I just turned gestures back on on my Pixel to try this (I usually use the onscreen buttons). You’re right – but this means when you’re on, say, the main screen of Gmail, swiping from the left edge doesn’t open the sidebar any longer; it takes you home. So if you want to open the side bar, you have to reach up for the top of the screen anyway, to tap the hamburger icon.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iOS design language
- Thread starter Andrew73875
- Start date
-
- Tags
- ios ui/ux principles
- Sort by reaction score
I just turned gestures back on on my Pixel to try this (I usually use the onscreen buttons). You’re right – but this means when you’re on, say, the main screen of Gmail, swiping from the left edge doesn’t open the sidebar any longer; it takes you home. So if you want to open the side bar, you have to reach up for the top of the screen anyway, to tap the hamburger icon.
Yeah. I think the iOS implementation is more intuitive. Especially because left and right of the screen correspond to back and forward in apps like Safari.
I could see Apple adding an opt-in toggle to allow both edges to be used to go back, though.
It's not the worst compromise when it comes to screens getting larger and larger, and human hands not getting larger. iPhones used to be small, so you could put things at the top. When phones got bigger, and UI designers didn't react quickly enough, Apple gave users a tool to handle their phones in a more ergonomic way. I don't disagree that there should be more focus on putting interactive UI near the bottom of the screen, but you also have an optional tool to reach things that don't happen to get placed there.
Last edited:
Problem is that left swipe gesutre doesn't always work, it is high depends on apps. Some app doesn't do left or right swipe, then you are forced to use top left menu, which is painful.
I think this is one of the most annoying things. Different apps have different UI logic. Some of them use the burger button and others follow the classic iOS logic with all the buttons in the tab bar.
As was said above you can change it in settings. Notice, there are separate settings for FaceTime calls and usual phone calls.
I think the idea here was to make it easier to ignore phone calls for those who don't really use them (all the buttons are in the upper part of the screen making them harder to reach). But if you actually accepting a lot of phone calls, then the full screen is better.
However, all the buttons still move to the upper part of the screen when making a call. And dismiss button is very small and located somewhere in the middle of the screen even in full screen mode.
Last edited:
I like some of the new features, but iOS 7 trashed the excellent usability and rich appearance of iOS and it has barely improved at all since. I still have iOS 6.x on my iPhone 4, and it's beautiful.I've noticed there are certain elements in iOS design language which could be improved.
1) Apple should take a good look on iPhone's basic functionality.
There are more and more amazing features with each iOS iteration. However, some basic apps look forgotten. First of all, why do we have round buttons on a square phone now? They have smaller surface area and harder to hit. For example, on iOS 6 and earlier you could tap anywhere on the bottom part of the screen to "end call":
And the prime example is the "second call" screen. When we are getting a second call we don't have time to think. Notice how "End Call+Answer" is at the bottom of the screen and has a red colour. We understand that it is related to the current call.
"Ignore" and "Hold+Answer" are located in the submenu, so we have a hierarchy in our mind. Also if we don't want to decide, we can just tap "Ignore" and return to the current call.
It's surprising how that design evolved into this:
This option even became a meme. Because no one can understand what to do. There's no hierarchy of any kind.
2) Some apps could benefit from skeuomorphism.
I know there're many views on skeuomorphism, but some apps would only benefit from it. Take the Books App, for example. The old iteration of the app made it more fun to read and buy books. It was also easier on the eyes. This point is especially relevant for an iPad.
The new iteration is just too simplified. Yes, it's possible to read books even using TextEdit app. But is it enjoyable?
Same argument goes for Apple TV app. For example, I just want to browse through my movie library and watch something. Currently it's a labyrinth of different options. But it was not always like that.
Same goes for Music app and full screen album covers. Why album covers are smaller and repeat/shuffle buttons disappeared? There's no landscape view anymore (cover flow or similar).
We also can't rearrange the icons in the tab bar of the Music App anymore. And this ability was there since the very first iPhone.
View attachment 1962375
3) Too much white background.
Some argue that necessity for Night Mode is the result of a user interface. I understand that white colour signifies simplicity and purity, and works very well with hardware. However, it doesn't always look good on screens. Here's a good example:
There's no need for "dark mode" on iOS 5 because it incorporates different colours, making it easier to grasp information.
Same goes for the Messages App. It had that light blue background and now it's just white.
What are your thoughts?
Depends on the resolution. I hate serif fonts on non-retina computer screens, but they're fine in print (assuming it's 300 DPI or better).
I like your avatar/user icon. I hate change for the sake of change. That's iOS 7... and many Apple designs and decisions for years. Not all, but many. Sick of it.Hallelujah. Great to read from others preaching what I’ve been complaining about for years. Flat, vague, “modern and fresh” interfaces suck, basically. More show than go.
Why is website design so awful today, generally?
can anyone answer why websites today tend to have so much wasted space, large text, large photos, and seemingly no organization to steer the user? Take for instance: https://www.mvmtwatches.com/?utm_content=not_purchased&gclid=CJ2oq-K739QCFV2HswodErYIJw You have to scroll forever to see...forums.macrumors.com