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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 'hostil

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
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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.

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.