
New iOS designs - joshuamerrill
http://josh.io/blog/2013/4/26/8-new-ios-designs
======
rurounijones
You can tell that was done by designers going for "ooh pretty" with usability
somewhere down the priority list.

"Fold to unlock"? What does that mean? Apple has spent years teaching users
about the "Slide to unlock" metaphor and now you want to change the wording? I
need to fold my phone? wha?

The contacts list with only pictures of contact's faces, because in the real
world I have pictures of EVERYONE on my contact list, my lawyer, the plumber,
that guy I met at the conference who quickly swapped numbers with...

The app icons with no names was already dealt with in the post.

I do like the keyboard though.

~~~
saurik
You're going to find this crazy (and honestly, after having tried it I agree
with you: it didn't quite make sense), but the "Fold to Unlock" is not just
concept art from a designer: that's a popular modification you can download
for free and install on a jailbroken iPhone, and tons of people really like
the concrete implementation.

[http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/05/unfold-brings-fold-to-
unl...](http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/05/unfold-brings-fold-to-unlock-
concept-to-life.html)

~~~
mwilcox
There's a big difference between intentionally installing a modification on
your device and having it installed by default, though. iOS's popularity is
largely due to its intuitive UI.

~~~
saurik
I can only imagine you missed my parenthetical? Like, reading your comment,
one would presume that rather than saying "that's not just the design of some
crazy designer, that's actually a concrete implementation that people like,
but yeah: it doesn't make sense" I had said "no, you are wrong: Apple should
do this, because you are totally wrong and a vast majority of people actually
like it"... it isn't even "the most popular thing in the world of
jailbreaking" or anything (although it is somewhat unreasonably popular for
what it is ;P).

~~~
mwilcox
Rereading your comment, I did kind of skim past that bit, sorry. I was mostly
referring to the little bit at the end in regards to 'lots of people really
liking' it.

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brianchu
These are all pretty and nice, but the majority of them are UX regressions.

1\. App icons without app names.

2\. A keyboard where the button edges are less clearly identifiable.

3\. An app switcher that takes you completely out of your current app (this
one is a little more debatable because there are advantages to showing views
of other apps)

4\. A fold to unlock that ignores the reason that slide to unlock exists,
preventing unintentional unlock (fold to unlock would be sensitive to touch
across the entire screen)

The messages and contacts designs look slightly more promising. I think it
would be interesting and possibly more usable to have a contacts list with
faces in it, but in a list view, not necessarily in a 2d grid.

I like the slide-out menu visual metaphor; it seems to give the side-out
pattern some of the affordance that is lacking in the current way that slide-
outs are animated.

~~~
supercoder
3\. An app switcher that takes you completely out of your current app (this
one is a little more debatable because there are advantages to showing views
of other apps)

What _are_ the advantages to showing view of other apps ? Other than it
looking attractive in mockups.

When I'm switching to an app, I almost always know what app I'm trying to get
to, it's contents is rarely useful to know when switching to it.

So personally I've never found the stack switching thing useful in say Windows
7, it actually makes it more confusing because there's more data to take in.

OSX still just keeps it simple with the icons and that seems to work great.

Technically it's a very easy thing for Apple to implement (previews that is)
but I suspect they have it like they do because it's actually the better
solution.

~~~
joshuamerrill
I would argue that Mission Control—not the Dock—is the equivalent of the iOS
multitasking tray. The Dock can show applications that are not running, while
the multitasking tray cannot (at least, from the user's POV).

When using Mission Control, I personally do find value in seeing what my open
applications are doing. Often that's a factor in whether I keep them running.

EDIT: I was assuming when you said "...keeps it simple with the icons..." that
you were referring to the Dock.

~~~
supercoder
Yeah was just referring to the ⌘ + Tab app switching which in my mind was the
equivalent of the iOS multitasing tray.

Sure, there is mission control, which I originally was really excited by but
in the end dont use cause it's all overload.

But yeah, if your someone that values mission control then the app previews
would be a good addition, guess was just asking if anyone actually did find it
useful to switch apps that way.

~~~
joshuamerrill
Ah yes, I didn't even consider ⌘ + Tab. That's very much like the iOS
multitasking tray.

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sgdesign
These are taken out of context. They're just mock-ups posted to Dribbble to
play with new ideas, the designers who came up with them are not seriously
suggesting they should be implemented as is.

Saying that these concepts show bad UX is like saying that a paper sketch
lacks polish. It's completely missing the point.

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Void_
They are all interesting, but a design isn't better just because it's
prettier.

I wouldn't even say they are prettier, but that's a matter of personal
preference.

Linkbait anyone?

~~~
joshuamerrill
No, not linkbait. :)

Sure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but Apple's design choices also
create trends that are echoed both on and offline by designers everywhere.

Edit: I think what makes iOS 7 particularly interesting is that, IMHO, many of
us have seen Apple falling behind in the area of software design. I personally
would love to see Apple regain its reputation here.

~~~
supercoder
Who have they fallen behind ?

~~~
joshuamerrill
I would argue that in the past couple years, both Microsoft and Google—and not
Apple—have been setting the trend in software design, notably in the growing
rejection of skeuomorphism and the embrace of flat design.

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mark_integerdsv
Personally and as a user of nothing but iPhones since 1st gen I am less
concerned about aesthetics and considerably more concerned about
functionality.

iOS handling of the hand off between apps is nothing short of an
embarrassment. The constant ->into this app->out to homescreen->into that
app->out to homescreen is a joke at this stage of the game and something needs
to be done about it - desperately. there are other issues here and there too
but this is a daily embuggerance.

Squawking about stitching and torn pages, etc. frankly makes little sense when
the actual affordances of the UI are shamefully out of date.

I pray that Ive is focusing on UX and not just on flat vs skeumorphic design.

iOS is in poor shape at the moment, IMO.

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dutchbrit
"8 new iOS designs that are better than Apple's"

Sorry, but I really have to disagree. Didn't see anything better than the
current design.. And if you mean in regards to new design, you don't know hoe
that's going to be. A complete rehaul from what I hear, there's nothing
innovating in those mockups. Not saying that they look ugly.

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kapowaz
All very interesting concepts, very nicely implemented. But, I guarantee you
Apple has built dozens of designs like this internally, tested them and
rejected them because they didn't work as well as what they actually went
with.

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jamhan
It's not April 1st but I laughed out loud anyway when I read about "fold to
unlock".

~~~
vacri
Especially since 'fold' isn't an action you can do with your finger against
glass.

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chromejs10
Some of these look nice, and I really liked the keyboard. However I definitely
don't agree with the author that somehow fold to unlock was "more intuitive".
Also a few of them looked too similar to windows phone and Facebook Home. It
should also be noted that a few of those have already been implemented on
jailbroken devices in Cydia so I'm not sure how many are actually original
ideas.

I am very excited to see what iOS 7 will bring us and it's good to see people
creating their own mockups. Might give Apple even better ideas :)

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vacri
I hope Ive does more than just redesign the lock screen and home screen icons.

~~~
chromejs10
Same here. Supposedly there is a big overhaul on apps like Mail. I'm
definitely hoping for some sort of live widget functionality and a new home
screen

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yogrish
Ya, they are just different. But Cannot conclude that they are all better. Now
that people got bored with old apple designs, these might look better. But I
liked - "Fold to unlock and Contacts with Photos".

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ForFreedom
Fold to unlock sounds like a laundry room term

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tuananh
last picture looks like Android.

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joeblau
And WM8

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tpetrina
Sorry to nitpick, but it's WP8 as in Windows Phone 8.

