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> The icon-based home screen is showing it's age and will need a revolution rather than an evolution. Why? It is easy, intuitive, and used by millions of peopl

> The icon-based home screen is showing it's age and will need a revolution rather than an evolution. Why? It is easy, intuitive, and used by millions of people. Change for changes sake?

mhomde 10y ago
Glanceable information on the home screen is useful so users don't have to open every app, it also changes the home screen from being just "an launcher" to potentially provide useful information that you might need rather then being "just a launcher". It's just "one step less" in some scenarios. Notifications are great for things that need your attention but the home screen becomes a little more of a seredipious view of app information that can increase the usefulness and engagement with an app
- j2bax 10y ago
  I think right now using the notifications screen for this 'at a glance' info and using the home screen for launching full apps, accomplishes the goal you are seeking. I would love to see the iPad interface evolve a bit and not look so much like my phone. I don't feel like they are using all that space as elegantly as they could be.
  - JoBrad 10y ago
    It's getting there, but it's not ideal yet. At a glance means I don't have to do anything but glance. To see the widgets now, you have to wake up the phone and then swipe right.
    - swift 10y ago
      On recent iPhones, waking up the phone just means picking it up. The swipe right is still an issue, though; it'd be nice if they could get rid of that. (Maybe default to the widgets view if there are no notifications?)
- willtim 10y ago
  You are spot on. IIRC correctly there are built in hacks to make at least the clock and calendar icons show correct information, but for example the weather icon never tells you it rains. IMHO the Microsoft Live Tiles on Windows phone do make iOS look dated. Luckily for Apple, no one is buying those phones.
moheeb 10y ago
It seems very telling to me that the Standard Windows Desktop is generally considered a wasteland of discarded program and file icons, basically where you throw your digital trash...yet iOS decided that this was the design they wanted for the main start page of their OS. No wonder there is such a divide among users. I don't think age has anything to do with it though.
- interpol_p 10y ago
  The huge difference here is that on iOS you don't have random files lying around your home screen. The springboard is for apps, with a dock for the most common ones to persist between screens. On Windows (and macOS) the desktop is fundamentally different, used differently, and is often obscured by your windowed content.
  - izacus 10y ago
    No, instead you had unremovable "useful" apps like "Apple Watch" instead. Luckly they managed to at least let users hide that in iOS10, but it's still a cesspool of rarely used apps.
    - anonred 10y ago
      If by cesspool you mean a single folder on a hidden home page containing unused default apps, then yes, I suppose you're correct.
      - junker101 10y ago
        If by "single folder on a hidden home page containing unused default apps" you mean "App draw", then you've described Androids (arguably superior) default UX. Put another way.. You're manually 'fixing' the iOS UX to operate like the Android "default"?

> The icon-based home screen is showing it's age and will need a revolution rather than an evolution. Why? It is easy, intuitive, and used by millions of people. Change for changes sake?

mhomde 10y ago

Glanceable information on the home screen is useful so users don't have to open every app, it also changes the home screen from being just "an launcher" to potentially provide useful information that you might need rather then being "just a launcher". It's just "one step less" in some scenarios. Notifications are great for things that need your attention but the home screen becomes a little more of a seredipious view of app information that can increase the usefulness and engagement with an app

j2bax 10y ago
I think right now using the notifications screen for this 'at a glance' info and using the home screen for launching full apps, accomplishes the goal you are seeking. I would love to see the iPad interface evolve a bit and not look so much like my phone. I don't feel like they are using all that space as elegantly as they could be.
- JoBrad 10y ago
  It's getting there, but it's not ideal yet. At a glance means I don't have to do anything but glance. To see the widgets now, you have to wake up the phone and then swipe right.
  - swift 10y ago
    On recent iPhones, waking up the phone just means picking it up. The swipe right is still an issue, though; it'd be nice if they could get rid of that. (Maybe default to the widgets view if there are no notifications?)
willtim 10y ago
You are spot on. IIRC correctly there are built in hacks to make at least the clock and calendar icons show correct information, but for example the weather icon never tells you it rains. IMHO the Microsoft Live Tiles on Windows phone do make iOS look dated. Luckily for Apple, no one is buying those phones.

moheeb 10y ago

It seems very telling to me that the Standard Windows Desktop is generally considered a wasteland of discarded program and file icons, basically where you throw your digital trash...yet iOS decided that this was the design they wanted for the main start page of their OS. No wonder there is such a divide among users. I don't think age has anything to do with it though.

interpol_p 10y ago
The huge difference here is that on iOS you don't have random files lying around your home screen. The springboard is for apps, with a dock for the most common ones to persist between screens. On Windows (and macOS) the desktop is fundamentally different, used differently, and is often obscured by your windowed content.
- izacus 10y ago
  No, instead you had unremovable "useful" apps like "Apple Watch" instead. Luckly they managed to at least let users hide that in iOS10, but it's still a cesspool of rarely used apps.
  - anonred 10y ago
    If by cesspool you mean a single folder on a hidden home page containing unused default apps, then yes, I suppose you're correct.
    - junker101 10y ago
      If by "single folder on a hidden home page containing unused default apps" you mean "App draw", then you've described Androids (arguably superior) default UX. Put another way.. You're manually 'fixing' the iOS UX to operate like the Android "default"?