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New UI clunky?
- Thread starter tomtendo
- Start date
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Yeah, but now some apps are way at the bottom and you lose that preview bar op top that shows the nice artwork.
I agree that the new UI is worse than the previous. It seems like Apple is trying to move toward unity between the appearance of "apps" on the ipad/iphone and the Apple TV, with these box-shaped "apps" on the ATV. That, and/or they felt they should slap something "new-looking" on the ATV since they were releasing a hardware upgrade and wanted it to "feel new" to the consumer. But the new interface just looks jarring and juvenile to me. It doesn't add any usability improvements, and actually takes some things away: like being able to see content previews for some of the lower tier boxes/apps.
If they wanted to do these colorful boxes, wouldn't it make more sense to have you scroll sideways to see more of the boxes instead of down, so you could still see the preview artwork above the top bar? Or they could still let you scroll down to see more apps/boxes, but only apply the scrolling below the preview bar so you could still see previews of content available through that box when you hover over it.
Blech. I prefer the previous interface.
Honestly, the preview artwork was mostly eye-candy and didn't add anything to the interface.
Netflix showed some movies and TV shows, but you couldn't highlight them and go there directly, so it was pointless. NHL showed scores, but they were often outdated - again, pointless.
Netflix showed some movies and TV shows, but you couldn't highlight them and go there directly, so it was pointless. NHL showed scores, but they were often outdated - again, pointless.
I don't understand your point here: if the NHL scores were "often outdated" above the preview bar, why not just update them at the time the cursor hovers over the NHL app, so they were not outdated? Why is it better to remove that preview function for NHL entirely, instead of improving it's update cadence? And the Netflix preview artwork may not have been selectable (like the TV shows and movies in the Computer section were), but they at least provided information about what's on your instant queue or what has been newly released. Now you don't even get that.
In any event, even if you argue that the preview artwork was not useful (which I'd disagree with but we'll set that aside), why would Apple just eliminate it for some of the apps and not all of them? This creates an inconsistent experience, not just between using the different "apps", but in merely selecting and previewing them. You get previews for your own content when you hover over Computers, but not when you hover over Netflix or WSJ. Why? Seems like sloppy design.
The preview bar at least added consistency. I don't understand what the point of the preview bar is if it is only available to be used by (arbitrarily positioned) apps on the top two rows. Why is our selection experience of the apps different for different apps? It would have been quite simple to just have us scroll sideways for these colored boxes instead of down, or to scroll down without moving the preview bar as well. But instead, the whole view/interface shifts when you scroll down, and it's a tad disorienting.
Yes these are all whiny quibbles, but I have trouble understanding a stylistic change if it doesn't actually improve anything, and the only functional changes are to remove features without adding any new ones.
Now, you get previews for the Apple apps, and not third-party apps. It's not inconsistent.
Different apps have a different selection experience. That's inconsistent.
Saying that it's consistent because only the "Apple apps" get previews is a reach. Are you implying that Apple thinks taking away previews for third-party "apps" would result in a better experience for the user? I'd be curious to hear that argument. Why would Apple suddenly change that, only removing functionality instead of adding anything?
And besides, Apple designed the Netflix app for ATV, and the YouTube App. So it would make more sense to for you to say only the iTunes Store apps get previews. . . and your own home computer content which may or may not be from iTunes. . .. Oh and the settings app is on the top row, but of course doesn't get a content preview since there's no content for it, so now you get a nice blank area above the preview bar when you select settings, but it's taking a spot that could be used by another app that does have content. . . etc. If you call this layout "consistent" then I need to be re-educated on what consistent means.
Look design is a subjective thing, and there's nothing wrong with liking one interface vs. another. I can adjust to a change in interface (even if it goes from looking classy to looking like a gumball machine), but it's losing functionality that bugs me the most.
To each his own.
I agree with you on both points here. Hell, I even sent an email to Apple more or less saying the same. I'm not sure what they were thinking to be quite honest. From a UIX point of view this 'upgrade' is a major step backwards, the UI seem cluttered and jumbled.
I actually design UIs from time to time and if I had place this on my bosses desk he'd have asked which of the students I had gotten to do my work for me.
I upgraded my ATV2 last night and initially thought it looked ok, but I dont like the way you loose where you are when you scroll down as the border around the active "app" isn't very clear. 
I think the previous version look simple, but classy. Is there any way we can revert to the previous version
I think the previous version look simple, but classy. Is there any way we can revert to the previous version
I upgraded my ATV2 last night and initially thought it looked ok, but I dont like the way you loose where you are when you scroll down as the border around the active "app" isn't very clear.
I think the previous version look simple, but classy. Is there any way we can revert to the previous version
I would tend to agree, that's why I started this thread. I don't care if the top preview bar was 'eye-candy'. It was nice and clean. I think when you scroll down and see no preview bar, it's rather ugly. The icons aren't that crisp and they're rectangle, not square like the iOS apps.
If they were going to switch it to look like apps, they why not just make it look completely like iOS and not this half-ass looking UI.
I personally really liked the older UI.
With all that said, I think I noticed they added National Geographic to a screen saver option - NEAT!
If I can downgrade, I just might, but I guess I'll get use to it.
The new interface is better than the old. I can get to everything I need to in fewer movements.
The preview bar did nothing for me. I navigate to the content I want to watch, not the content that AppleTV thinks I want to watch or knows I watched previously.
This was a good update.
