Tahoe's Terrible Icons

[turbineseaplane]

Having some fun this morning on my Mac.

You will never convince me the new icons are better than the personality we used to have.

Really wish I could change the Finder icon 🤨

If anyone is curious or would like to partake, it's pretty simple really.

Link to reddit post

 

[CasualFanboy]

Because Steve knew that it is not enough to be different; it has to be better.

Android mentality, on the other hand, is that whatever is new and flashy is automatically better than its predecessor, virtue of simply being ‘new’.

Apple has become less of both - less different, and less good.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don't hate most of the Tahoe icons, but I take an aversion to this one in particular:

View attachment 2577154
(Photo Booth)

For me, the new one is the worst and the 2014-2020 one is probably the best at doing the job of informing you what it is.


2007-2014

2014-2020

2020-2025

Tahoe (don't miss the clear icon ... it's here 😉)

 

[!!!]

Assuming that they are trying to mimic a realistic 3D perspective. But maybe this icon can be seen as an example of oblique projection.
I have to say that I'm not an expert of technical drawing, but I know for sure that icons are meant to convey an idea, not to represent objects realistically.

This goes against much of Apple's design, though.

In the old HIG Apple used to talk about how certain icons should be viewed. From the old HIG:

Hardware icons represent devices as you most often see them: on your desk. Because these devices are also frequently handled and carried, people are familiar with them as three-dimensional objects with weight. Therefore, the hardware icons reinforce their association with real objects.

None of Apple's other icons appear to be drawn in top-down oblique projection. Apple using a technical drawing style is odd, it's technical and Apple tends to avoid technical. Why are they mixing this technical drawing with over-the-top glass effects?

 

[fisherking]

Unfortunately Tahoe is not as stable or speedy as the previous OS.
I’m experiencing lots of UI bugs and the OS feels more sluggish.
Having weird icons on top of that is annoying.

am personally enjoying great stability (pretty-much since beta 1), as much as or more than in sequoia. my main apps, to be fair, are apple-centric (logic pro, final cut).

anyway, we're not all having the same experiences; true on every OS since the beginning of time...

 

[!!!]

100%.

DTP, advertising, fonts, logo design and icon design was one of the major reasons that kept the Mac alive during hard times until present, so don’t let anyone gaslight you that users don’t care about fun and creativity. It’s what set the Mac platform apart from Windows. Steve Jobs was obsessed with embedding personality and friendliness in software and hardware design. That’s Apple’s bedrock.

What I find most ironic about this is how similar Apple's LG is to Windows 11, which was released a number of years ago at this point. Not only has Apple done the same thing as Windows, they've copied it. And not only that, Microsoft seems smart enough to realize you can't have completely transparent glass, you have to frost it.
You can take a look at it here (warning: microsoft link). Note the semi-transparent glass, 'Acrylic', and the massive blue button on the last image. Speaking of that last image, notice how the text is left-aligned and the buttons are laid out horizontally? Better than Apple's screw up in Big Sur.

 

[canadianpj]

For me, the new one is the worst and the 2014-2020 one is probably the best at doing the job of informing you what it is.


2007-2014

View attachment 2577365

2014-2020

View attachment 2577366

2020-2025

View attachment 2577368

Tahoe (don't miss the clear icon ... it's here 😉)

View attachment 2577369View attachment 2577370View attachment 2577371

How is that in any way bad? It's clean, its very clear what it is, etc?

 

[turbineseaplane]

How is that in any way bad? It's clean, its very clear what it is, etc?

I will politely disagree on the "very clear what it is".

 

[canadianpj]

I will politely disagree on the "very clear what it is".

As a side note, it'd be courteous if you'd consider replying (as you did above) as opposed to using the "laughing emoji" on posts you don't like.

I try my best to respectfully disagree on the forum and it really sets the dialogue off in the wrong direction when one "laughs" at a post that is clearly not meant to be humorous.

How is it not clear? I just showed it to four people at the gym all four instantly knew what it was? It’s very Apple, simple, clean and glaringly obvious.

 

[Simmias]

The icons are fine. We’ve moved beyond the 2010s phase of twee indie developers endlessly critiquing Apple’s design choices, particularly in terms of app icons. Like most, I moved to Tahoe with zero confusion about which app is which. I just see simplified icons that look clean and match the overall aesthetic. Happy to let others tear their hair out and complain into the void about the number of squares on the calendar icon.

 

[mac57mac57]

They are ALL bad. Give your brain a shock... Go back and look at Tiger's icons. They were simply brilliant!

... oh, and Tiger had things that are annoyingly absent these days, like title bars for Windows, so it was always easy to move a window around, and scroll bars that didn't disappear, causing TONS of wasted time forcing them to reappear so that you can grab them and scroll the document!

I spend a lot of time working with large documents, and going back and forth in and between an older and a newer copy . The "disappearing scroll bar" issue costs me a lot of wasted time, hence reduced productivity. As a result, I do ALL the work I can on my G5s, where I still have the "luxury" of title bars and scroll bars that stay put!

The macOS GUI just keeps going further and further backwards! When GUI changes reduce productivity, they are clearly not good changes.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The icons are fine. We’ve moved beyond the 2010s phase of twee indie developers endlessly critiquing Apple’s design choices, particularly in terms of app icons. Like most, I moved to Tahoe with zero confusion about which app is which. I just see simplified icons that look clean and match the overall aesthetic. Happy to let others tear their hair out and complain into the void about the number of squares on the calendar icon.

Some of the very best ideas came out of what you are so quick to dismiss.

 

[fisherking]

They are ALL bad. Give your brain a shock... Go back and look at Tiger's icons. They were simply brilliant!

... oh, and Tiger had things that are annoyingly absent these days, like title bars for Windows, so it was always easy to move a window around, and scroll bars that didn't disappear, causing TONS of wasted time forcing them to reappear so that you can grab them and scroll the document!

I spend a lot of time working with large documents, and going back and forth in and between an older and a newer copy . The "disappearing scroll bar" issue costs me a lot of wasted time, hence reduced productivity. As a result, I do ALL the work I can on my G5s, where I still have the "luxury" of title bars and scroll bars that stay put!

The macOS GUI just keeps going further and further backwards! When GUI changes reduce productivity, they are clearly not good changes.

system settings>appearance>show scroll bars: choses 'always'

tiger? please, no... 😳

 

[klasma]

The icons have changed, so what? It’s not as if it’s ruining your life all of a sudden.

As Steve Jobs would say, the problem with modern Apple is they just have no taste.

 

[fisherking]

As Steve Jobs would say, the problem with modern Apple is they just have no taste.

and again, no one here can speak for jobs 🙄, so all you're doing is stating your own thoughts and crediting someone who's no longer here to speak for themself. 😔

 

[Cape Dave]

It's just neumorphism. Better than the hyper-flatness heralded by the iOS 7 era, but not as soulful as iOS 6 and before. Ultimately, in my humble opinion, it's a natural progression of/successor to Big Sur's preliminary neumorphic design overhaul, while uniting much more cohesively with iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, and tvOS.

In other words, it sucks.

 

[JanetTheGreat]

I don't mind the new icons but I prefer the skeuomorphic icons of the past.

 

[klasma]

and again, no one here can speak for jobs 🙄, so all you're doing is stating your own thoughts and crediting someone who's no longer here to speak for themself. 😔

I was crediting his phrasing, the assessment is mine.

 

[fisherking]

I was crediting his phrasing, the assessment is mine.

good to see ppl own their statements 👍.

so many ppl here seem to think they speak for everyone, or know what 'steve would say or think'... 🙄

 

[code-m]

Paul Kafasis with a wonderful breakdown, icon by icon.

Some of my favorites:

The left-side tabs on the old Contacts icon were odd, but this new icon is even odder.
Is the cover of that book made of glass?

Hey, look, it’s Contacts, but far worse! This no longer looks like a book at all.
It’s just a gray “a” blob.

Look at the beautiful photorealistic glass on the loupe in the old Preview icon.
They sucked the soul out of it, and ironically, the new Liquid Glass version barely looks like a loupe at all.

Seems fine to me, I like LiquidGlass which is right behind Aqua for macOS GUIs.

Refinements are coming, maybe get ResEdit. 😝

 

[TruthAboveAllElse]

The problem is that the hard drive appears to be positioned in front of you, like the old icon was. You can tell because you can see the front side of it, with the, well I don't know what those are. Holes? Since the sides are parallel, this means that the the real object is actually getting larger as you go backwards.

The fact that the icon's lines are parallel is the problem--they shouldn't be.

And this is *objective* people who don’t know anything about design think it’s all subjective. It is not. The new icons are ****.

 

[zevrix]

and scroll bars that didn't disappear, causing TONS of wasted time forcing them to reappear so that you can grab them and scroll the document!

i wonder if you're aware that you can choose to Always show scroll bars in System Settings? that's the setting i always use, also despise disappearing scroll bars.

 

[H2SO4]

change does not mean moving backwards, it means something is now different. and sometimes different takes time to adapt to. i see nothing wrong with the new icons, they're (for me, anyway) not profoundly better, and certainly not worse...

lol. In absolute terms you are correct.
So imagine you run a company. Why do you change something?
In pretty much EVERY instance I can think of change is for the BETTER. Even if it's cosmetic and simply because we get used to or bored with the old one the new one is supposed to re-invigorate our perceotion of X article.

That 'better' by the way might also be better cost, that is to say less cost.

 

[H2SO4]

The loupe one is one of my favourites of the new ones, clean, very clear what it is (and yes I use one).

I think the last part is BS. You only think it's clear what it is because you have previous experience of what a loupe is.
I tried this experiment on someone that is not 'arty',(and didn't know what a loupe was).

Zoomed into the second icon and here is what I was told.
"I have no idea what that is, maybe a vase or a receptacle to out thing in"

Then zoomed into the first icon and here is what I was told.
"Not sure, at first I thought is was just a glass but I looked closer and thought it must be a magnifier of some sort like one of those guys uses in movies to look at diamonds.".

 

[NativeMac]

Paul Kafasis with a wonderful breakdown, icon by icon.

Some of my favorites:

The left-side tabs on the old Contacts icon were odd, but this new icon is even odder.
Is the cover of that book made of glass?

Hey, look, it’s Contacts, but far worse! This no longer looks like a book at all.
It’s just a gray “a” blob.

Look at the beautiful photorealistic glass on the loupe in the old Preview icon.
They sucked the soul out of it, and ironically, the new Liquid Glass version barely looks like a loupe at all.

I like them. I think it makes the design language more consistent. But I could just be an Apple Shill haha