

Apple’s iOS Is Looking Seriously Stale, But It’s Still the Platform to Beat - sk2code
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/03/is-ios-outdated/

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nopal
I'm an iOS user, and I don't much exposure to Android, but I wonder -- is iOS
really stale?

Apple's added a lot in the past few years while keeping the core design
consistent. I'm sure they could have done more in this time period, but my
personal feeling is that they don't want to confuse users with some of the
more advanced things that can be done on other devices.

They want their devices to be useable by everyone, and even now, some things
are confusing to novice users (folders, notification center). They are being
conservative in their design, but it seems deliberate, and I wonder how that
translates to the masses -- usable or out-of-date?

~~~
ocean12
" is iOS really stale? "

They are still selling every phone they can make, so I would guess no. The
hardware, mostly the screen, needs some refreshing to be current with hardware
on other platforms, but no, I wouldn't call it stale.

More like the media looking for something to talk about while waiting for the
new, next iPhone to come out.

~~~
rimantas

      > The hardware, mostly the screen
    

Uhm? iPhone 5 has one of the best screens ever made, did other surpass it so
quick?

~~~
greetings
Yes. See any of the new generation of android phones.

~~~
coldtea
Yes. I can't avoid not to, in SE Asia.

They range from subpar to just slightly inferior to the iPhone.

Except if you mean screen real estate (with some 5 inch plus screens). In
which case I wouldn't call that better, just more.

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gavinlynch
I'm not suggesting that it's not worth debating whether iOS has become stale,
but we can come up with more impartial arbiters of staleness than some of
Apple's chief competitors, right? They make vague mention of, but never
support with quotations, that this argument is taking place among non-
competitors too. That's pretty lazy journalism.

From the article:

 _"BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins claimed that the look and feel of Apple’s
mobile OS is outdated_. “The rate of innovation is so high in our industry
that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly,”
he argued. _Chris Weber, executive vice president of Nokia’s sales and
marketing, claimed that iOS’s focus on the app was “outdated.”_

~~~
dclowd9901
I didn't even notice that. If you hadn't pointed out the inherent bias I
wouldn't have even discounted the sentiment.

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dr_
Looks fine to me. Would be more interested in additional functionality than
cosmetic changes to the OS.

By the same token, does Google's homepage look stale?

~~~
fpgeek
Isn't avoiding staleness one of the reasons behind the Google Doodles?

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nicholassmith
The iPhone is stale in the same way that the 911 is. This years 911 is better
than last years, and this years iPhone is better than the last one. But this
_isn't_ about the iPhone, it's about iOS. A lot of the discussion has focussed
around the devices themselves but that's not the point of the matter.

iOS in some respects is stale. The 'look' has been the same since the first
iPhone came out of box. Is that a bad thing? Sure, to some people it is, they
want new and fresh and different. That's not how Apple works though, they
settle on a design paradigm and iterate repeatedly until they think it's time
to move on.

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ChrisLTD
At some point Apple is going to need to redesign iOS to better integrate
features they've accumulated since 2007. I don't think we're anywhere near
that point yet.

FWIW, Apple has made tweaks to the look and feel. The "dock" at the bottom of
springboard has the 3D shelf instead of the grated metal. Apps like Music
(formerly iPod), iTunes, Maps have had thorough design updates.

~~~
duaneb
Speaking of stale UI features, when will they trash cover flow? I've never
once seen someone use it intentionally or successfully.

~~~
gte910h
I use coverflow constantly in OS X to look through files quickly.

~~~
duaneb
I don't mind that as much as the ipod app on the iphone. Landscape mode is
coverflow, even though half my music doesn't have album covers, and there's no
way of disabling the 'feature'.

I agree, though, coverflow is pretty good for pictures in the finder—not for
most documents, where the content can't be easily rendered distinctively to a
rectangular image.

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kaolinite
I think this feeling is down to two factors:

1\. Many iOS users are now, for the first time, trying out Android as a result
of affordable yet high quality devices being available (Nexus 4 and 7,
especially).

2\. Other platforms, especially Android, are introducing new features that iOS
does not have and Apple may not wish to copy. For example: Android recently
introduced lockscreen widgets, something I personally find to be completely
over the top. Meanwhile, Samsung are trying out all kinds of wacky ideas (as
seen with the S4 release). Compared to these, iOS does seem a little plain and
boring - though personally I'm glad.

Up until 3-4 months ago, I was an Android user and had been for many years. I
switched to an iPhone 5 and suddenly iOS feels fresh whilst Android feels
stale. It's just what you're used to, I suspect.

~~~
gte910h
I just got a Nexus 7 for work. Some interesting transitions, etc, but many
apps still look horrible and scrolling is still painful to watch.

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dahart
Why do so many people take sides in the phone wars, when we the consumers
benefit the most if these companies are competing fiercely with each other?
Especially mystifying with reports like this one that are so thoroughly weak
and lazy.

It would be bad if one company were to "win", which perhaps explains a lot of
the zealous anti Apple commentary lately, because they've dominated for a
while, but in the mean time don't forget that we are arguing over the features
of _commodity appliances_. Arguing which phone is better is like arguing over
which dishwasher is better.

It's insanely awesome how fast, how small, and how cheap computers are
becoming. Throw in growing connectivity and sensing capability, and you
realize this is an amazing time. I don't want Google to lose, or Apple to
lose. I want them all to win and keep pressuring each other so they all keep
making computers smaller, cheaper and more accessible to me.

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danso
Nowhere is iOS's staleness more evident in everyday use than in its virtual
keyboard. At the time iOS came out and dominated, typing on iOS seemed like
the natural way to do it, so it's not a terrible implementation by any means.

But its autocorrect feature is absolutely abysmal. I tend to use the
possessive "its" a lot. However, iOS will by default assume that I mean "it's"
_no matter the context of the sentence_...which means that every time I want
to use "its", I have to stop typing, look up at the text box, take my hands
off the keyboard, and look for that stupid bubble and the tiny 'x' to prevent
the autocorrection.

Android, by comparison, is practically _magic_. Perhaps it's because of the
physical screen size that makes this possible, but how Android puts the
autocorrect choices (three of them, not just one) right next to the keyboard
is just pure logical genius. And I don't know what machine learning/natural
language algorithm is used to guess the proper autocorrect choices but when
typing at full blast, I have to _deliberately_ make a typo for a typo to
actually occur. iOS, by comparison, will inexplicably create nonsensical
sentences with words I've never seen or used if I don't watch the textbox
while typing. Maybe typing is old-fashioned and Apple wants to put more focus
on swiping (Android's swipe keyboard is also pretty amazing, FWIW), but Jesus
they've really let the keyboard go.

And of course, it's hard to imagine them ever catching up to Google in voice-
input.

~~~
cryptoz
It's because Android keyboards are apps. It's part of being an open ecosystem;
UI and utilities are not controlled by a central agency making decisions for
everyone. There's so much typing innovation happening on Android that it's
really amazing; Swype, SwiftKey, 8pen, that new one-line keyboard, and
probably 50 projects I've never even heard of.

~~~
kunai
But then you get all of the baggage that comes along with an open system.
Android is not stable in the slightest, which is odd as it does use the Linux
kernel, but it still is; even on 4.2. I still get hangs, freezes, and crashes.
The system-wide lag is gone, but there are many instances I can name where the
system will arbitrarily crash an application:

\- Trying to open Google Now \- Typing an address into Firefox's URL bar \-
Trying to Swype \- Trying to open a new tab in the Android browser

And there's many more. Granted, it's CM10 running on a Nexus 7, but there's
still so many kinks to be worked out.

When I switch back to an iPad, it's such a relief. Full stability. I have
NEVER had an application crash on an iPad.

Can't say the same about the N7, unfortunately.

~~~
danso
This is a good point and I'm not arguing for-or-against an open ecosystem. I'm
just saying, if Apple wants to stick with the closed keyboard system, then
they really need to put some resources into making the default -- and only --
choice as good as it can be.

I'm currently just using iOS (on the iPad), thanks to losing my Android phone
to a robber. I haven't bought a new smartphone yet but whenever I think of
making the decision -- and I've been using iOS exclusively for years until my
recent Android purchase -- the flawed typing in iOS makes the decision easy.

But I'll also concede that's because I'm not a technophonbe...the default
keyboard selection on Android seems to be good, but configuring and installing
new ones is probably not straightforward for many casual users.

~~~
cryptoz
> The default keyboard selection on Android seems to be good, but configuring
> and installing new ones is probably not straightforward for many casual
> users.

I think you're missing the point. What features does the default Android 4.2
have that make it so awesome? It has the excellent three-word prediction which
is a direct copy from SwiftKey. It has the one finger swipe typing which is a
direct copy from Swype. The _only_ reason the Android's default keyboard is so
good is because they opened the ecosystem and let hundreds of developers
experiment and play with keyboard apps until they got really, really amazing.

Edit: And "configuring and installing new ones is probably not straightforward
for many casual users"?! Do you think "Apps" are a difficult concept?
Keyboards are apps; they're found in Google Play for download just like Angry
Birds is. Anyone who can install Angry Birds can install a keyboard.

~~~
danso
I don't disagree with you...I _do_ prefer an open ecosystem. However, for the
scope of the argument, I'm just leaving it as: "Android keyboards are far, far
superior to iOS's seemingly left-behind keyboard". Whether iOS's keyboard
problem stems from a closed ecosystem or not is somewhat orthogonal, because
iOS has some pretty amazing features despite the closed ecosystem.

As for the difficulty in configuring the keyboards...well, part of it is that
you need to configure them all. As an experienced systems user, it didn't take
me long to figure out where the config menu is and what the implications
were...but that's not going to be the case for a lot of users. As for the
difficulty in installing apps: well, again, it may not seem hard. But I'll
point to the awkward history of the Google Play/App store as an example of how
yes, even app purchasing/updating is hard, which is why Apple and Google spend
a significant amount of time on the workflow of buying and installing apps.

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thechut
The iPhone has remained virtually unchanged over the last 5 years. Each model
is slightly faster and slightly brighter. Sure you fanboys can make the
argument about every feature added, but look at the specs differences. And the
look and feel of the phone has barely changed[1].

If you look at the progress not just in design, but software, hardware and
everything. Samsung, HTC, Nokia, all the major manfs have come miles further
than Apple in the last 5 years when it comes to hardware design.

When it comes to software Android has also come miles in the last few years.
People that aren't Android users don't realize this and go with the same
standby arguments against Android (fragmented, ugly ui, non-integrated UI).
When Android first came on the market (HTC G1) it could not even compare to an
iPhone. But Android has solved many of these problems over the years, due
partially to the fact that it's open source and has lots of people / companies
contributing to it. It has now come to a point where it is miles beyond iOS
and iOS has even gone as far as starting to steal features from Android
(notifications drawer anyone?).

I've said it before I will say it again. Apple should spend less money
worrying about and suing it's competitors and spend more time and money on
improving their mediocre products.

The time for something new from Apple is definitely soon or they risk starting
to lose market share. Although, most of their users are to drunk on koolaid to
even know what other products are in the market.

[1]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iOS_devices#iPhone>

~~~
marknutter
And thanks to companies like Samsung, we can finally wave our hands in front
of our phones to swipe pages and awkwardly hover over the screen with our
fingers to interact with our phone in new and completely useless ways.
Seriously, there's not a whole lot of useful innovation happening on either
side of the fence. Smartphones have peaked and are now commodities. Arguing
about who's more innovative in this space is like trying to make the case for
Ford being more innovative than Chevy because they added a motion sensor to
their trunks so people can open them by waving their foot underneath the
bumper.

Can we just move on, and for the love of god, stop using the term "Fanboy"?

~~~
nicholassmith
_"Can we just move on, and for the love of god, stop using the term
"Fanboy"?"_

Agreed, it's pointless and cheapens the debate. Along with sheep, fandroid,
apologist and whatever the camps have whipped up that week.

------
joeblau
Not only is it looking stale, but it feels stale. The silo workflow for iOS is
so bad for accomplishing simple tasks that require cross application
integration.

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falcolas
As a user who has moved from iPhone to Windows Phone 8... yes, their UI is
stale.

I'm never going to be able to convince Mac users that Windows Phone is better
as an overall phone (though I believe it is), but the UI is responsive,
informative, and pleasantly minimal. Most folks agree with that when they get
the chance to play with it (despite their repeated assurances to me that they
would _never_ switch to Windows).

~~~
danieldk
I also have a Windows Phone 8 (Lumia 820) and indeed, in comparison the iOS UI
is very stale. What I do miss is polish of applications (both Microsoft's and
third-party), e.g. Facebook in the people hub does not work well (blocked
feeds show up again, I cannot like comments, etc). 1Password is only a ghost
of its polished iOS version.

Also, the battery life is sh*t. My iPhone 4 usually lasted four a five full
days, while the Lumia is often gone in 12 hours during a work day. It's very
inconvenient when you have a long commute.

Currently Apple still makes up the lack of innovation with polish. But time is
ticking away...

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drivebyacct2
Was I the only one that missed the part where the article explains why "It's
Still the Platform to Beat"?

~~~
ocean12
" Was I the only one that missed the part where the article explains why "It's
Still the Platform to Beat"? "

I don't think you missed it; I think you dismissed or disagreed with it.

It's here: _iOS has undeniably great, intuitive touch-based gestures and a
straightforward layout._

And here: _“It’s that simplicity, combined with a deep developer and app
ecosystem, that really has given iOS its power with users.”_

And here: _One of the biggest benefits of the current iOS platform, from a
developer standpoint, is that no matter what type of app you’re creating, you
can find a few hundred existing examples of what works. And that isn’t always
true on other platforms

For example, WNM Live CEO Brian Hamachek said when his company decided to
create a Windows Phone app, there was “not much we could use as a basis for
how it should be laid out, we had to come out with own path — which can be a
little risky.” As for Android, Hamachek said it’s “like the wild west” and
that there really isn’t much of a standard user interface to go off of, which
isn’t good for devs or users.

Apple’s human interface guidelines make it easy create an app that looks and
feels like an iOS app._

~~~
drivebyacct2
I literally can't find a single comment from you that isn't bashing Android or
Google. Are you a shill?

