at me, don't you want to share this on FB, twitter, pinterest, and instagram!" Another critique of the hidden toolbars is that often if I scroll up to re-read something I just scrolled past, the tool bar/header appears and hides what I'm trying to read, increasing the need to keep tapping/swiping to read amongst the disappearing/reappearing/disappearing tool bar & sticky header, resulting in a herky-jerky whack-a-mole dance and more frustration.

It's fine you have your taste/preferences & tolerances to things that I personally find annoying and counter-productive; if J.ive was as good as he's fooled people into believing, he'd allow the option to permanently show toolbars for example, even if he chose to lightly insult the user by hiding that choice within Accessibility tools area like he has done for things like "button shapes," "bold text," etc.

You don't need to scroll up to get toolbar. If you going back, just swipe right. If you want to enter new address just click on the top. If you need tabs, just double click in the right bottom corner. Maybe you just don't know all the gestures? In this case, you just have to read manual of how to use iOS.

 

[Tozovac]

Tozovac > just let it go. There won't be skeuomorphism design anymore, because except you and some other people, nobody today likes skeuomorphism and prefers flat design, 'cause there's no more need for realism in software. In real life fake leather and fake wood are not exactly considered the pinacle of good taste, so why would things be any different on our screens? Also, I don't have anywhere at home "real buttons", so why should I have them on my screen? It will only confuse a lot of people, especially young ones, because they never so a real calendar, calculator, etc. in their life.

I don't say, that iOS 11 UI style doesn't need update, but they are definitely moving to the right direction.

You don't seem to have good comprehension skills, or you're enhancing my take on the prior iOS6-type UI to be more controversial. Not looking for the return of stitching & felt, but I am looking for the return of good design. The instagram icon is a great example. Before it was pure art, something I could not create (the camera-looking icon). Once it went the route of J.ive flat design with a touch of gradient, it looks like a washing machine on a tie-dye Grateful Dead t-shirt that I could have created with 5 minutes of Illustrator or Photoshop time. I miss those touches of "Apple design." Today's flat & overly-simplifed-cleaned-up iOS and unfortunately OS look like a South Park tv show vs., say, a "Cars" movie. One of them, to me at least, is much more visually enjoyable.

Secondly, as for buttons: You don't have buttons at home? You don't have faucets on your sinks that look like faucet handles, or light switches that look like light switches, or doorknobs that look like doorknobs, all of which look uniquely different and which you can operate intuitively once you see them and without even having to look at them and/or even in the dark? What if all of them were flat touch-sensitive items with no discernible button-like indication & border, like a microwave oven, which you do have to look at in order to operate and which I find impossible to use in the dark since, for my particular microwave, the buttons don't light up when you walk up to it at night. Would you be ok with the extra steps it'd take like turning on the lights always and looking directly at the text button when you used to be able to do it blindfolded? Nobody will convince me or many people that Apple has gone too far with minimization/reduction by removing so many intuitive cues all because someone felt it was time to try a change.
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Also, you can always just download another browser with always on top toolbar.
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You don't need to scroll up to get toolbar. If you going back, just swipe right. If you want to enter new address just click on the top. If you need tabs, just double click in the right bottom corner. Maybe you just don't know all the gestures? In this case, you just have to read manual of how to use iOS.

The first suggestion is a good workaround. I have stuck with Safari only to reduce memory use and to sync with my home computer safari favorites. I'd argue though: rather than force me the option to get a new browser, wouldn't it be better for Safari/Apple to give me the option to turn off what THEY think is a good option, to keep me using Safari?

Secondly, I do know of those shortcuts but: my issues of increased taps doesn't go away though as you need one tap to enable the address bar and another to start typing instead of having it there always so that one tap lets you start typing. Also the herky-jerky dance of appearing/disappearing toolbars/headers covering up material I'm reading doesn't go away. All the extra taps and the covering of text annoyingly are things that drastically take away from the prior "it just worked" aspect of Apple UI, where the UI prompts required drastically less thinking/guessing and fewer taps to get something done.

Appreciate your willingness to discuss/help tho.

 

[Tozovac]

It will only confuse a lot of people, especially young ones, because they never so a real calendar, calculator, etc. in their life.

This is a good example of the kind of misguided justifications & short-sighted over-thinking by J.ive & Apple that's resulted in the over-simplified mess of a UI Apple forced upon us starting with iOS7 and that's been requiring various re-invention band-aids at each revision in order to fix the blunders introduced in iOS7 (as opposed to the iOS 1 thru 6 that was just lightly massaged & improved each time).

"What should a calendar look like since we no longer have calendars on the wall? Why should an iPhone calculator look like it has discrete buttons; instead let's create a Windows Phone-looking calculator with very little differentiation in color or size between buttons that serve different functions so it looks modern and simple and hip and updated," etc. This whole "remove gridlines & buttons & other differentiators since we're on a phone interface" crap are just crap ideas with crap attempts at crap justifications. Think about it - Calendars on the wall had nice clear gridlines bounding each date because it was just common sense to provide some delineation & context around each date, so why shouldn't a calendar on the iPhone show a gridwork instead of what we're stuck with (just faint horizontal lines and no vertical lines, as if there was a need to conserve pixels?). The current iOS7+ iPhone calendar is like working on a spreadsheet with no gridlines. A calculator on the desk had discrete buttons and often different-colored buttons for different groups of functions because they were very helpful cues to get your job done quickly; why shouldn't the iPhone show a calculator with more differentiation of buttons rather than the homogenized minimized creation we're stuck with. You, like J.ive, are over-thinking things and creating solutions for where there was not a problem except for those who were desperately needing to see something new even if not better and who were losing sleep over green felt and leather stitching.

I don't say, that iOS 11 UI style doesn't need update, but they are definitely moving to the right direction.

The more they make actionable items non-flat and stand out against the flat info-only items, and the thicker & darker & more contrasty they make the fonts, I agree, the better a direction they are going in!

 

[Tozovac]

PS to rope this back in to iOS11 - I'm going to review the latest & greatest news on iOS11 and see what band-aids I can uncover that appear to be undoing the over-minimalization mistakes of earlier iOS's since iOS7...

 

[Howl's Castle]

I personally enjoy both the old and new design. However, I do prefer the newer design as I prefer the flat and colorful look.

 

[cmaier]

Tozovac > just let it go. There won't be skeuomorphism design anymore, because except you and some other people, nobody today likes skeuomorphism and prefers flat design, 'cause there's no more need for realism in software. In real life fake leather and fake wood are not exactly considered the pinacle of good taste, so why would things be any different on our screens? Also, I don't have anywhere at home "real buttons", so why should I have them on my screen? It will only confuse a lot of people, especially young ones, because they never so a real calendar, calculator, etc. in their life.

I don't say, that iOS 11 UI style doesn't need update, but they are definitely moving to the right direction.

Eh, it's all just cyclical. Skeuomorphic looks dated. In a few years flat will look dated and we will be back to pinstripes and candy, or brushed metal

 

[tkermit]

Eh, it's all just cyclical. Skeuomorphic looks dated. In a few years flat will look dated and we will be back to pinstripes and candy, or brushed metal

Been a long time since I last wanted to lick my UI.

 

[Tozovac]

Been a long time since I last wanted to lick my UI.


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Ha ha. Though I have to admit: I strongly prefer the 3D-looking lickable stoplight buttons that stopped with Mavericks vs. the Fisher Price-looking flat buttons that J.ive unnecessarily intoduced with Yosemite. One provides "pressable" indications while the other looks like information only. Really what was the point of dumbing down those stoplights as screen resolution keeps getting better?

It's a good thing J.ive and Apple's clueless current design leadership aren't in charge of putting Braille indications throughout the world, or developing roller coasters or treaded tires or diamond rings, where depth and contours and details really matter and serve a purpose.

Actually, depth & detail & contours matter pretty much everywhere in the universe (from shag carpeting to water slides to toilet paper) except for maybe white blank paper, which leads to another reason I hate J.ive's strange new world of all-white; everything whited-out in iOS & OS just look so...unfinished and amateurish. But anyway. iOS11 is coming but maybe iOS12 will save the day.

 

[karolynaz]

The instagram icon is a great example. Before it was pure art, something I could not create (the camera-looking icon). Once it went the route of J.ive flat design with a touch of gradient, it looks like a washing machine on a tie-dye Grateful Dead t-shirt that I could have created with 5 minutes of Illustrator or Photoshop time.

Sure, you can do it in 5 minutes. It's easy to replicate now, when you see end result. But somebody had to imagine washed gradients and it took many works hours. In my opinion flat/minimalistic/white = less pain and tiredness for the eyes. So I like very much where the Apple is heading and I think majority of the people who use iOS – like's the design and thinks that J. Ive is great. Also if you like "Cars" more, than South Park, it doesn't mean that South Park drawing style is bad, it's only different.

BTW, did you try to use different themes for iOS? If you jailbreak your phone, you can have any look you like.

P. S. And nope, I don't have buttons at home anywhere. My washing machine, oven and hotplate have minimalistic touch controls, and my light switches look ugly, so I definitely don't want them to see on my screen as well

 

[Tozovac]

Sure, you can do it in 5 minutes. It's easy to replicate now, when you see end result. But somebody had to imagine washed gradients and it took many works hours. In my opinion flat/minimalistic/white = less pain and tiredness for the eyes. So I like very much where the Apple is heading and I think majority of the people who use iOS – like's the design and thinks that J. Ive is great. Also if you like "Cars" more, than South Park, it doesn't mean that South Park drawing style is bad, it's only different.

BTW, did you try to use different themes for iOS? If you jailbreak your phone, you can have any look you like.

P. S. And nope, I don't have buttons at home anywhere. My washing machine, oven and hotplate have minimalistic touch controls, and my light switches look ugly, so I definitely don't want them to see on my screen as well

Ha ha thanks for the good attitude and playing along, even though I'd personally fire anyone involved in the IG icon redo if it took anyone more than 3 minutes.

I have not seriously considered jailbreaking, i'm very unfortunately too involved with other things to look into it, although it might really increase my satisfaction level to change what I have currently. If you could message me any links that show jailbreaking examples closer to my iOS 6 preferences, I'd be grateful.

I'd be curious to see a photograph of your laundry controls, if you're willing to post it here. Something tells me it's a little more intuitive and organized and not all monotone light gray font on white background - nobody else could be as stupid as apple execs and all the lemmings website/app designers.

I'll never say South Park drawing style is bad, although let's extend the metaphor into real life. If J.ive had his way, all cars would be white and light gray, with as little ornamentation and interesting sheet-metal creases as possible. Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force would all wear gray similar uniforms, since we all know the iOS mail app cannot possibly look any different than the Calendar app or address book app from 7 feet away, for fear of confusing the user. Fireworks should absolutely not be three dimensional and colorful; they should just be blobs of light that all uniformly get bigger into a full circle, like a white sun in the sky, and then disappear. Rich mahogany bookcases in a 150-year-old country club should absolutely not be rich, brown and lacquered; they should be replaced as soon as possible with aluminum shelving from Home Depot - The same shelving used in the lobby, the dining room kitchen, the janitorial closet's, and, hopefully, all the office tasks of the club management team. All the green felt should be ripped from the clubroom pool tables and replaced with drywall. Otherwise, how will anybody possibly understand how to use those items if they are not homogenized and simplified like that? Forget all the confusion and lost time stumbling over trying to figure out how to use things that worked pretty darn well before, because everybody will eventually succumb and forget how nice colors and textures were.
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I personally enjoy both the old and new design. However, I do prefer the newer design as I prefer the flat and colorful look.

Hi there! Does that mean you think iOS 6 and prior wasn't as colorful? Just wanting to understand, truthfully, how people like iOS 7 iOS 11 more than the prior offering. Is intriguing to me, really, especially since iOS 7 to iOS 11 is so less colorful imho and so full of monotone light white, dark white, light grey, dark grey, etc than before!

 

[Howl's Castle]

Ha ha thanks for the good attitude and playing along, even though I'd personally fire anyone involved in the IG icon redo if it took anyone more than 3 minutes.

I have not seriously considered jailbreaking, i'm very unfortunately too involved with other things to look into it, although it might really increase my satisfaction level to change what I have currently. If you could message me any links that show jailbreaking examples closer to my iOS 6 preferences, I'd be grateful.

I'd be curious to see a photograph of your laundry controls, if you're willing to post it here. Something tells me it's a little more intuitive and organized and not all monotone light gray font on white background - nobody else could be as stupid as apple execs and all the lemmings website/app designers.

I'll never say South Park drawing style is bad, although let's extend the metaphor into real life. If J.ive had his way, all cars would be white and light gray, with as little ornamentation and interesting sheet-metal creases as possible. Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force would all wear gray similar uniforms, since we all know the iOS mail app cannot possibly look any different than the Calendar app or address book app from 7 feet away, for fear of confusing the user. Fireworks should absolutely not be three dimensional and colorful; they should just be blobs of light that all uniformly get bigger into a full circle, like a white sun in the sky, and then disappear. Rich mahogany bookcases in a 150-year-old country club should absolutely not be rich, brown and lacquered; they should be replaced as soon as possible with aluminum shelving from Home Depot - The same shelving used in the lobby, the dining room kitchen, the janitorial closet's, and, hopefully, all the office tasks of the club management team. All the green felt should be ripped from the clubroom pool tables and replaced with drywall. Otherwise, how will anybody possibly understand how to use those items if they are not homogenized and simplified like that? Forget all the confusion and lost time stumbling over trying to figure out how to use things that worked pretty darn well before, because everybody will eventually succumb and forget how nice colors and textures were.
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Hi there! Does that mean you think iOS 6 and prior wasn't as colorful? Just wanting to understand, truthfully, how people like iOS 7 iOS 11 more than the prior offering. Is intriguing to me, really, especially since iOS 7 to iOS 11 is so less colorful IMHO and so full of monotone light white, dark white, light gray, dark gray, etc than before!

The old one was sort of colorful. The general UI of iOS 6 and prior used pale colors and fabric like UI depending on the app. iOS 7+ is much more colorful though no matter where you are in the operating system especially with the blur that iOS does now. iOS 6 was just pale and skeuomorphic.

 

[Tozovac]

The old one was sort of colorful. The general UI of iOS 6 and prior used pale colors and fabric like UI depending on the app. iOS 7+ is much more colorful though no matter where you are in the operating system especially with the blur that iOS does now. iOS 6 was just pale and skeuomorphic.

Ha ha, every time I read someone's very specific compliment of an ios7-ios11 feature vs. the feature from ios6, I often question whether I'm seeing the same thing or not, as if maybe I'm colorblind to something that everybody else but me must see. Seriously, you think ios6 was pale, and that ios7-11's was colorful?? Are you going to force me to get my eyes checked? I found some ios6 vs 7 comparisons. I know that by ios10 they band-aided some of the ios7 design fails, but the general theme of "ios7 is a much less colorful white-out compared to ios6" still stands.

I know these comparison images are early ios7 but they still apply to ios10: iOS6 white/stormy clouds are now black with thin white outline, yellow sun is black with thin white/yellow outlines, blue raindrops are thin blue lines and black clouds with white outline...hard to differentiate without taking extra time that you previously didn't need to take. iOS6 background with a soft purple/black gradient is simple monotone black.

Settings area: ios6 had a colorful dark bluish border on very top for various statuses, and a medium bluish border to define where you were, followed by lighter colored tools, each with splashes of color to help quickly differentiate things. iOS7 was a ridiculous light grey status bar, followed by a light grey title bar, followed by a light grey tools area with monotone icons that looked alike from 5 feet. iOS10 has some color differentiation but always with white fonts on a light color square, and very difficult to read quickly - impossible to read in the sun.

Gamecenter: Self-explanatory. Please pardon ahead of time any convulsions or self-immolations caused by anyone laying their eyes on hints of brown wood bordering (which very effectively & efficiently helped the user to subconsciously differentiate between the title bar & the "tools/user" area beneath it) and green felt.

ibooks app: This one boggles the mind. J.ive was so set on his anti-skeumorphic rage that he replaced wooden bookshelves with...gradient lines imitating bookshelves in a minimalistic way, as he was so hellbent on eradicating anything slightly "real" looking. So funny. I would have had a little more respect for him if he had just placed the book titles on the page, like icons on the home screens. His minimizing the bookshelves into grey gradients is just so freaking hilarious. Underlines his misplaced energy & priorities at the time. So funny! Oh and nice and colorful, if your favorite colors are near-white blue/grey, light blue/grey, medium blue/grey, and darker blue/grey.

Time app: More self-explanatory images of ios6's splashes of color vs. ios7's ode to Whiteout fiesta. ios10 isn't much more interesting (it's all-black).

Compass app: Self-explanatory. Same caveat/pre-apology as for the game center image above: I hope nobody enters into a depression or fit of rage from seeing a skeumorphic compass.

Notes app: Not a hint of color in ios6! Crazy!

Well, I'd say "I hope you get the point" but I'm sure the above won't suffice to change your thoughts that ios7+ is more colorful.

PS one more, where the texter from ios6-timeframe totally "gets it." All the color on the left, all the bland white-out on the right...

 

[Howl's Castle]

Ha ha, every time I read someone's very specific compliment of an ios7-ios11 feature vs. the feature from ios6, I often question whether I'm seeing the same thing or not, as if maybe I'm colorblind to something that everybody else but me must see. Seriously, you think ios6 was pale, and that ios7-11's was colorful?? Are you going to force me to get my eyes checked? I found some ios6 vs 7 comparisons. I know that by ios10 they band-aided some of the ios7 design fails, but the general theme of "ios7 is a much less colorful white-out compared to ios6" still stands.

I know these comparison images are early ios7 but they still apply to ios10: iOS6 white/stormy clouds are now black with thin white outline, yellow sun is black with thin white/yellow outlines, blue raindrops are thin blue lines and black clouds with white outline...hard to differentiate without taking extra time that you previously didn't need to take. iOS6 background with a soft purple/black gradient is simple monotone black.

View attachment 705847

Settings area: ios6 had a colorful dark bluish border on very top for various statuses, and a medium bluish border to define where you were, followed by lighter colored tools, each with splashes of color to help quickly differentiate things. iOS7 was a ridiculous light grey status bar, followed by a light grey title bar, followed by a light grey tools area with monotone icons that looked alike from 5 feet. iOS10 has some color differentiation but always with white fonts on a light color square, and very difficult to read quickly - impossible to read in the sun.

View attachment 705848

Gamecenter: Self-explanatory. Please pardon ahead of time any convulsions or self-immolations caused by anyone laying their eyes on hints of brown wood bordering (which very effectively & efficiently helped the user to subconsciously differentiate between the title bar & the "tools/user" area beneath it) and green felt.

View attachment 705849

ibooks app: This one boggles the mind. J.ive was so set on his anti-skeumorphic rage that he replaced wooden bookshelves with...gradient lines imitating bookshelves in a minimalistic way, as he was so hellbent on eradicating anything slightly "real" looking. So funny. I would have had a little more respect for him if he had just placed the book titles on the page, like icons on the home screens. His minimizing the bookshelves into grey gradients is just so freaking hilarious. Underlines his misplaced energy & priorities at the time. So funny! Oh and nice and colorful, if your favorite colors are near-white blue/grey, light blue/grey, medium blue/grey, and darker blue/grey.

View attachment 705856


Time app: More self-explanatory images of ios6's splashes of color vs. ios7's ode to Whiteout fiesta. ios10 isn't much more interesting (it's all-black).

View attachment 705850

Compass app: Self-explanatory. Same caveat/pre-apology as for the game center image above: I hope nobody enters into a depression or fit of rage from seeing a skeuomorphic compass.

View attachment 705851

Notes app: Not a hint of color in ios6! Crazy!

View attachment 705853

Well, I'd say "I hope you get the point" but I'm sure the above won't suffice to change your thoughts that ios7+ is more colorful.

PS one more, where the texter from ios6-timeframe totally "gets it." All the color on the left, all the bland white-out on the right...

View attachment 705861

iOS 6 appears more colorful because skeuomorphism tries to be familiar with objects. When most people talk about post iOS 6 being more colorful they're talking about the home screen, lock screen and notification center/widget center. So yes, in terms of apps iOS 6 is more colorful but when it comes to the actual OS and not its apps, iOS 7 is much more colorful and vibrant. In fact, iOS 7 was hated because it was colorful and neon by some people.

 

[Feyl]

iOS 6 appears more colorful because skeuomorphism tries to be familiar with objects. When most people talk about post iOS 6 being more colorful they're talking about the home screen, lock screen and notification center/widget center. So yes, in terms of apps iOS 6 is more colorful but when it comes to the actual OS and not its apps, iOS 7 is much more colorful and vibrant. In fact, iOS 7 was hated because it was colorful and neon by some people.

I spend time in apps mostly, like the vast majority of iOS users I believe, so it's an actual OS for me too. Look at that Game Center app in iOS 6. It had rich design full of details and layers, like every aspect in iOS before iOS 7. Now we're stuck with a design that looks like a bad HTML page from the '90s.

 

[Vanilla35]

I spend time in apps mostly, like the vast majority of iOS users I believe, so it's an actual OS for me too. Look at that Game Center app in iOS 6. It had rich design full of details and layers, like every aspect in iOS before iOS 7. Now we're stuck with a design that looks like a bad HTML page from the '90s.

Lmao, so true

 

[AmazingTechGeek]

I honestly liked iOS 9 the most between the iPhone and iPad interface. iOS 10 on iPad kinda diminished the experince. iOS 11 is allowing for it's comeback, but I dislike how it looks for iPhone. I will keep my iPhone 7 on iOS 10, bit will upgrade my iPad Air 2 this fall.

 

[Vanilla35]

Everyone needs to just suck it up and jailbreak tbh. The stability excuse is null if all you do is put a theme on your phone. It's basically stock iOS with a theme, at that point.

 

[Tozovac]

iOS 6 appears more colorful because skeuomorphism tries to be familiar with objects.

Huh? Earlier you called ios6 pale and skeumorphic, not colorful and skeumorphic.

And, how does that logic make sense in terms of the examples I posted above for: clock app, iMessages app, Settings app, weather, etc. that aren't really skeumorphic (even if much more interesting to look at) but are much more colorful, using color to smartly help define functional areas at times.

When most people talk about post iOS 6 being more colorful they're talking about the home screen, lock screen and notification center/widget center. So yes, in terms of apps iOS 6 is more colorful but when it comes to the actual OS and not its apps, iOS 7 is much more colorful and vibrant. In fact, iOS 7 was hated because it was colorful and neon by some people.

Now you're just making things up. Or trying to troll me. First of all, I've *never* heard or read anyone complain about iOS7+ being too colorful. I only heard (and felt) hate toward the awful pastel hue/palette (compounded by the equally poor choice of prioritizing white font over those bright pastel colors over black). Secondly, the majority of complaints I've heard (and whined about myself) is that ios7-ios11 is too homogenous and grey/white/light blue, and doesn't use color where it counts.
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Everyone needs to just suck it up and jailbreak tbh. The stability excuse is null if all you do is put a theme on your phone. It's basically stock iOS with a theme, at that point.

The complaints are so much more skin deep than theme/appearance. The basic UIX architectural changes (i.e., all the changes for the sake of change and not real improvement) are significantly worse now, even with upcoming iOS11, than before 2013, such as the scroll/info wheels, the phone voicemail messages interface, the notes app w/o lines, the photos app that uses white as a background instead of black as it should be, and on and on and on.

 

[Vanilla35]

The complaints are so much more skin deep than theme/appearance. The basic UIX architectural changes (i.e., all the changes for the sake of change and not real improvement) are significantly worse now, even with upcoming iOS11, than before 2013, such as the scroll/info wheels, the phone voicemail messages interface, the notes app w/o lines, the photos app that uses white as a background instead of black as it should be, and on and on and on.

Jailbreak theme's change all majorly affected apps and home screen layout/notification shade, etc, lock screen. But I agree it's never 100%.

 

[Mammut]

I really don't get the sense of this in parts energetic discussion: In the end it's just a matter of individual taste. There is no better or worse with both of the two design languages. One feels better with the flat, another one feels better with the skeuomorphic one. I am really glad, that Apple has left the skeuomorphic design behind - especially when I have to look at your comparison pictures above after years of skeuomorphic abstinence!

The only thing I'm wondering about: Is it just a question of age? I realized in the last years, that especially the age groups 35+ are complaining about the new design and younger guys mostly like the flat one more. But most important: the majority of people just don't give a **** on this question.

As mentioned above designs are running in waves or circles over the decades: even if we have flat design today and consider the skeuomorphic one to look aged, I guess we'll see it again in the future. Especially with AR we might see a revival of this design paradigm. And maybe with the future interpretation of skeuomorphic design, we'll all say: Holy ****, that looks ****in' awesome! (And for sure, we'll have guys sayin': Give us the flat design back!)

 

[Mackie924]

Ick. You guys can keep your iOS 7 design. It's hideous.

I can't believe someone actually used the Game Center to prove their point about it. That was an abomination.

 

[tkermit]

iOS 6 vs iOS 7:

 

[Tozovac]

I really don't get the sense of this in parts energetic discussion: In the end it's just a matter of individual taste. There is no better or worse with both of the two design languages. One feels better with the flat, another one feels better with the skeuomorphic one. I am really glad, that Apple has left the skeuomorphic design behind - especially when I have to look at your comparison pictures above after years of skeuomorphic abstinence!

Ha, it seems most every retort against my ios7-ios11 criticisms seem to always go back to skeumorphism. My (and others') sentiments are much more than just about missing real-looking compasses & calculators. J.ive and his blind team really worsened things by going to buttonless & hard-to-use-easily all-white/all-grey/all-light-blue borderless minimalistic appearances, unnecessarily reinventing most all screen interfaces into steps backwards, and just for change for the sake of change. Take the voicemail screen for instance. Before, you could open it and have it default to the most recent message, so you would need only one press to call them back or listen or delete a message. Also, selecting a message wouldn't shift things around on the screen; imagine if every time you went to pick up something on your bathroom vanity, the sink controls and other things on the vanity would dance around to a new location?

Compare that to the ios7-11 mess, full of two big design fails: the unnecessarily hiding of controls under each message, where other messages shift around each time you select one message, and where the "buttons" for speaker, call back, & delete are so small in height that it frequently results in no action or the opening up of the message below often when I try to hit speaker or call back, resulting in even more presses to complete a seemingly simple action. The second big design fail is common to all of iOS7-11: no buttons to signify actionable items, and way too improper a reinvention of the meaning of grey text. Even to this day, below I see "Greeting" and "Edit" as being unavailable options, since a greyed-out "button" signified "unavailable" since forever. Until J.ive came along and thought he knew better (and/or had to show that Scott F's way was the wrong way). Such garbage!

Composing this response resulted in me stumbling upon this too: Looks like some app interfaces were pretty significantly changed from ios5 to ios6, like the dialer below:

http://www.todaysiphone.com/2012/09/ios-6-overview-phone-reminders-replies-and-do-not-disturb/

Turns out they pretty radically changed the dialer going into ios6. To be honest, I didn't even realize, and probably because the change was incremental and....drum roll.....even "flattened" some of the interface's details while.....drum roll......still used colors and buttons effectively to quickly and almost subconsciously guide the user using classic, proven methods that just work. (note to Jony Ive the hack of a designer: it is possible to freshen things up without resorting to a complete re-do)

Compare that to J.ive's white-out interface with no helpful borders or "zones" to provide some context and where even for an experienced user for me, I was at first very confused and didn't think I could paste a number to be dialed. Before, a different-colored area for the phone number entry helped guide the user. Post ios6...as usual...it's all guesswork and discovery and trial & error and more button-pressing. What are the odds that someone new to ios7-ios11 will realize that the undifferentiated blank space above the dial "buttons" can be pasted into?

I didn't even get into the crap scroll wheel-selector interface we have now or other crap UI options that go way beyond skeumorphism, and how all this "white-out, low-contrast-font, reduction in UI "button" like prompts" has poisoned web design in general, where most of today's web pages waste space with large unnecessary photos, large areas of white/empty space resulting in needing to scroll way more often to see the same info that fit onto one screen, and the emergence of sticky headers as a band-aid to put certain tools at-the-ready and as a response perhaps to the overly-large space-wasting web pages that require constant scrolling...

The only thing I'm wondering about: Is it just a question of age? I realized in the last years, that especially the age groups 35+ are complaining about the new design and younger guys mostly like the flat one more. But most important: the majority of people just don't give a **** on this question.

I guess we'd only know if we asked. I do think there will always be a group that just goes with what's offered (doesn't give a **** on the question), which seems to always be adopted into the group defending something (the I love ios7-11 crowd in this case, ha ha).

As mentioned above designs are running in waves or circles over the decades: even if we have flat design today and consider the skeuomorphic one to look aged, I guess we'll see it again in the future. Especially with AR we might see a revival of this design paradigm. And maybe with the future interpretation of skeuomorphic design, we'll all say: Holy ****, that looks ****in' awesome! (And for sure, we'll have guys sayin': Give us the flat design back!)

Let's just hope better UI/UIx returns with: improved button-type prompting to differentiate actionable items from info-only items, more efficient web pages again with less wasted space, and some artistry of design that shows someone with real talent created it.

 

[Howl's Castle]

Huh? Earlier you called ios6 pale and skeumorphic, not colorful and skeumorphic.

And, how does that logic make sense in terms of the examples I posted above for: clock app, iMessages app, Settings app, weather, etc. that aren't really skeuomorphic (even if much more interesting to look at) but are much more colorful, using color to smartly help define functional areas at times.



Now you're just making things up. Or trying to troll me. First of all, I've *never* heard or read anyone complain about iOS7+ being too colorful. I only heard (and felt) hate toward the awful pastel hue/palette (compounded by the equally poor choice of prioritizing white font over those bright pastel colors over black). Secondly, the majority of complaints I've heard (and whined about myself) is that ios7-ios11 is too homogenous and grey/white/light blue, and doesn't use color where it counts.
[doublepost=1498530018][/doublepost]

The complaints are so much more skin deep than theme/appearance. The basic UIX architectural changes (i.e., all the changes for the sake of change and not real improvement) are significantly worse now, even with upcoming iOS11, than before 2013, such as the scroll/info wheels, the phone voicemail messages interface, the notes app w/o lines, the photos app that uses white as a background instead of black as it should be, and on and on and on.

Now you're just making things up. Or trying to troll me. First of all, I've *never* heard or read anyone complain about iOS7+ being too colorful. I only heard (and felt) hate toward the awful pastel hue/palette (compounded by the equally poor choice of prioritizing white font over those bright pastel colors over black). Secondly, the majority of complaints I've heard (and whined about myself) is that ios7-ios11 is too homogenous and grey/white/light blue, and doesn't use color where it counts.


iOS 6 is pale when you look at it. It used pale version of colors for the UI. Why would I try to troll on something so stupid? Come on man. I am not trying to make things up, a simple Google Search can bring up many results that people hated iOS 7.

1. https://goo.gl/WrZm3d
2. https://goo.gl/bjKpLF
3. https://goo.gl/vtkUoR
4. https://goo.gl/VtA1gm
5. https://goo.gl/BJQ1vV
6. https://goo.gl/lGHai2
7. https://goo.gl/tMkZ3T
8. https://goo.gl/KGqhn
9. https://goo.gl/whL09
10. https://goo.gl/5oyXk6


And, how does that logic make sense in terms of the examples I posted above for: clock app, iMessages app, Settings app, weather, etc. that aren't really skeumorphic (even if much more interesting to look at) but are much more colorful, using color to smartly help define functional areas at times.

I never not even once said all of iOS 6 was skeuomorphic, I said the basic design was. iOS 7 is just as colorful when it comes to these apps. The only difference is that post iOS 6 uses lines and flat colors because 3D design was something that Apple used from 2004-2013. Microsoft also got rid of 3D design with Windows 8 (2012) because 3D was getting old. Most people now will say the newer design is better. Which means your in a minority, arguing with people who disagree with you that your opinion is better, when the vast majority disagree now.

The complaints are so much more skin deep than theme/appearance. The basic UIX architectural changes (i.e., all the changes for the sake of change and not real improvement) are significantly worse now, even with upcoming iOS11, than before 2013, such as the scroll/info wheels, the phone voicemail messages interface, the notes app w/o lines, the photos app that uses white as a background instead of black as it should be, and on and on and on.

This is all a matter of opinion and not absolute fact.

 

[Hook85]

Ha ha, every time I read someone's very specific compliment of an ios7-ios11 feature vs. the feature from ios6, I often question whether I'm seeing the same thing or not, as if maybe I'm colorblind to something that everybody else but me must see. Seriously, you think ios6 was pale, and that ios7-11's was colorful?? Are you going to force me to get my eyes checked? I found some ios6 vs 7 comparisons. I know that by ios10 they band-aided some of the ios7 design fails, but the general theme of "ios7 is a much less colorful white-out compared to ios6" still stands.

I know these comparison images are early ios7 but they still apply to ios10: iOS6 white/stormy clouds are now black with thin white outline, yellow sun is black with thin white/yellow outlines, blue raindrops are thin blue lines and black clouds with white outline...hard to differentiate without taking extra time that you previously didn't need to take. iOS6 background with a soft purple/black gradient is simple monotone black.

View attachment 705847

Settings area: ios6 had a colorful dark bluish border on very top for various statuses, and a medium bluish border to define where you were, followed by lighter colored tools, each with splashes of color to help quickly differentiate things. iOS7 was a ridiculous light grey status bar, followed by a light grey title bar, followed by a light grey tools area with monotone icons that looked alike from 5 feet. iOS10 has some color differentiation but always with white fonts on a light color square, and very difficult to read quickly - impossible to read in the sun.

View attachment 705848

Gamecenter: Self-explanatory. Please pardon ahead of time any convulsions or self-immolations caused by anyone laying their eyes on hints of brown wood bordering (which very effectively & efficiently helped the user to subconsciously differentiate between the title bar & the "tools/user" area beneath it) and green felt.

View attachment 705849

ibooks app: This one boggles the mind. J.ive was so set on his anti-skeumorphic rage that he replaced wooden bookshelves with...gradient lines imitating bookshelves in a minimalistic way, as he was so hellbent on eradicating anything slightly "real" looking. So funny. I would have had a little more respect for him if he had just placed the book titles on the page, like icons on the home screens. His minimizing the bookshelves into grey gradients is just so freaking hilarious. Underlines his misplaced energy & priorities at the time. So funny! Oh and nice and colorful, if your favorite colors are near-white blue/grey, light blue/grey, medium blue/grey, and darker blue/grey.

View attachment 705856


Time app: More self-explanatory images of ios6's splashes of color vs. ios7's ode to Whiteout fiesta. ios10 isn't much more interesting (it's all-black).

View attachment 705850

Compass app: Self-explanatory. Same caveat/pre-apology as for the game center image above: I hope nobody enters into a depression or fit of rage from seeing a skeumorphic compass.

View attachment 705851

Notes app: Not a hint of color in ios6! Crazy!

View attachment 705853

Well, I'd say "I hope you get the point" but I'm sure the above won't suffice to change your thoughts that ios7+ is more colorful.

PS one more, where the texter from ios6-timeframe totally "gets it." All the color on the left, all the bland white-out on the right...

View attachment 705861

To me the iOS 6 look is awful - I much, much, much prefer the newer look. It’s simpler, easier on the eyes, looks more professional and focuses on what matters. The content.