7 ms·

Material, a Graphics Framework for Material Design in Swift

71 points by somecoder 11y ago

glossyscr 11y ago
Why for Heaven's sake should iOS users ever adopt Android's so-so Material Design? My perception is that iOS users—both developers and users—are rather 'hostile' against Android and its ecosystem. They believe that if there is one design authority, it must be Apple, so again Why? I had Android phones for 4-5 yrs and I still like Android, I think there is a lot innovation on Android. It's in some parts more advanced than iOS but I've still switched back to iOS for 2yrs. I waste now less time with tweaking every tiny detail of the system (what I loved about Android). Material Design is ok but not stunning. Everything is big and if you have a 5.7" brick every piece of Material Design gets even more bloated because most manufacturers have wrong ppi/scaling settings which you can't change. All the Notes from Samsung have this problem and people root them to correct this. It feels like if the MyFirstSony product head designed the UI: you can easily hit the baby-buttons with elbows and closed eyes. Again, Material Design is not really bad but not something I would upvote on Dribbble. It's a careful design that wants to be liked, not brave, a happy and randomly colored design language that doesn't want to hurt, with an impersonal and indecisive personality. Even Windows Phone's design is way more bold and daring, with a mind of its own, it doesn't want to be liked.
- currysausage 11y ago
  I switched back from Android to iOS as my everyday mobile OS a few months ago, mostly for stability reasons. I think that both OSs have very mature GUI styles, iOS more visually appealing in theory (smooth animations, Gaussian blur; just compare Chrome's tab switcher with Safari's) but also more conservative. Material design is certainly easier to "get right," meaning that more third-party apps look quite polished than on iOS (it used to be the other way round before Material came up). Before the switch, I thought that I would continue to use iOS versions of Google's great Android apps (especially Keep, which on Android has way better UX than many alternatives). Actually, I more or less abandoned all Google apps except Maps. Material Design is only one reason, but certainly a big one. Once I got used to the iOS style again, those colorful hamburger menus felt out of place. All in all, Google's apps felt like "bad citizens." I don't want to rethink my interactions between apps. What made me angry (obviously that's because I'm a nerd) is the Roboto font, which looks quite similar to San Francisco, but still noticeably different. This violates typographic principles: you don't mix Helvetica and Univers, it will look like an accident. Heck, even Apple Music on Android uses Roboto. Can't you try to be a good citizen in return, Google?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- mikhailt 11y ago
  > My perception is that iOS users—both developers and users—are rather 'hostile' against Android and its ecosystem. They believe that if there is one design authority, it must be Apple, so again Why? Are you saying iOS users are hostile in general or are they hostile about apps using Android design on iOS? From what I've seen, users are hostile when said apps are using non-iOS design on iOS and I agree with them. I dislike Google's designs on iOS, they're out of place and not that great for my use. Google services are great and their apps are great on top of Android, I have no problem with them but when I use said apps on iOS, I fully expect Google to follow Apple's guidelines here. For the same reason people like OS X for many years, users want consistent design throughout all apps on the same platform, it makes it easier to switch apps and know where everything is. Design isn't the only factor, it's the consistency that's important and that's why Apple emphasizes its guidelines for all OS X and iOS developers to follow.
k__ 11y ago
OT: are there any modular Material design CSS frameworks? I can't use material-ui (no react).
- clay_to_n 11y ago
  There are a few that don't require using React, Angular, or Web Components. Check out Google's Material Design Lite, Materialize, and Surface.
- pdxandi 11y ago
  I've used a few and like Material Design Lite the most. There may be others that are easier to work with, but MDL feels the most true to the Material Design specs and it follows the BEM method, which makes sense to me. Their example pages are useful as well.
  - k__ 11y ago
    Can you elaborate why you like MDL better than the rest? I find the CSS class names a bit clunky. Materialize makes a much better figure.
    - sehr 11y ago
      MDL is closer to the material spec than materialize, even materialize's site doesn't follow the material guidelines
- rtcoms 11y ago
  check materialize.css . http://materializecss.com/ http://materializecss.com/
- tholford 11y ago
  Bootstrap Material Design is a good alternative: https://fezvrasta.github.io/bootstrap-material-design/ https://fezvrasta.github.io/bootstrap-material-design/
- erichocean 11y ago
ceeK 11y ago
First of all, it looks great, so well done for that! It's fantastic to actually make it to the release stage. That said, I'm a big fan of adopting the best design paradigm for the platform. If I was building an Android app, material design would be the go to. Why? Well, Android users have already used it. The cognitive burden to how things feel and work has been removed, letting your users feel familiar with the app from the get go. Similarly, with iOS, closely following their human interface guidelines will produce the best results for allowing iOS users to immediately feel at home in your app. This sentiment is mimicked in the WWDC2014 video Designing Intuitive User Experiences. For this reason, I'd personally tend to shy away from trying to port design principles to other platforms. It sure looks nice, but is it worth it?
- ryanmonroe 11y ago
  I can't comment on whether it's the best for the platform, but I don't think there's much of a cognitive burden placed on iOS users by material design. A whole lot of iOS users use the Google Maps and Youtube apps, and many also use Gmail/Inbox for email, and Chrome as a browser. My Grandmom uses Google Maps and has never had to ask me any questions about how to do things with it.
  - aclissold 11y ago
    Have you looked at the YouTube reviews on the iOS App Store? They're exceptionally horrible for what really is an A-grade app! I don't know for sure, by my assumption is it's mostly because of material design, but subconsciously to those writing reviews. The average basically plummeted the instant they updated the design.
    - tdkl 11y ago
      The problem with YouTube redesign is that it wastes a huge amount of space considering there are a lot of users rocking 4" iPhones. Basically a third of the screen is the top bars. They also blown up the huge thumbnails for videos, so you can basically see 2 and half videos on the screen, compared to a much denser list before. Not to mention the information density on the tablet : http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple69/v4/37/3f/0d/373f0d5d-74d0-a055-9d02-5a2208618e0c/screen480x480.jpeg http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple69/v4/37/3f/0d/373f0d5d-... Material design can be pretty nice, but not with horrible wasting of space where Google went completely overboard. This is BAD.

71 points by somecoder 11y ago

Why for Heaven's sake should iOS users ever adopt Android's so-so Material Design? My perception is that iOS users—both developers and users—are rather 'hostile' against Android and its ecosystem. They believe that if there is one design authority, it must be Apple, so again Why? I had Android phones for 4-5 yrs and I still like Android, I think there is a lot innovation on Android. It's in some parts more advanced than iOS but I've still switched back to iOS for 2yrs. I waste now less time with tweaking every tiny detail of the system (what I loved about Android). Material Design is ok but not stunning. Everything is big and if you have a 5.7" brick every piece of Material Design gets even more bloated because most manufacturers have wrong ppi/scaling settings which you can't change. All the Notes from Samsung have this problem and people root them to correct this. It feels like if the MyFirstSony product head designed the UI: you can easily hit the baby-buttons with elbows and closed eyes. Again, Material Design is not really bad but not something I would upvote on Dribbble. It's a careful design that wants to be liked, not brave, a happy and randomly colored design language that doesn't want to hurt, with an impersonal and indecisive personality. Even Windows Phone's design is way more bold and daring, with a mind of its own, it doesn't want to be liked.

currysausage 11y ago
I switched back from Android to iOS as my everyday mobile OS a few months ago, mostly for stability reasons. I think that both OSs have very mature GUI styles, iOS more visually appealing in theory (smooth animations, Gaussian blur; just compare Chrome's tab switcher with Safari's) but also more conservative. Material design is certainly easier to "get right," meaning that more third-party apps look quite polished than on iOS (it used to be the other way round before Material came up). Before the switch, I thought that I would continue to use iOS versions of Google's great Android apps (especially Keep, which on Android has way better UX than many alternatives). Actually, I more or less abandoned all Google apps except Maps. Material Design is only one reason, but certainly a big one. Once I got used to the iOS style again, those colorful hamburger menus felt out of place. All in all, Google's apps felt like "bad citizens." I don't want to rethink my interactions between apps. What made me angry (obviously that's because I'm a nerd) is the Roboto font, which looks quite similar to San Francisco, but still noticeably different. This violates typographic principles: you don't mix Helvetica and Univers, it will look like an accident. Heck, even Apple Music on Android uses Roboto. Can't you try to be a good citizen in return, Google?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
mikhailt 11y ago
> My perception is that iOS users—both developers and users—are rather 'hostile' against Android and its ecosystem. They believe that if there is one design authority, it must be Apple, so again Why? Are you saying iOS users are hostile in general or are they hostile about apps using Android design on iOS? From what I've seen, users are hostile when said apps are using non-iOS design on iOS and I agree with them. I dislike Google's designs on iOS, they're out of place and not that great for my use. Google services are great and their apps are great on top of Android, I have no problem with them but when I use said apps on iOS, I fully expect Google to follow Apple's guidelines here. For the same reason people like OS X for many years, users want consistent design throughout all apps on the same platform, it makes it easier to switch apps and know where everything is. Design isn't the only factor, it's the consistency that's important and that's why Apple emphasizes its guidelines for all OS X and iOS developers to follow.

k__ 11y ago

OT: are there any modular Material design CSS frameworks? I can't use material-ui (no react).

clay_to_n 11y ago
There are a few that don't require using React, Angular, or Web Components. Check out Google's Material Design Lite, Materialize, and Surface.
pdxandi 11y ago
I've used a few and like Material Design Lite the most. There may be others that are easier to work with, but MDL feels the most true to the Material Design specs and it follows the BEM method, which makes sense to me. Their example pages are useful as well.
- k__ 11y ago
  Can you elaborate why you like MDL better than the rest? I find the CSS class names a bit clunky. Materialize makes a much better figure.
  - sehr 11y ago
    MDL is closer to the material spec than materialize, even materialize's site doesn't follow the material guidelines
rtcoms 11y ago
check materialize.css . http://materializecss.com/ http://materializecss.com/
tholford 11y ago
Bootstrap Material Design is a good alternative: https://fezvrasta.github.io/bootstrap-material-design/ https://fezvrasta.github.io/bootstrap-material-design/
erichocean 11y ago

ceeK 11y ago

First of all, it looks great, so well done for that! It's fantastic to actually make it to the release stage. That said, I'm a big fan of adopting the best design paradigm for the platform. If I was building an Android app, material design would be the go to. Why? Well, Android users have already used it. The cognitive burden to how things feel and work has been removed, letting your users feel familiar with the app from the get go. Similarly, with iOS, closely following their human interface guidelines will produce the best results for allowing iOS users to immediately feel at home in your app. This sentiment is mimicked in the WWDC2014 video Designing Intuitive User Experiences. For this reason, I'd personally tend to shy away from trying to port design principles to other platforms. It sure looks nice, but is it worth it?

ryanmonroe 11y ago
I can't comment on whether it's the best for the platform, but I don't think there's much of a cognitive burden placed on iOS users by material design. A whole lot of iOS users use the Google Maps and Youtube apps, and many also use Gmail/Inbox for email, and Chrome as a browser. My Grandmom uses Google Maps and has never had to ask me any questions about how to do things with it.
- aclissold 11y ago
  Have you looked at the YouTube reviews on the iOS App Store? They're exceptionally horrible for what really is an A-grade app! I don't know for sure, by my assumption is it's mostly because of material design, but subconsciously to those writing reviews. The average basically plummeted the instant they updated the design.
  - tdkl 11y ago
    The problem with YouTube redesign is that it wastes a huge amount of space considering there are a lot of users rocking 4" iPhones. Basically a third of the screen is the top bars. They also blown up the huge thumbnails for videos, so you can basically see 2 and half videos on the screen, compared to a much denser list before. Not to mention the information density on the tablet : http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple69/v4/37/3f/0d/373f0d5d-74d0-a055-9d02-5a2208618e0c/screen480x480.jpeg http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple69/v4/37/3f/0d/373f0d5d-... Material design can be pretty nice, but not with horrible wasting of space where Google went completely overboard. This is BAD.