Which way did iOS 7 push you?

[sentinelsx]

iOS 7 almost pushed me to Android again. I've owned every iPhone and I have a Mac mini and 2 iPads, but sometimes I wish iOS would open up a little more and at least allow a default browser switch.

But every time I start researching Android again or use the Galaxy Nexus I still have, I remember why I love iOS despite it's lack of openness. It just works. No tweaking or ROM flashing.

I remember when I ditched my Galaxy Nexus and went and bought the iPhone 5. I logged in with my Apple ID and started using the phone the second I took it out of the box, and it just worked. No tweaks or kernel patches necessary.

iOS has it's flaws and Android trumps it feature wise, but overall I think Apple still wins in shear simplicity and beauty. The iPhone 5 is a beautifully engineered device. I can't find an Android device that is on the same hardware level. And iOS 7 will take it up a notch with parallax and other small subtle tweaks on the software end. I'm excited again.

The problem is this does not fit all.

For example, for me it is not as simple as "input apple ID" and done. I have to jailbreak first, then download a few tweaks I have used since iPhone 3GS and some which are new, and only then I feel like I am at home and can use my device with ease. Too bad a month into use and those tweaks start acting up (rebooting my springboard, killing apps because of memory conflicts etc), and I never change the look of my iPhone through theming, the only visual change is usually something like gridlock so i can put my icons where I desire.

That is why I am kinda not happy with their "re-design". This is not what I was looking for. But the tech bloggers have done an admirable job making every one realize their iPhone was so "boring" to look at. I see plenty of people with iPhones and no one says it is boring. It is a just a propaganda.

And apple did a good job to bow to that propaganda of "visual changes being mandatory or die" this Monday. Not something I would expect from a trendsetter. It reeks of Samsung to me.

 

[cualexander]

The problem is this does not fit all.

For example, for me it is not as simple as "input apple ID" and done. I have to jailbreak first, then download a few tweaks I have used since iPhone 3GS and some which are new, and only then I feel like I am at home and can use my device with ease. Too bad a month into use and those tweaks start acting up (rebooting my springboard, killing apps because of memory conflicts etc), and I never change the look of my iPhone through theming, the only visual change is usually something like gridlock so i can put my icons where I desire.

That is why I am kinda not happy with their "re-design". This is not what I was looking for. But the tech bloggers have done an admirable job making every one realize their iPhone was so "boring" to look at. I see plenty of people with iPhones and no one says it is boring. It is a just a propaganda.

And apple did a good job to bow to that propaganda of "visual changes being mandatory or die" this Monday. Not something I would expect from a trendsetter. It reeks of Samsung to me.

I agree I never thought it was boring to look at. I gave up on the jailbreak scene for the exact reason you describe. The tweaks were cool, but introduced lag and other hassles. And streaming apps like Time Warner Cable and others refuse to work with jailbreak now, so you have to wait for someone to patch that. Jailbreaking and Android rooting both posed the same problem for me, it was a never ending stream of micro updates and workarounds. If you like that, fine, but it drives me nuts after a while.

 

[tech4all]

I've come to the conclusion that Apple's vision for iOS won't change. It's simply not the mobile OS for me.

And Tim Cook just made me laugh when he says that 2/3 of Android users are on 2010 software. Comparing non-Nexus hardware/software isn't a fair comparison and VERY misleading. Just skewing the data to make iOS look better. Sorry Tim, it didn't work. And I gotta say, Phil is full of it. "Apple doesn't innovate, my ass." Yea great language to use during a corporate keynote. Tells a lot about the executives at Apple if you ask me. I don't recall any name calling or such during Google I/O. I just feel Apple has to bad mouth the competition instead of making better products.

I was having hopes for iOS 7, but it was just a disappointment. I guess asking for customization and widgets is asking too much. So be it. OS X for desktop OS and Android for mobile is the way it'll be for me for the time being.

Nowhere. Nothing has changed.

I'll still own an iPhone, an Android phone, and a Windows Phone.

Android 4.1 was nice, iOS 7 is nice and hopefully WP 8.1 is nice.

I'm a fan of technology not brands or platforms.

As it should be.

 

[Sylon]

I already used my upgrade on the GS4. However, being that I'm pretty open to tech (I have a PC, Mac, Android and iOS), I can't wait to put it on my iPad and spare iPhone when it comes out. In fact, my dev account it still valid for a couple weeks, I might throw it on my iPhone just to check it out. I won't be getting the next iPhone, but I still have devices that will benefit from iOS 7.

 

[rhinosrcool]

I'm curious about the new features but iOS 7 is now the most feminine looking OS on the market

Jony Ive must be a fan of the Care Bears and My Little Pony cartoons

Yeah, wtf? So, he was behind those awful pastel colors of the older nanos

 

[mr.suff]

Further away sadly.

Deep down I had hoped that iOS would pull me back. The hardware alone, while incredible in materials and execution, was not enough. I have become disillusioned with the way the devices looked. As a daily driver for my phone, the iPhone paired with iOS didn’t cut it. Partly mistaking the faux real world materials and imagery as something I despised, with the introduction of iOS 7 I have had an epiphany of somewhat. The interaction and UX doesn’t work for me. While admittedly perturbed by the glossy looks of iOS these are things that can be ignored. I have found that the paradigms of usage don’t work for me. I wish to customise the way that I swipe and tap across the OS. Apple have seen fit to limit my abilities to tailor the phone to me.

Take Control Centre for instance, you have five quick access toggles. Left to right they are Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Do-Not-Disturb and Rotation Lock. On my current device I am able to choose which every I desire and in any order. Sadly, I am shut out of choice with Apple. I must have the five quick toggles they have chosen for me.

The same can be said for the app icons. At the moment I enjoy an icon pack that is based on Google’s new Kennedy based design guidelines. On iOS I am lumbered with a cluster **** of poorly designed icons that in my opinion look unfinished and are a menagerie of different styles. Some feature gradients with a white element denoting what lies within, others are grey with dark grey symbols, the worst are white background with red words and grey numerals.

Then we arrive at the first-party app redesigns. Most of these are actually aesthetically pleasing to me, sadly most aren’t actually functional, or have elements of poor UX design. Again the iconography is lacking. Safari for instance see simple line glyphs. The back and forward arrows are very open and look visually huge next to the share icon, which is a box with an arrow leading out the top. Next to this we see what is supposed to be a book open with a bookmark dipping down. It’s flat and not immediately obvious.

This is something that I think is the crux. Icons need to be easily associated with their target audience. Stripping back items is great and I wholly approve of this direction but if you go too far you stand the opportunity to lose your users. Who wants to spend time figuring out an icon when they should have tapped it gone to wherever they want and gotten on with their next interaction.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I'm surprised Apple aren't recruiting from this very thread.

Some of the demands on here make the mind boggle. 'I wish to customise the way that I swipe and tap across the OS'... My word, it seems one company gives somebody the option of doing little things and suddenly everything else is crap if it doesn't allow the same thing. I wonder how long it'll be before these silly personal demands will reach other products? 'I wish to turn my television off with a remote control I can move the buttons on'. .. Christ on a bike lol. How about we take time to learn a product and enjoy the innovative way in which it has been designed for purpose? This applies to many things. Certain design philosophies are restrictive and for good reason. Not everything has to be customisable. Sure its nice to have choice with anything, but not every product is the same. Android is ideal for tweaks, hacks, ROMS, widgets etc and they sell to their markets demand. iOS doesn't have to be like that and hopefully apart from taking some key features and doing their own thing with them, it'll remain a different OS for a very long time.

To address the subject of icons, I know this is a particular flashpoint concerning iOS 7. I think very few of us, myself included though, have a skill where we see an icon on a phones screen, and somehow we recognise it from then on. I have a pretty good memory for illustrations and if I have dragged icon's into certain area's of the screen, I generally remember what they are. Plus with the added bonus of having icon's that have little hints in their design as to what they are thrown in for good measure. I appreciate not everybody has this particular set of skills, but it pays to recognise the more fortunate members of this exclusive club.

 

[Dr McKay]

It pushed my towards iOS 7, I love the look of it. However, iOS still has the issues that drove me away from it. Not allowed to change the default apps, no access to the file system, no downloading files from the browser.

I also picked up my friends 5, even though he's on the beta, and it looks great, his phone felt way too small in my hand.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Take Control Centre for instance, you have five quick access toggles. Left to right they are Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Do-Not-Disturb and Rotation Lock. On my current device I am able to choose which every I desire and in any order. Sadly, I am shut out of choice with Apple. I must have the five quick toggles they have chosen for me.

Yup. Power Toggles is one of the best Android apps. I can put toggles right on one of my home screens. And I can put any toggle, including toggles to turn the screen off, lock and unlock my lock screen, sound profiles, etc. I can even set it up to launch apps if I so wanted to. I love it.

I even have a discrete one right on my main home screen to turn off my screen (it's the little transparent "lock" icon in the middle).

Infinitely more flexible than Control Center. Control Center is a step in the right direction, however, and I'm sure many iOS fans will finally "realize" the value of toggles, cause you know, when Apple does it, then it's a good feature. Before, it would be common to hear how unnecessary these sorts of toggle widgets were. Today, they applaud Apple's inclusion of them. I applaud features regardless of who has them.

 

[cynics]

I'm surprised Apple aren't recruiting from this very thread.

Some of the demands on here make the mind boggle. 'I wish to customise the way that I swipe and tap across the OS'... My word, it seems one company gives somebody the option of doing little things and suddenly everything else is crap if it doesn't allow the same thing. I wonder how long it'll be before these silly personal demands will reach other products? 'I wish to turn my television off with a remote control I can move the buttons on'. .. Christ on a bike lol. How about we take time to learn a product and enjoy the innovative way in which it has been designed for purpose? This applies to many things. Certain design philosophies are restrictive and for good reason. Not everything has to be customisable. Sure its nice to have choice with anything, but not every product is the same. Android is ideal for tweaks, hacks, ROMS, widgets etc and they sell to their markets demand. iOS doesn't have to be like that and hopefully apart from taking some key features and doing their own thing with them, it'll remain a different OS for a very long time.

To address the subject of icons, I know this is a particular flashpoint concerning iOS 7. I think very few of us, myself included though, have a skill where we see an icon on a phones screen, and somehow we recognise it from then on. I have a pretty good memory for illustrations and if I have dragged icon's into certain area's of the screen, I generally remember what they are. Plus with the added bonus of having icon's that have little hints in their design as to what they are thrown in for good measure. I appreciate not everybody has this particular set of skills, but it pays to recognise the more fortunate members of this exclusive club.

I have a Logitech control you can arrange the button on to a certain extent.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I have a Logitech control you can arrange the button on to a certain extent.

Can you change it's colour or move it up and down with your eyeball though?

 

[jrswizzle]

Yup. Power Toggles is one of the best Android apps. I can put toggles right on one of my home screens. And I can put any toggle, including toggles to turn the screen off, lock and unlock my lock screen, sound profiles, etc. I can even set it up to launch apps if I so wanted to. I love it.

I even have a discrete one right on my main home screen to turn off my screen (it's the little transparent "lock" icon in the middle).

Infinitely more flexible than Control Center. Control Center is a step in the right direction, however, and I'm sure many iOS fans will finally "realize" the value of toggles, cause you know, when Apple does it, then it's a good feature. Before, it would be common to hear how unnecessary these sorts of toggle widgets were. Today, they applaud Apple's inclusion of them. I applaud features regardless of who has them.

Yes, we're all a bunch of hypocritical Apple nuts. Maybe I like Apple's implementation better?

(even though that's not the case, and I've already explained this to you multiple times)

Stick with Android guy - you clearly think that way and prefer it. Stop kidding yourself and in doing so wasting our time with your posts.

 

[robjulo]

It ended up pushing me to Android. I purchased my GS4 yesterday and am happy with my decision so far. The bigger screen, google now, customization and better productivity pushed me to Android.

That doesn't mean I'm abandoning Apple, still love my Ipad2, MBP, iMac 27 and AppleTv.

 

[spinedoc77]

While I already was pushed back to iOS when I sold my Note 2, iOS 7 just reinforced that for me. iOS just works, yeah it's kind of tired when you hear that, but in my experience it is true, and as I've pointed out before there is a crazy insane section of consumers who use their phone as a .... phone, if you can believe that. iOS7 was nothing revolutionary, if anything they copied most of the stuff from other phones, but it was stuff that I've been waiting for so I don't feel like I'm missing out. At this point it feel as if iOS and Android are finally equal, with each OS having it's own pluses and minuses, and it's finally down to hardware. Apple never disappoints in hardware, and the only real nice hardware on Android is the HTC One IMO.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Yes, we're all a bunch of hypocritical Apple nuts. Maybe I like Apple's implementation better?

(even though that's not the case, and I've already explained this to you multiple times)

Stick with Android guy - you clearly think that way and prefer it. Stop kidding yourself and in doing so wasting our time with your posts.

Boy you're sure sensitive to posts which you keep trying to explain don't pertain to you. You keep responding to these posts as if you have something to explain. Telling?

 

[jrswizzle]

Boy you're sure sensitive to posts which you keep trying to explain don't pertain to you. You keep responding to these posts as if you have something to explain. Telling?

Well, I guess I wish I could get an actual response out of you aside from the same regurgitated fanboy drivel. You post something and I respond and instead of either agreeing or coming back with a rebuttal you seem to go into "automatic pilot" and just spout the same tired lines over and over.

Don't worry, I'm done.

 

[Internaut]

I actually quite liked the design, and the functions demonstrated. While it wouldn't necessarily make my next phone an iPhone, I'm certainly looking forward to upgrading to iO7 on my iPad Mini.

 

[gadget123]

It ended up pushing me to Android. I purchased my GS4 yesterday and am happy with my decision so far. The bigger screen, google now, customization and better productivity pushed me to Android.

That doesn't mean I'm abandoning Apple, still love my Ipad2, MBP, iMac 27 and AppleTv.

Are you updating the Ipad 2 to IOS7 then?

 

[snowcrash]

I was on the fence about making the jump for a while now. Once I played with the HTC One and GS4 I had a feeling my days with Apple phones may be numbered. After watching the Keynote and installing iOS7 on my iPhone5 I will prob be making my decision between the One or GS4 in the next week or so.

I totally understand it's a beta so not knocking it for that. It's more of the direction it's going and I just don't like the overall look and feel. Yeah they added some nice things but overall feels half baked and designed by a 13 year girl with ADHD and dyslexia.

I also feel that for the last few years I've just been waiting for the next version. "Oh wait iOS 6 will be better" "I hear the iPhone 5S might have that" and I even heard "Well iOS7 was what Johnny could do in the time he had, I'm sure by iOS8 it is going to be awesome!" Really?!?!?! Again, moments after the keynote people are already talking about "well maybe next time"

I know I'm coming off as a bit cynical but you get the point. In short iOS7 as well as the iPhone5 and the last few updates in general have really soured me to Apple and going to jump ship.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Looking at many of the Android screen grabs on this thread and many others, I can't see how they are aesthetically more pleasing than the proposed iOS 7 look. I've read many posts slating it, yet I can't agree that those are any better looking and I'm not saying they are in any way worse either for that matter. I get the impression its being knocked simply for the sake of it in many cases. In fact that is obvious IMO.

 

[Hastings101]

Reminded me why I left iOS in the first place to be honest. Windows Phone and Android are just so much better in my opinion. All the software optimization in the world can't make up for iOS' lack of customization and a modern UI.

 

[MeatRocket]

All the software optimization in the world can't make up for iOS' lack of customization and a modern UI.

BINGO! I'm a great fan of "choice". Apple has turned their base into the very mindless drones they proclaimed to set free in their 1984 superbowl commercial. "Think different" only seems to apply when they introduce a radically redesigned OS. Other than that, they don't want their users "thinking different" about Android, Windows, Linux, etc. Luckily, some of their fanbase (me included) maintain an open mind & can appreciate that they sometimes don't hit the mark.

 

[3bs]

Can I get that wallpaper please

 

[jeffe]

And Tim Cook just made me laugh when he says that 2/3 of Android users are on 2010 software.

What does this even mean? He is obviously not talking about the Android version as less than 5% of devices are running a version of Android released in 2010 or before.

So what software is he talking about?

 

[onthecouchagain]

Can I get that wallpaper please

Definitely. Let me post it for you when I'm back home after the weekend.