iOS 7 is Yucky. Why Isn't Anyone Saying So?

http://ios7yucky.tumblr.com/

by benstein • 13 years ago

32 30 13 years ago

ios7yucky.tumblr.com

stephen_g• 13 years ago

Sure there are areas to improve, but overall I'm really liking iOS 7.

To the blog author - sorry if you think that your opinion == the objective, absolute truth, but it's not. It's just one opinion of many.

kevincrane• 13 years ago

While I agree with a few of your points, re: "Why Isn't Anyone Saying So?", a lot of people are saying so. I think I remember two other Tumblr blogs in the last week on HN making the exact same argument. Careful with the linkbait titles.

nwh• 13 years ago

The animations are the worst bit by far. I'm constantly hitting the end of them and having my touches ignored.

nemothekid• 13 years ago

Really grasping at straws here for the "REALLY yucky". Can't see how someone can mistake a stopwatch for safari.

borland• 13 years ago

I like iOS 7 a lot. Why isn't anyone saying so?

blisterpeanuts• 13 years ago

I like it, too. It's definitely an improvement, at least on my iPad2, visually appealing, feels faster, slicker, very refined. Maybe it's a different user experience on an iPhone, I don't know; I use Android 4.3 for my phone and mini-tablet.

programminggeek• 13 years ago

I also like iOS 7 a lot. The style finally feels like a good fit for the hardware design of the iPhone 4 and 5.

adamnemecek• 13 years ago

If only you had the option not to use it.

spullara• 13 years ago

iOS7 is winning this poll by quite a bit:

http://polarb.com/polls/126643

jere• 13 years ago

I think the illegible text is a pretty serious complaint. A lot of the visual metaphors typically used in nonflat design have real purposes. Kind of silly to throw them out because it just so happens you used too many leather textures in previous designs.

Text shadow is pretty damn useful. With certain color combinations, it's practically required. http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA2LzEyLzY3L2lvczd2c...

plorkyeran• 13 years ago

The text is often hard to read in screenshots, but I have no trouble whatsoever reading the same text on the actual phone. Oddly enough the combination of having double the resolution and the phone being much closer to my face than my monitor makes a huge difference.

dingaling• 13 years ago

and the phone being much closer to my face

I was curious about this statement, so I've just checked with my old, non-trendy Android phone and the results were:

Face to laptop monitor: 66cm Face to smartphone: 55 cm

Not too surprising as most people I see using smartphones hold them at near full arm extension.

potatolicious2• 13 years ago

This is a legit complaint. The removal of drop shadows makes designing for iOS harder than before - and Apple does demonstrate poor legibility in some places.

I think we're going to end up moving, funnily enough, to something more like Metro. The design language in iOS7 calls for big photos, and lots of text overlaid - IMO the default don't-think-too-hard-about-it solution is going to be slapping semitransparent colored bars down and putting the text on top.

Which, honestly, isn't all that different from what you used to do. Rare was the app that put text directly on top of uncontrolled (i.e., non-curated) images. Most text already existed on their own surfaces (instead of complex photographs) to begin with.

potatolicious2• 13 years ago

Because it turns out most people don't really mind. The general feeling I've gotten from people around me is that they like iOS7.

Addressing a few specific ones:

"What’s with the fly-in animation all the time?"

This has existed since the very first version of iOS. How is this at all an iOS7-specific complaint? The fly-in hasn't changed in any substantial way since the very first iPhone.

"Especially for common workflow tasks like switching from an app to 1Password and back to the app."

Use the task switcher, which is now much faster than before? The task switching animation on older versions of iOS took eons unnecessarily (it was a very slow animation that "swapped" two cards). The new one is much, much faster. You're talking about an overall improvement in iOS7, not a regression.

"Default wallpaper color theme is white on cyan."

It isn't. The default wallpaper on the GM/final build is a dark blue starfield, no contrast problems at all. It was only the cyan dynamic wallpaper in early betas.

Blah blah blah, the self-anointed aesthetique classe will continue to pick apart iOS7 in whatever ways they can find. In the meantime the world will keep using it, and people (Apple included) who spend more time developing and creating than bitching will find ways to improve it (like the community has improved iOS in the past - see: left-navigation, pull-to-refresh, etc). By far the biggest complaint I've heard from lay users re: iOS7 is performance on older devices. I've yet to meet a single person who despises iOS7's design as much as the self-appointed defenders of good taste.

aes• 13 years ago

> "Especially for common workflow tasks like switching from an app to 1Password and back to the app."
Use the task switcher, which is now much faster than before?

This was actually one of the "Wow! They've thought about the little things" moments on iOS7. I was copying a phone number or an address from another app, and with the new task switcher I didn't even have to launch the other app since the information I was looking for was already visible from the switcher.

FireBeyond• 13 years ago

The general feeling I've gotten from people around me is that they like iOS7.

More anec-data: whilst I personally like it and have run it since beta 1, most of my non-tech compatriots (young users) either actively don't like it, state "this is going to take a while to adjust to" or are entirely unconvinced this is better. At least two have posted on FB asking if anyone knows how to take them back to iOS 6.

hnriot• 13 years ago

Actually a lot of people are saying so.

The sleep-wake fade is going to cause car accidents. All those people that click home button to quickly look down and check new messages now have to take their eyes off the road for much longer while ios 7 gets around to fading in the screen.

apart from the timestamps on messages, I can't find a single new feature. The stupid instagram mode in the camera app (square and real-time filters) is dumb. I can use instagram if I want my photos to all look like crap. The photos summarize mode is totally useless, it's great for demos, but not actually useful, I've had siri off since day 1 so I don't know if that works any better.

And as for the flying icons on unlock, the fact that you can't turn it off is inexcusable.

Basically ios7 is just a theme. It's not a new version. If Apple want to introduce new themes then I'm all for that, but give me more than one every two years. How about actual features that are useful, Apple? I still can't use the music app and search for a song, sure I can use spotlight, but it searches everything, not just music.

and such glaring design flaws like the tumblr shows, and plenty I could add, like swipe down control center and switch off bluetooth by mistake half the time. Or swipe from center down to get spotlight? WTF!

edit: correction, I found one useful feature, block telemarketers! That's worth the update, even if the rest of the update is guff.

threeseed2• 13 years ago

If you are operating your phone whilst driving then you deserve to crash.

And on your points. Yes you can search in Music, pull the list down and the search bar appears. Filters are useless sure but I don't remember Apple forcing you to use them. And I have not once hit the Bluetooth button whilst swiping control centre so it might be just a personal thing.

deadbeef4042• 13 years ago

If you are operating your phone whilst driving then you deserve to crash.

Does the same apply to the radio?

deadbeef4042• 13 years ago

I still can't use the music app and search for a song

You can scroll up above the top of any list (artists/songs etc) in the music app to reveal the search bar.

terabytest2• 13 years ago

You are not supposed to use your phone while driving. Not even looking at it. You are putting yourself and others in danger.

If you REALLY must use your phone because you can't resist living without it for more than 10 minutes then hold the home button and ask Siri to read you your messages. That's what Siri is really made for.

gareim• 13 years ago

While I haven't personally played with it yet, this was the first reaction from a nontechy friend I got:

"ITS. SO. BEAUTIFUL. I feel like I have a new phone. I took off the case for a little bit while on my bed just for the funsies. makes me feel like I'm holding a piece of heaven"

MAGZine2• 13 years ago

felt the same way when my android phone jumped from 2.3 to 4.0

svmegatron• 13 years ago

Where do you hang out online that you get the impression no one is saying it's yucky?

threeseed2• 13 years ago

This is probably the dumbest post I've seen yet on iOS 7. The default wallpaper is not cyan. It changes depending on phone and user. The number of emails you see in Notification Center is controlled in your Settings and it is not supposed to be a competitor to Google Now. The photo chrome hides when you tap on the photo and finally the Messages bubbles aren't that shade of green. It's darker and just as readable as iOS 6.

larsbot• 13 years ago

iOS 7 is REALLY yucky. Why Isn't Anyone Saying So?

Have you considered maybe it's because most people don't agree with you? I think you point out some real UI issues, but to me, they are more annoyances than "really yucky."

innino• 13 years ago

People's emotional relationship with a company or brand predetermines to a large extent whether they will react positively or negatively to a new product or design. The same product released by Microsoft might have been met by a flurry of negativity and/or apathy, with a few people trying to fight the tide by pointing out positive aspects. With Apple the situation is reversed. The lesson is that actual execution is not so important, it is more how you have built your brand over time. It's just like at school, the same joke said by a cool kid and greeted with laughter, if tried by an uncool kid will probably fall flat.

And it's hard for both school kids and companies to escape the trap of uncoolness - it tends to give people a whiny, desperate element - which people hate. Part of the reason people are so harsh on Microsoft and soft on Apple, because the former seems to try so hard to impress while the latter is effortless and self-assured. Humans can be pretty cruel. But I think it does make a big difference to your sense of self with buying or using products from these different companies - Apple users feel relaxed and confident with their iDevices, someone who uses Microsoft stuff might feel insecure and defensive in comparison.

MAGZine2• 13 years ago

I can't help but feel that jobs would've had something to say on the majority of these complaints (i.e. they would not exist)

terabytest2• 13 years ago

This looks as if it was written by a person who hasn't actually used iOS 7 for more than 10 minutes in total on an actual iPhone. All of the things you say are untrue or imprecise. The default background is the "starry night" one.

The only problem so far with backgrounds is that in some cases the icon labels become hard to read.

The rest is just uninformed FUD.

iOS 7 is Yucky. Why Isn't Anyone Saying So?

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