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Ventura UX Changes - iOS look is not always better

timjub said:
Any screenshot of the new "About this Mac"?
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Capto_2022-06-08_13-15-17_.png

(VMware VM)
 
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VertPin said:
The new settings app is significantly better than what we had prior. Good riddance.
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What is better about it? Yes, it's a linear list design that any programmer might love.

But it is joyless and lacks landmarks for quick orientation.

And look at items like the Trackpad panel and how nicely it demonstrates choices that would be hard to understand. Touch to implement in that narrow long list view.
 
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VertPin said:
The new settings app is significantly better than what we had prior.
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I think you mean significantly different. It has a way to go before it becomes better. It doesn't even meet Apple's own Human Interface Guidelines (for Mac).

Looks to me like someone has taken the iPad code (and hence look and feel) and changed the items. The conceptual design might be OK, but the details are not!
 
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Verdict is still out for me. Need a chance to get used to it after using the old layout for, well, since the start of OSX.
 
haralds said:
What is better about it? Yes, it's a linear list design that any programmer might love.

But it is joyless and lacks landmarks for quick orientation.
Click to expand...

I could never find things in the traditionall settings app because it over relied on icons. In Ventura, location of every setting is immediately obvious.
 
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gilby101 said:
Except that you have to scroll the long sidebar (unless you have 27" screen). Just like an iPhone where nothing is obvious.
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Honestly, I don't mind. The sidebar is ordered thematically, so getting to the setting of interest is fairly quick.
 
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haralds said:
And look at items like the Trackpad panel and how nicely it demonstrates choices that would be hard to understand. Touch to implement in that narrow long list view.
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Those videos are coming back in Trackpad settings. Craig confirmed it.
 
I agree with the point of view that the current app is not easy to navigate through due to the cluster of icons on the “home” view and the seemingly random order in which they appear and group different preference categories. I also think there is nothing inherently wrong with a sidebar as a stable navigational element. However, these things could have been added or improved without the overhaul of everything else.

The finer details and overall aesthetics still make me unhappy with the changes. This UI clearly borrows ideas from iOS/iPadOS that, in my opinion, are not a good fit. I dislike the push/pop navigation style where the right side of the window becomes its own navigation hierarchy that allows subpanes to be pushed completely over the right side and require a “Back” (strictly: “<”) button at the top to navigate back. This kind of navigation is rare on macOS. Instead it typically uses subviews that have tables, tabs and boxes to build a view hierarchy. I also dislike the reliance on generic table views to list all the settings on a pane, rather than individual designs as there are now to organise the settings. The noticeable distance between labels and toggles/buttons is bizarre too, the present UI keeps these together.

I think the app just lacks design. You can see that it was built with SwiftUI and that less attention to individual design was given over generic, reusable components.
 
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I don't think the new Settings (aka Preferences) app is much better than the old one, but then that particular bar was set very low.

I'm just happy they know it was crap and are trying to do something about it. I expect improvements over the next few betas.
 
adrianlondon said:
I don't think the new Settings (aka Preferences) app is much better than the old one, but then that particular bar was set very low.

I'm just happy they know it was crap and are trying to do something about it. I expect improvements over the next few betas.
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uh. where did you get that apple knew the old system prefs 'was crap'? it is what it was for a very-long time; surely someone at apple thought it was ok all these years.

personally, i welcome the new settings. just wondered what your source was for your 'statement'... :rolleyes:
 
fisherking said:
uh. where did you get that apple knew the old system prefs 'was crap'? it is what it was for a very-long time; surely someone at apple thought it was ok all these years.

personally, i welcome the new settings. just wondered what your source was for your 'statement'... :rolleyes:
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Simple. If they still thought it was great, why fundamentally change it.
 
adrianlondon said:
Simple. If they still thought it was great, why fundamentally change it.
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simple? lol... apple constantly changes things in the OS, this doesn't prove that the previous design/function/whatever was flawed. apple thrives on change, growth. but you're free to assume what you want, of course.
 
If there was anything lacking in the old "System Preferences" is was not having a "Preferences" menuItem that would allow the user to view the the system's preferences in EITHER a grid (a la Monterey) OR a scrolling navigation pane (a la Ventura).

The new "System Settings" STILL lacks a "Preferences" menuItem.

Personally, I could care less. I can adapt (heck I started on System 6) but I support an increasing community of senior users who switched from PCs to Macs for "ease of use" They will NOT BE HAPPY WITH THIS CHANGE.

Apple's UX team needs to revisit the precepts laid down in "Human Interface Guidelines" and add a "Preferences" menuItem to the new System Settings to allow users to view the GRID they have been habituated to use (by APPLE) for decades or the new nav panel.

Preferring a list I always used the System Settings "View" menu which gave me everything in the list that Ventura gives me, but better as it is alphabetical. On that subject, Apple please bring back the icons to the View menu!

PS: If anyone is searching for "Extensions" its at the very bottom of the "Privacy & Security" ...Really!? WTH??
 
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What would be so wrong with "System Settings" fka "System Preferences" having a Preferences menu that would allow you to view the icons in either a GRID or a LIST? Heck, they could even include a "Randomize" toggle that would mix things up each time you opened it, just to keep users from becoming too familiar with where things are located!
 
haralds said:
I can live with the dorky "About This Mac…" redesign, which is NOT better on landscape Mac screens.

But the new Settings app design is a mess. A large linear list makes sense in portait mode, but severely reduces usability on landscape.

The historical design could use work, but this is not the answer!
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I use Settings on my landscape iPad like 90% of the time without any usability issues.
 
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