Jony Ive, the guy who has been designing Apple’s hardware since the 90s, was put in charge of “Human Interface” in late October 2012. In the seven months that have since passed, he gave iOS a completely new user interface that was demoed yesterday during the final 30 minutes of a two hour keynote. As someone who has used iOS longer than I’ve used Android, here are some initial thoughts.
Starting with the color palette, I completely understand why people in the West are confused and even slightly offended. I would be too, but I spent the first three months of 2013 backpacking through South East Asia. During that trip I did things I thought I’d never do in a million years. I bought an orange case for my phone. I bought purple, red, and “salmon pink” t-shirts. I even bought a pair of white sandals. Colors are in vogue in that part of the world, and since the East is where the bulk of new smartphones are being purchased, it makes sense, to me at least, to go with bold hues.
As for the new font, from the videos and screenshots I’ve seen, it’s clean. A bit thin, I’ll admit, but that’s done to increase information density. I urge you to go to a store and play with a Windows Phone for a few minutes. Microsoft placed a huge emphasis on typography in their mobile OS, but unlike Apple, who shrunk down their fonts, Windows Phone shoves obscenely large characters in your face. To the point where a bulk your phone’s display is wasted showing superflous content.
The new multitasking UI: It’s webOS. Full stop. Apple shamelessly stole Palm’s app switching UI, and you know what? It doesn’t matter. Palm invented a gorgeous OS, launched it four years ago, and the market rejected it. Apple took what’s arguably the best idea from that OS and put it inside their platform. What would have you wanted them to do, ignore good work and reinvent the wheel? Putting aside the praise for a second, I’m troubled that you still need to double tap the home key in order to pull up the multitasking user interface. It puts unnecessary strain on the hardware button, and it’s incredibly inelegant. Palm’s solution was a simple swipe up gesture.
Speaking about swipe up, that brings up what Apple calls “Control Center”. To anyone who has even used a Samsung smartphone, you’re probably rolling your eyes right now because this has been a feature of TouchWiz for at least two years. Again, same argument as before, I don’t care if companies steal ideas since ideas are worthless, it’s all about the implementation. One thing Apple put in “Control Center” that Samsung didn’t put in TouchWiz: One click flashlight. It’s one of those things where you wonder why it hasn’t been done before. And as for the newly designed apps, I’m not going to get into those now since it’s early days. Now I’ll be honest with you. There are days when I look at my Galaxy Note II and regret that I bought it. There are also days when I look at my girlfriend’s iPhone 5 and wonder how people can live with a four inch screen. Gaming, on Android, is one incredibly sick joke. Online services, on iOS, feel like they were bolted on by a drunk construction worker who overstayed his tourist visa. Both platforms have their pros and cons, and people seem to solve this issue by buying multiple devices. The thinking that went behind my Note II purchase was simple: I don’t like owning lots of stuff, so I’ll just have one thing that’s both a smartphone and a tablet. I’m slowly beginning to realize that I might have made a mistake. What I’m having a difficult time deciding is which platforms will my future devices run? Will I own an Android smartphone and an iPad? Or will I own an iPhone and a semi-decent Android tablet? I’ve always had two computers and a phone, but my 11 inch netbook bit the dust last year so I’m stuck with a MacBook Pro and a Galaxy. In the next 12 months I’m likely going to buy a tablet, and for the life of me I can’t figure out whether it’ll be a retina iPad mini or that long rumored new Nexus 7. Hell, it might even be Samsung’s new 8 inch Galaxy Tab 3 that I played with, and fell in love with, yesterday. And then once I get that tablet, will I trade in my Note II for a top of the line iPhone? Or will Apple’s rumored “budget” iPhone be the perfect midranger? One thing I do know is that we’re spoiled for choice. This isn’t 2007 or 2008 or 2009, when the differences between various platforms were vast. If you buy a new do-hickey from Samsung or Apple today and spend some time learning how to use it, you’re guaranteed to enjoy using a device that just a few short years ago seemed almost impossible to even conceive. For that I’m thankful, and really, all this bickering and “platform wars” talk is just academic.
