iPhone as an appliance, with clear boring UI

[ibookemo]

As an iPhone user, who is really into photography both on the phone and various other cameras, I want my iPhone to be a very powerful tool where the UI ‘gets out of the way’ as much as possible whilst I perform my desired tasks.

The UI should be a thin, minimal layer that I notice as little as possible. It should prioritise clarity of information and speed of performing tasks with the least amount of taps.

I don’t want long animations or difficult to read text/icons to slow me down. It’s almost like a washing machine or fridge - I want it to aid me in my life tasks and get it of the way. Being unseen is one of the key features of the UI to me. I don’t care if it’s boring, it’s not there to entertain me. I use it 100 times a day, it just needs to function well.

If my car dashboard did fancy animations each time I wanted to just drive, I’d hate it. The iPhone is the same to me.

Use cases like this likely are very common for a large percentage of iPhone users who are not ‘techies’ (the type that don’t peruse these forums).

We argue in a vacuum here, with users who do not represent the full gamut of the iPhone user base. It’s a forgone conclusion that we disagree with points of view that don’t comfortably fall within the techie sphere of use cases. It’s all good.

 

[Ctrlos]

Apple, and by extension Google like to put in place things like screen time to say they're doing their part to fight phone addiction but they also know that the more playful a UI is, the more a person will want to just interact with it. If a product is a delight to play with, you'll play with it more. I'm not saying that the ultimate driving force behind redesigns is to addict people to their devices more but it does go a long way.

Its exactly the same subtle behavioural patterns designers put in videogames like the satisfying sound effects in Balatro or Animal Crossing. On a subconscious level they are cathartic to experience and a lot of thought goes into it. I won't be the only person who sits there just watching the refraction effects as you pull down the lockscreen in the OS26 beta.

 

[HouseLannister]

If my car dashboard did fancy animations each time I wanted to just drive, I’d hate it. The iPhone is the same to me.

and I am instantly reminded of Spike on the Mini

 

[Dirty Mac]

I'm confused. What does the UI have to do with being a photographer? If you'll truly that into it then the only concern should be how does whatever camera apps you use look like and behave. I use stock app, Procam for photo, black magic and final cut for video.. in all of these, the UI is never in the way once in an app.

 

[ibookemo]

I'm confused. What does the UI have to do with being a photographer? If you'll truly that into it then the only concern should be how does whatever camera apps you use look like and behave. I use stock app, Procam for photo, black magic and final cut for video.. in all of these, the UI is never in the way once in an app.

The UI is everywhere. The fact it doesn’t get in the way is success. That’s how I find iOS 18 too. I find the liquid glass elements in iOS 26 more eye catching and the animations a distraction, both of which feel very unnecessary.

 

[HouseLannister]

Frustrations I have with animations:

1. FaceID should not be as slow as it feels because of the animation. Face unlock on Pixel feels so much faster and it is worse tech in every way.
2. When I open the iOS 26 camera app, I should be able to select the last photo taken immediately and not have to wait for the bar animation to show me how to navigate the app Every Single Time.
3. Rainbows are bad. They remind migraine sufferers of migraine auras. So the glass-on-glass effect when you pull down the notification/lock screen is dreadful.

An animation I like, however, is watchOS list view. I am surprised that App Library A-Z still looks static and doesn't flow like this. It works really nice on Niagra Launcher on Android and I think Apple could do a very nice animation here. I also think a little magnification/zoom effect would benefit us by allowing us to have more than 4 apps on an iPhone dock. It would be a functional animation, and not something just added to make the OS feel "fun."