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Usually I have upgraded, but I currently have no intention of buying an iPhone 7 or later, unless they fix something! For me it's a double whammy. I don't like

by jblow 10y ago

Usually I have upgraded, but I currently have no intention of buying an iPhone 7 or later, unless they fix something! For me it's a double whammy. I don't like the lack of headphone jack, and whereas I feel like I could manage grumpily ... for me it kills the excitement of buying the new device, and I think that is important. (My standard listening headphones are Etymotic ER-4Ps; there is no way I am going to downgrade to AirPods). But the bigger part of the whammy is iOS. iOS is completely terrible at this point. I just can't consistently control the phone. A large percentage of taps or swipes do things I did not intend (how many I'm not sure -- 20%? 33%?) It's just completely crazy. They need to get rid of 3D touch, get rid of double-tap one-hand accessibility mode whatever it's called, get rid of weird swipes from the edge, fix the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works (or, please, offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them, and let me tap on them to change them, or use the current autocorrect system but let me tap on a word to un-"correct" it, the fact that the current system just changes what I typed and gives me no recourse to fix it apart from laborious deletions and re-typings, which I often have to do 2 or 3 times, is just haughty and offensive)... and in the meantime, might as well redesign the rest of the UI. Because right now the phone is not a joy to use, it's a constant exercise in frustration. I haven't felt good about using iOS since sometime back around iOS5 or 6. So it's no mystery to me why sales might be slowing ... I don't want a new one if it's going to continue the downward trend.

ihuman 10y ago
>My standard listening headphones are Etymotic ER-4Ps; there is no way I am going to downgrade to AirPods The phone comes with a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter, so you can continue to use your existing headphones. Also, you can disable 3D touch and reachability (the double-tap home button thing) in the accessibility settings, if those are causing your issues. >offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them, and let me tap on them to change them If you disable auto-correction in the keyboard settings, it acts just like that.
- sjtgraham 10y ago
  "It just works"
- Washuu 10y ago
  > The phone comes with a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter, so you can continue to use your existing headphones. Yeah, no. When will I need this dongle? Exactly when I left it somewhere else. Then Apple will need a "Find my Dongle" application next to all the other "Find my*" applications. I am not going to buy expensive spare dongles just so I don't rage when I realize I left the dongle at work so now I can't listen to music in the garage while I work on my projects. I am not going to carry it around all the time with my phone just in case I need it. The removal of the 3.5mm jack is a failure by Apple.
  - ihuman 10y ago
    I just keep mine connected to my headphones, since I use them more with my iPhone than a computer. Also someone made a cool keychain to attach it to if that works better for you. [1] > expensive spare dongles They're only $10 USD. [1] https://uncourage.com/ https://uncourage.com/
    - monkmartinez 10y ago
      Only $10??? That is a lot of money for something that shouldn't be needed in the first place. I haven't spent $10 dollars on my phone since I bought a case for it in 2013. Then again, I have expandable memory and a headphone jack (Galaxy Note 3).
      - nkkollaw 10y ago
        Alright, so you spend $800 for a phone, and you're complaining that you can't spare $10? I'm not saying removing the headphone jack to make the phone a mm thinner wasn't a retarded move, but... Really? $10?
        10y ago
Longhanks 10y ago
I can definitely relate to that. Using iOS at this point frustrates me so much that sometimes I pull out my iPhone 4S running iOS 6 to remember what a wonderful UI and UX that was. The bigger problem is the lack of alternatives. Android is such a mess of inconsistencies and bad UX, added to that are the problems with system updates, lack of a proper flagship device (the Pixel is a joke compared to the iPhone 6s in my opinion), and the fact that I don't like the Google ecosystem very much because of the way Google handles my data. I really hope Apple gets back on track with iOS or Google finally nails it with Android so there would at least be competition. But at the moment, using 'mobile', for me, is more frustrating than it was in 2012.
- pdimitar 10y ago
  So much this, damn. 2016 felt like everybody was just walking backwards. I share your sentiment about Google. They look like they only do the minimal effort possible for Android not to die -- and since they get a lot of user data and ad revenue, they're not trying very hard since they're not taking hits in the wallet. That's not good enough for me, and IMO many other people. I personally have been witness to 3 tech-savvy businessmen who were excited to support Android finally give up and go full Apple. It was a pretty sad story listening to their motivation but I can't blame them because I found myself in 99% agreement with them. I have the Exynos S7 Edge which for me is pretty much the one and only Android device which is close to perfect. I plan holding on to it until I see something that really excites me, until the release of iPhone 7s / 8 that is. If I like the 7s / 8 I'll just buy that and honestly call it quits with smartphones for at least 2 years. Had enough of being milked for money for practically no upgrades at all for quite a while. Only Samsung and Apple are really trying -- mostly in the internal storage space.
  - beezle 10y ago
    "They look like they only do the minimal effort possible for Android not to die" I can understand some Android users have frustration over carrier issues. But every version I have used has been a significant improvement over the prior, especially under the hood. I suppose one can argue that Android allows for too much end user customization (directly or by third party) but I would rather suffer that than the alternative. Android also runs on old harware. My LG G2, ancient by many measures, runs Android 7.1.1 via AICP and is more responsive in every way than the original stock 4.3. Unless I shatter the screen, there is no reason to replace this phone. Granted, custom ROMs are beyond grandma but for anybody with marginal tech know-how there are step-by-step guides to upgrade. Yet, iPhone owning friends with older models first complain about iOS updates being 'slow' and then eventually run to the store to "upgrade" their phone to the latest iVersion. IMHO to say Google does just the minimum, especially compared to iOS, is not really the case.
spacehacker 10y ago
How does iOS compare to Android these days regarding everyday concerns like sluggishness, app switching, text editing?
- wklauss 10y ago
  YMMV depending on what Android phone you want to compare it to, but it's still not 100% there, even in expensive ones. That being said, it's not longer a deal breaker, I think, for most of the people that used to complain about it and if you have a pixel or a high end Galaxy its very rare to find instances of slugginess or dropped frames when scrolling. I still face more sudden app crashes on Android than on iOS, weird error messages that are definitely not user-friendly and for some specific categories of apps, like games or sound/music, I still think iOS offers better selection and reliability.
  - on_and_off 10y ago
    It is very rare for a Pixel, but Galaxy phones are a very large step behind them.
    - Freestyler_3 10y ago
      When I need a new phone I am going with a company that supports sold phones for a longer time. Samsung abandons phones so fast, android updates are rare. (I know in my case the carrier is also between it)
- OkGoDoIt 10y ago
  The one major area where I think Android leads (at least stock Android, Nexus, Pixel) is text input. The voice typing on android is significantly more accurate than on iOS, and has been my biggest hurdle in getting used to iOS. I know few people find voice typing practical, but once you get used to it it makes pecking out words manually feel incredibly inefficient by comparison. Also the android keyboard swipe technology works very well, and I miss that a lot on iOS. I know you can technically install third-party keyboards, but they tend to not work very well due to iOS restrictions, plus then you completely lose access to voice typing and I'm not willing to give that up even if it's inferior on iOS. Since switching to iOS from android a year ago, I still type significantly slower and with many more typos than on android. If I could use android's keyboard and voice typing on iOS it would be the perfect device.
masterleep 10y ago
totally agree. The home button has also become an object of mystery. It seems to have several functions too many, and it's always doing one I don't want.
thomble 10y ago
I feel the same way. The UX in iOS has gone way downhill. This is especially evident in the system notifications in-use, and on the lock screen. Do I swipe this? Which direction? Do I tap it? I get no visual feedback after a tap, but then a new notification window appears after a second? What do I do with new window? Swipe? Tap? I have to authenticate now? Do I hold my finger to the Home button, or do I press the Home button? Again, no immediate feedback to reinforce the 'correct' behavior. I probably have a hagiographic image of who Steve Jobs was, but I have to imagine that the current state of iOS wouldn't have slipped past him.
jsz0 10y ago
> I just can't consistently control the phone. A large percentage of taps or swipes do things I did not intend (how many I'm not sure -- 20%? 33%?) It's just completely crazy. I couldn't agree more with this. Just as bad (if not worse) on Android. I can't seem to use any modern phone without a huge number of unintended inputs. The reliance on gestures in apps is especially annoying because I don't use some of them often enough to memorize the different gestures. I very often just get stuck in various apps tapping and swiping randomly trying to make something happen. Just the other day I finally figured out when I get stuck in Instagram I can tap the Instagram logo to go back. Up till now I've been force quitting it instead.
bobajeff 10y ago
>fix the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works (or, please, offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them, and let me tap on them to change them, or use the current autocorrect system but let me tap on a word to un-"correct" it, the fact that the current system just changes what I typed and gives me no recourse to fix it apart from laborious deletions and re-typings, which I often have to do 2 or 3 times, is just haughty and offensive) Android has this same problem and I wish they'd fix it using your suggestion. It would make typing so much better.
Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
Amen. Just let me turn the sideswipes off in Safari. Ten times a day I end up going back a page without meaning to.
- interpol_p 10y ago
  I love the swipe-to-go back gesture in Safari. You can always recover if you accidentally trigger it because it doesn't actually go back until you slide the page off the screen.
  - spronkey 10y ago
    These two comments together cement why preferences are important in user interfaces.
    - interpol_p 10y ago
      I'd rather my applications be opinionated about the way I use them. I want a designer to think it through carefully and choose what they think is the best. If I don't like those design choices then I'd choose a different browser rather than spend time configuring one. (And obviously people make browsers for people who love custom configuration. Safari is not one of those.)
      - spronkey 10y ago
        Well, Safa is somewhat opinionated. What should I do if I like 99.9% of the browser except one small thing that infuriates me a huge amount? It makes sense to offer preferences, especially to turn off certain things like gestures. In this case, the designer hasn't really gone far enough in determining that certain choices they have made can have seriously negative effects.
saurik 10y ago
> They need to get rid of 3D touch, get rid of double-tap one-hand accessibility mode whatever it's called, get rid of weird swipes from the edge, fix the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works... This is the same bullshit Apple has been doing with Mac OS X. I'm typing away in the terminal, doing something extremely productive, and suddenly my UI locks up for a second and I realize "shit, I must have accidentally timed a modifier key wrong and now I'm entering some crazy Mac mode" and then all of my windows fly around and I have to figure out how to get back to my terminal. I honestly don't understand why anyone wants any of these features, and if I did want them I'd want them to be super fast without the crazy slow animations, as every second I'm staring at them is a second I'm not working :/. The one thing I can say is: just like on the Mac, you can turn most of this shit off on iOS. Essentially, they pretend that the only reason people would ever want to have an advanced option on iOS is because they are disabled, and so they hide everything under "Accessibility". You can turn off "3D Touch" and "Reachability" there. I'm not sure which edge swipes you hate, but if it is the one from the bottom, "Control Center" can be turned off (it is a top-level settings panel, turn off both "Access on Lock Screen" and "Access Within Apps"). You can also configure a lot about auto-correction under General/Keyboard.
- lostlogin 10y ago
  Got a good chuckle out of me - it's like something my parents would say "I didn't do anything and the things are moving around". It's rather less funny when I do accidentally. I've never seen anyone do any of those things intentionally.
- doomlaser 10y ago
  It's one of the critical flaws of Apple's modern design philosophy: Having a right mouse button would be too complicated, but hiding layers of complicated functionality through opaque multi-finger gestures, taps, and keyboard modifiers is A-OK. And it's absolutely true that when Apple adds a new feature, it must have an accompanying slow animation tween to sell it. Frustrating.
  - Angostura 10y ago
    Since Apple has completely supported right mouse for 20 or so years now, I just think you're confused
_Codemonkeyism 10y ago
Removing the headphone jack is just to get more money and control. First by selling dongles. Second after many people moved to new headphones they will introduce a license program for headphone vendors "Built for Apple" which costs say 10% of the headphone. Other headphones will no longer work (see what Sony did with PS4 bluetooth headphones).
- AdeptusAquinas 10y ago
  After buying a recent macbook (not the touch bar version, ugh) I suspect the real reason is fashion related. One port is more sleek, more stylish than two or three ports. Functionality sacrificed in the name of a sleeker look...well, I appreciate the intent, even as I recognise I am not the target audience.
  - georgyo 10y ago
    This could be true, but they choose to stick with the lightning connector. Which gives them licencing rights. Getting money from licencing is the only reason I can see for them having only the lightning connector. They could have switched to USB-C, became standard, and then switched to one port. Then at least the head phones you but would also work on your shiny new MacBook.
    - owly 10y ago
      Exactly. Users can't even use their lightning headphones on a new Mac. The move to remove was a mistake, but there is no going back now. That would be admitting to a design flaw.
      - josteink 10y ago
        > there is no going back now. That would be admitting to a design flaw. What's wrong with admitting that you took a bet and it didn't work out? People do that all the time. Reasonable people, at least.
      - gm-conspiracy 10y ago
sssilver 10y ago
Please, don't -- 3D touch is one of the big reasons I will never switch to a phone that doesn't support it. It's an absolutely wonderful UX for me.
- thedrbrian 10y ago
  I thought it was a bit of a gimmick in iOS 9 but since they went all in for iOS 10. It's almost like right clicking on a phone. Just wish more third party apps used it.
- spacelizard 10y ago
  I get the appeal of 3D touch but it has absolutely no discoverability - this feels like a complete setback in UX design. Apple used to be known for having UIs that had a lot of visual cues and didn't hide features from the user. However it seems they have done a 180 on that in recent years.
  - Godel_unicode 10y ago
    Why do you find 3d tough less discoverable than e.g. long-press to rearrange apps?
  - adamlett 10y ago
    Discoverability is not the be-all end-all of UI design. In most ways iOS is a huge step forward in UI design as evidenced by the legions of toddlers who can figure out how to use an iPad.
    - legodt 10y ago
      No, it may not be the end-all, but it certainly is almost all of it
      - adamlett 10y ago
        Only if you define it so broadly as to strip almost all meaning from the term. What about manageability, i.e. can a user fit a mental model of the system in their head, or is it too complex to do that? What about the related concepts of consistency and predictability? What about comprehensibility of the metaphors used? The clarity of language? What about ergonomics? Directness of manipulation? What about delight (think pull to refresh)? Elevating discoverability above all other concerns means that there can be no hierarchy of information. Every feature becomes primary. Everything is on page one, everything is above the fold.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
cyberferret 10y ago
> They need to get rid of 3D touch, get rid of double-tap one-hand accessibility mode whatever it's called, get rid of weird swipes from the edge Hear, hear. It's like my last days of using Windows. Every app window had so many "hot spots" crammed in that triggered something, so that whenever i had multiple overlapping windows and wanted to click on a background window to bring it to the foreground, I would inadvertently trigger an action or change program modes because there wasn't a single pixel of the underlying window that wasnt an active zone. That behaviour totally broke the "multiple pieces of paper on a desk" behavior and instead turned your desktop into a myriad of booby traps ready to kill your productivity. I am starting to feel the same way about iOS. Bring back "dead space" on application windows that don't HAVE to do anything when you tap/click/swipe/pinch on them.
- fsloth 10y ago
  I'll have to inject a bit of criticism to this particular rant. If one is using several applications on Windows and being productive about it - You don't switch applications in Windows by clicking then with mouse. You order them on the task bar and then switch between them using windows button - number (where number is the order on the task bar.).
  - spronkey 10y ago
    Depends on what you're doing. Direct visual manipulation is best if you're using the mouse. Winkeys can be better if you're primarily trying to stay on the keyboard. I actually researched this back many years ago, and at the time, clicking on windows Exposé style won out reasonably convincingly over keyboard techniques, including winkey+#.
    - Too 10y ago
      "best" and "won out" how? Certainly not in speed. Win+# is O(1) in complexity and I already have my left hand in position to press the 2 buttons required to instantly get to the window I want. Compared to expose which is first a hotkey to initiate(note that already here you lost the race in number of keys to press), wait 300ms for the animation to complete, find the window you want which is more like O(n), move hand to mouse, move mouse around to find the cursor, move cursor to desired window, click, wait another 300ms for animation. Even if I happen to already have my hand on the mouse and know where the cursor is the best case will take you at least one second, this is much inferior to just pressing 2 keyboard buttons which is essentially instantaneous, even with faster animations you will not save much time as you need that time to find the window. With more than 5 windows open finding the right one can be a true challenge as they get very small and there will be a lot of them to scan. For grandma who don't care about speed maybe expose is easier to understand and remember but for intense task switching by experienced users it is just in the way.
poisonarena 10y ago
I just hate the inability to turn off voice control.. half the time I unlok my phone I end up in voice control and there is no way to get rid of it
sgt 10y ago
I don't share these experiences. iOS in my experience is by far the best mobile operating system out there and I am constantly using it and not experiencing any issues (this on my iPhone 6). I cannot compare experiences with you in terms of 3D touch though. As for auto-correct, I forget that even exists as it is the first thing I disable on a new phone (I type in 3 different languages on a daily basis). As for the iPhone 7 (which I will soon upgrade to), I've tested the phone and it feels fabulous. Lack of an ancient 3.5mm jack does not bother me. The DAC should be as close to your ear as possible, so it makes sense to most audiophiles. There is a dongle for that and I do not see an issue bringing that along if I need it.
LoSboccacc 10y ago
same here. still on a 5s waiting on a reiteration of se. all you said applies to me as well plus the new generic form factor which is uninspirning bust most importantly too large for comfortably pocketing the real thing that keeps me locked to apple for now is the app commitment, but if a se2 fails to materialize I'll definitely jump to android at the end of life of my 5s
- gm-conspiracy 10y ago
  I just bought a used 5s w/ 64GB of RAM, also waiting for a decent SE2. I've been curious about the Sony Xperia Z5 compact. I would really like a Kickstarter for replacement form-factor main boards for classic iPhones (4S,5S) to run modern android or something. I have so many "obsolete" phones with working hardware and barely usable software.
  - LoSboccacc 10y ago
    myself was looking at the lg g5, mainly because it has recent android, as android hardware rarely receives updates. there's the pixel, of course, but that rear bulge :(
smcl 10y ago
In your usability rants I have every one of those problems too (particularly autocorrect and swiping). I wonder how widespread this is? I'd like to add four more: 1. iTunes is slowly degrading into a usability nightmare - recommendations are often albums I own and bought from Apple! 2. the OS itself seemingly picks apps at random for the "play" button on the "swipe-up" menu. Like I might play a podcast on, say, Monday morning and then switch to music - but for the remainder of the monday and some of tuesday when I pause, lock and then later use the "swipe-up" menu it tries to resume playing the podcast not the music. not to mention this menu has two tabs, and switching between them involves a swipe - which usually triggers some of the sliders (Brightness, volume, position) on the screen. This clearly didn't go through any UX testing. 3. no way to disable "voice control" home key shortcut - my iPhone 6S has an AWFUL habit of interpreting background noise as "Dial my ex girlfriend". I somehow can't kill the call before it starts ringing, but usually I don't see it because something has pressed the home button in my pocket. It's truly embarrassing. 4. "Do you trust this computer?" for the millionth time, yes! This is my last iPhone, I think.
- legodt 10y ago
  >iTunes is slowly degrading That is incredibly generous considering the past decade of itunes, especially for Windows users. So much bad code, legacy cruft, and inconsistent UI decisions
  - smcl 10y ago
    Ah so I typed "iTunes" instinctively, but I meant the iOS app - guess it's called just "Music". The desktop iTunes is a horror show in and of itself :D
  - tdkl 10y ago
    I'm a Windows user and love iTunes. There's just isn't any piece of software that lets me sync all my selected playlists with a single click via Wifi to Android (iSyncr app) reliably. I can also use a remote to navigate (Retune app) and access whole library. Too bad there's no other contenders on Linux as well, there's a million players, but no syncing because apparently it makes more sense in 2016 to sync a song with uploading it to an other computer (teh cloud™) then download it back instead of copying it locally within 1m of proximity. Surely it has grown into a behemoth with managing iPhones, online Music etc., but one can simply not use that.
geon 10y ago
> please, offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them Ios have had that for at least a year. Two years?
taf2 10y ago
Let me echo the issues with iOS since the upgrade to 7 with an example from my children. We decided when my youngest was 3 to buy both girls a new ipad mini. This allowed them to watch shows. Sometimes but not often we'd also let them bring the ipad on walks (if you have not had kids don't judge). I was amazed at how well our girls figured out how to load a movie or show. It was pretty easy for my 5 year old to figure this out. My 3 year old struggled but after a few times showing her where and how to click she got it. A few weeks/months go by and ios7 is released. The new "flat" (cough invisible UI) is released into the wild. I am from the always upgrade generation because it's exciting so we upgraded everything. my 3 year was very very upset. Simple things like finding the video playback icon were now nearly impossible, even my 5 year struggled. Well, the worst possible outcome for us was my 3 year throwing the ipad in frustration down the street (literally we were on a walk). It gave me a whole new perspective on UI change. I believe Apple has improved since ios7 a lot - however many deficiencies remain that make the UI challenging - the multiple touch / 3d touch features. For us specifically, the distinction between a show or movie that is downloaded vs one that is not is crazy confusing and having to navigate into settings to switch between showing movies that are not on the device and ones that are has led to near repeat incidents of smashed ipads... I'm not sure what the right answer is for Apple... they have put themselves into a hard position for "fixing" things. Many people have probably become accustom to the new designs and features so a rollback is not what's needed. I believe they are mostly doing the right thing at this point which is to refine and improve, i just hope they can fix the extremely confusing itunes interface...
spronkey 10y ago
I read your comment soon after you posted it and sort of nodded internally, but over the last two days I've been actively noting how often I'm making a slip (i.e. through accidental 3D touch, or accidental swipe or whatever). I think the 20% is actually pretty damn close to what my real error rate is, which astounded me. Even just stuff like initiating a scroll, I'm finding that I've started subconsciously ignoring the accidental 3D touch activations. I thought it would have been maybe 5%.
stcredzero 10y ago
I just can't consistently control the phone. A large percentage of taps or swipes do things I did not intend (how many I'm not sure -- 20%? 33%?) It's just completely crazy. I'm an iPhone user since the 1st gen iPhone with 8GB. the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works The worst part of autocorrect is how it sometimes autocorrects at just the last moment when you hit send. It's like my iPhone wants to break me up from my girlfriend! (I was dating an aspergirl recently, so literal meanings had a bit more meaning. Now I'm dating a foreign born ex-college professor, and she's more insistent on correct grammar than anyone I've known.)

by jblow 10y ago

ihuman 10y ago

>My standard listening headphones are Etymotic ER-4Ps; there is no way I am going to downgrade to AirPods The phone comes with a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter, so you can continue to use your existing headphones. Also, you can disable 3D touch and reachability (the double-tap home button thing) in the accessibility settings, if those are causing your issues. >offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them, and let me tap on them to change them If you disable auto-correction in the keyboard settings, it acts just like that.

sjtgraham 10y ago
"It just works"
Washuu 10y ago
> The phone comes with a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter, so you can continue to use your existing headphones. Yeah, no. When will I need this dongle? Exactly when I left it somewhere else. Then Apple will need a "Find my Dongle" application next to all the other "Find my*" applications. I am not going to buy expensive spare dongles just so I don't rage when I realize I left the dongle at work so now I can't listen to music in the garage while I work on my projects. I am not going to carry it around all the time with my phone just in case I need it. The removal of the 3.5mm jack is a failure by Apple.
- ihuman 10y ago
  I just keep mine connected to my headphones, since I use them more with my iPhone than a computer. Also someone made a cool keychain to attach it to if that works better for you. [1] > expensive spare dongles They're only $10 USD. [1] https://uncourage.com/ https://uncourage.com/
  - monkmartinez 10y ago
    Only $10??? That is a lot of money for something that shouldn't be needed in the first place. I haven't spent $10 dollars on my phone since I bought a case for it in 2013. Then again, I have expandable memory and a headphone jack (Galaxy Note 3).
    - nkkollaw 10y ago
      Alright, so you spend $800 for a phone, and you're complaining that you can't spare $10? I'm not saying removing the headphone jack to make the phone a mm thinner wasn't a retarded move, but... Really? $10?
      - 10y ago

Longhanks 10y ago

I can definitely relate to that. Using iOS at this point frustrates me so much that sometimes I pull out my iPhone 4S running iOS 6 to remember what a wonderful UI and UX that was. The bigger problem is the lack of alternatives. Android is such a mess of inconsistencies and bad UX, added to that are the problems with system updates, lack of a proper flagship device (the Pixel is a joke compared to the iPhone 6s in my opinion), and the fact that I don't like the Google ecosystem very much because of the way Google handles my data. I really hope Apple gets back on track with iOS or Google finally nails it with Android so there would at least be competition. But at the moment, using 'mobile', for me, is more frustrating than it was in 2012.

pdimitar 10y ago
So much this, damn. 2016 felt like everybody was just walking backwards. I share your sentiment about Google. They look like they only do the minimal effort possible for Android not to die -- and since they get a lot of user data and ad revenue, they're not trying very hard since they're not taking hits in the wallet. That's not good enough for me, and IMO many other people. I personally have been witness to 3 tech-savvy businessmen who were excited to support Android finally give up and go full Apple. It was a pretty sad story listening to their motivation but I can't blame them because I found myself in 99% agreement with them. I have the Exynos S7 Edge which for me is pretty much the one and only Android device which is close to perfect. I plan holding on to it until I see something that really excites me, until the release of iPhone 7s / 8 that is. If I like the 7s / 8 I'll just buy that and honestly call it quits with smartphones for at least 2 years. Had enough of being milked for money for practically no upgrades at all for quite a while. Only Samsung and Apple are really trying -- mostly in the internal storage space.
- beezle 10y ago
  "They look like they only do the minimal effort possible for Android not to die" I can understand some Android users have frustration over carrier issues. But every version I have used has been a significant improvement over the prior, especially under the hood. I suppose one can argue that Android allows for too much end user customization (directly or by third party) but I would rather suffer that than the alternative. Android also runs on old harware. My LG G2, ancient by many measures, runs Android 7.1.1 via AICP and is more responsive in every way than the original stock 4.3. Unless I shatter the screen, there is no reason to replace this phone. Granted, custom ROMs are beyond grandma but for anybody with marginal tech know-how there are step-by-step guides to upgrade. Yet, iPhone owning friends with older models first complain about iOS updates being 'slow' and then eventually run to the store to "upgrade" their phone to the latest iVersion. IMHO to say Google does just the minimum, especially compared to iOS, is not really the case.

spacehacker 10y ago

How does iOS compare to Android these days regarding everyday concerns like sluggishness, app switching, text editing?

wklauss 10y ago
YMMV depending on what Android phone you want to compare it to, but it's still not 100% there, even in expensive ones. That being said, it's not longer a deal breaker, I think, for most of the people that used to complain about it and if you have a pixel or a high end Galaxy its very rare to find instances of slugginess or dropped frames when scrolling. I still face more sudden app crashes on Android than on iOS, weird error messages that are definitely not user-friendly and for some specific categories of apps, like games or sound/music, I still think iOS offers better selection and reliability.
- on_and_off 10y ago
  It is very rare for a Pixel, but Galaxy phones are a very large step behind them.
  - Freestyler_3 10y ago
    When I need a new phone I am going with a company that supports sold phones for a longer time. Samsung abandons phones so fast, android updates are rare. (I know in my case the carrier is also between it)
OkGoDoIt 10y ago
The one major area where I think Android leads (at least stock Android, Nexus, Pixel) is text input. The voice typing on android is significantly more accurate than on iOS, and has been my biggest hurdle in getting used to iOS. I know few people find voice typing practical, but once you get used to it it makes pecking out words manually feel incredibly inefficient by comparison. Also the android keyboard swipe technology works very well, and I miss that a lot on iOS. I know you can technically install third-party keyboards, but they tend to not work very well due to iOS restrictions, plus then you completely lose access to voice typing and I'm not willing to give that up even if it's inferior on iOS. Since switching to iOS from android a year ago, I still type significantly slower and with many more typos than on android. If I could use android's keyboard and voice typing on iOS it would be the perfect device.

masterleep 10y ago

totally agree. The home button has also become an object of mystery. It seems to have several functions too many, and it's always doing one I don't want.

thomble 10y ago

I feel the same way. The UX in iOS has gone way downhill. This is especially evident in the system notifications in-use, and on the lock screen. Do I swipe this? Which direction? Do I tap it? I get no visual feedback after a tap, but then a new notification window appears after a second? What do I do with new window? Swipe? Tap? I have to authenticate now? Do I hold my finger to the Home button, or do I press the Home button? Again, no immediate feedback to reinforce the 'correct' behavior. I probably have a hagiographic image of who Steve Jobs was, but I have to imagine that the current state of iOS wouldn't have slipped past him.

jsz0 10y ago

> I just can't consistently control the phone. A large percentage of taps or swipes do things I did not intend (how many I'm not sure -- 20%? 33%?) It's just completely crazy. I couldn't agree more with this. Just as bad (if not worse) on Android. I can't seem to use any modern phone without a huge number of unintended inputs. The reliance on gestures in apps is especially annoying because I don't use some of them often enough to memorize the different gestures. I very often just get stuck in various apps tapping and swiping randomly trying to make something happen. Just the other day I finally figured out when I get stuck in Instagram I can tap the Instagram logo to go back. Up till now I've been force quitting it instead.

bobajeff 10y ago

>fix the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works (or, please, offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them, and let me tap on them to change them, or use the current autocorrect system but let me tap on a word to un-"correct" it, the fact that the current system just changes what I typed and gives me no recourse to fix it apart from laborious deletions and re-typings, which I often have to do 2 or 3 times, is just haughty and offensive) Android has this same problem and I wish they'd fix it using your suggestion. It would make typing so much better.

Doctor_Fegg 10y ago

Amen. Just let me turn the sideswipes off in Safari. Ten times a day I end up going back a page without meaning to.

interpol_p 10y ago
I love the swipe-to-go back gesture in Safari. You can always recover if you accidentally trigger it because it doesn't actually go back until you slide the page off the screen.
- spronkey 10y ago
  These two comments together cement why preferences are important in user interfaces.
  - interpol_p 10y ago
    I'd rather my applications be opinionated about the way I use them. I want a designer to think it through carefully and choose what they think is the best. If I don't like those design choices then I'd choose a different browser rather than spend time configuring one. (And obviously people make browsers for people who love custom configuration. Safari is not one of those.)
    - spronkey 10y ago
      Well, Safa is somewhat opinionated. What should I do if I like 99.9% of the browser except one small thing that infuriates me a huge amount? It makes sense to offer preferences, especially to turn off certain things like gestures. In this case, the designer hasn't really gone far enough in determining that certain choices they have made can have seriously negative effects.

saurik 10y ago

> They need to get rid of 3D touch, get rid of double-tap one-hand accessibility mode whatever it's called, get rid of weird swipes from the edge, fix the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works... This is the same bullshit Apple has been doing with Mac OS X. I'm typing away in the terminal, doing something extremely productive, and suddenly my UI locks up for a second and I realize "shit, I must have accidentally timed a modifier key wrong and now I'm entering some crazy Mac mode" and then all of my windows fly around and I have to figure out how to get back to my terminal. I honestly don't understand why anyone wants any of these features, and if I did want them I'd want them to be super fast without the crazy slow animations, as every second I'm staring at them is a second I'm not working :/. The one thing I can say is: just like on the Mac, you can turn most of this shit off on iOS. Essentially, they pretend that the only reason people would ever want to have an advanced option on iOS is because they are disabled, and so they hide everything under "Accessibility". You can turn off "3D Touch" and "Reachability" there. I'm not sure which edge swipes you hate, but if it is the one from the bottom, "Control Center" can be turned off (it is a top-level settings panel, turn off both "Access on Lock Screen" and "Access Within Apps"). You can also configure a lot about auto-correction under General/Keyboard.

lostlogin 10y ago
Got a good chuckle out of me - it's like something my parents would say "I didn't do anything and the things are moving around". It's rather less funny when I do accidentally. I've never seen anyone do any of those things intentionally.
doomlaser 10y ago
It's one of the critical flaws of Apple's modern design philosophy: Having a right mouse button would be too complicated, but hiding layers of complicated functionality through opaque multi-finger gestures, taps, and keyboard modifiers is A-OK. And it's absolutely true that when Apple adds a new feature, it must have an accompanying slow animation tween to sell it. Frustrating.
- Angostura 10y ago
  Since Apple has completely supported right mouse for 20 or so years now, I just think you're confused

_Codemonkeyism 10y ago

Removing the headphone jack is just to get more money and control. First by selling dongles. Second after many people moved to new headphones they will introduce a license program for headphone vendors "Built for Apple" which costs say 10% of the headphone. Other headphones will no longer work (see what Sony did with PS4 bluetooth headphones).

AdeptusAquinas 10y ago
After buying a recent macbook (not the touch bar version, ugh) I suspect the real reason is fashion related. One port is more sleek, more stylish than two or three ports. Functionality sacrificed in the name of a sleeker look...well, I appreciate the intent, even as I recognise I am not the target audience.
- georgyo 10y ago
  This could be true, but they choose to stick with the lightning connector. Which gives them licencing rights. Getting money from licencing is the only reason I can see for them having only the lightning connector. They could have switched to USB-C, became standard, and then switched to one port. Then at least the head phones you but would also work on your shiny new MacBook.
  - owly 10y ago
    Exactly. Users can't even use their lightning headphones on a new Mac. The move to remove was a mistake, but there is no going back now. That would be admitting to a design flaw.
    - josteink 10y ago
      > there is no going back now. That would be admitting to a design flaw. What's wrong with admitting that you took a bet and it didn't work out? People do that all the time. Reasonable people, at least.
    - gm-conspiracy 10y ago

sssilver 10y ago

Please, don't -- 3D touch is one of the big reasons I will never switch to a phone that doesn't support it. It's an absolutely wonderful UX for me.

thedrbrian 10y ago
I thought it was a bit of a gimmick in iOS 9 but since they went all in for iOS 10. It's almost like right clicking on a phone. Just wish more third party apps used it.
spacelizard 10y ago
I get the appeal of 3D touch but it has absolutely no discoverability - this feels like a complete setback in UX design. Apple used to be known for having UIs that had a lot of visual cues and didn't hide features from the user. However it seems they have done a 180 on that in recent years.
- Godel_unicode 10y ago
  Why do you find 3d tough less discoverable than e.g. long-press to rearrange apps?
- adamlett 10y ago
  Discoverability is not the be-all end-all of UI design. In most ways iOS is a huge step forward in UI design as evidenced by the legions of toddlers who can figure out how to use an iPad.
  - legodt 10y ago
    No, it may not be the end-all, but it certainly is almost all of it
    - adamlett 10y ago
      Only if you define it so broadly as to strip almost all meaning from the term. What about manageability, i.e. can a user fit a mental model of the system in their head, or is it too complex to do that? What about the related concepts of consistency and predictability? What about comprehensibility of the metaphors used? The clarity of language? What about ergonomics? Directness of manipulation? What about delight (think pull to refresh)? Elevating discoverability above all other concerns means that there can be no hierarchy of information. Every feature becomes primary. Everything is on page one, everything is above the fold.

deleted 10y ago

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cyberferret 10y ago

> They need to get rid of 3D touch, get rid of double-tap one-hand accessibility mode whatever it's called, get rid of weird swipes from the edge Hear, hear. It's like my last days of using Windows. Every app window had so many "hot spots" crammed in that triggered something, so that whenever i had multiple overlapping windows and wanted to click on a background window to bring it to the foreground, I would inadvertently trigger an action or change program modes because there wasn't a single pixel of the underlying window that wasnt an active zone. That behaviour totally broke the "multiple pieces of paper on a desk" behavior and instead turned your desktop into a myriad of booby traps ready to kill your productivity. I am starting to feel the same way about iOS. Bring back "dead space" on application windows that don't HAVE to do anything when you tap/click/swipe/pinch on them.

fsloth 10y ago
I'll have to inject a bit of criticism to this particular rant. If one is using several applications on Windows and being productive about it - You don't switch applications in Windows by clicking then with mouse. You order them on the task bar and then switch between them using windows button - number (where number is the order on the task bar.).
- spronkey 10y ago
  Depends on what you're doing. Direct visual manipulation is best if you're using the mouse. Winkeys can be better if you're primarily trying to stay on the keyboard. I actually researched this back many years ago, and at the time, clicking on windows Exposé style won out reasonably convincingly over keyboard techniques, including winkey+#.
  - Too 10y ago
    "best" and "won out" how? Certainly not in speed. Win+# is O(1) in complexity and I already have my left hand in position to press the 2 buttons required to instantly get to the window I want. Compared to expose which is first a hotkey to initiate(note that already here you lost the race in number of keys to press), wait 300ms for the animation to complete, find the window you want which is more like O(n), move hand to mouse, move mouse around to find the cursor, move cursor to desired window, click, wait another 300ms for animation. Even if I happen to already have my hand on the mouse and know where the cursor is the best case will take you at least one second, this is much inferior to just pressing 2 keyboard buttons which is essentially instantaneous, even with faster animations you will not save much time as you need that time to find the window. With more than 5 windows open finding the right one can be a true challenge as they get very small and there will be a lot of them to scan. For grandma who don't care about speed maybe expose is easier to understand and remember but for intense task switching by experienced users it is just in the way.

poisonarena 10y ago

I just hate the inability to turn off voice control.. half the time I unlok my phone I end up in voice control and there is no way to get rid of it

sgt 10y ago

I don't share these experiences. iOS in my experience is by far the best mobile operating system out there and I am constantly using it and not experiencing any issues (this on my iPhone 6). I cannot compare experiences with you in terms of 3D touch though. As for auto-correct, I forget that even exists as it is the first thing I disable on a new phone (I type in 3 different languages on a daily basis). As for the iPhone 7 (which I will soon upgrade to), I've tested the phone and it feels fabulous. Lack of an ancient 3.5mm jack does not bother me. The DAC should be as close to your ear as possible, so it makes sense to most audiophiles. There is a dongle for that and I do not see an issue bringing that along if I need it.

LoSboccacc 10y ago

same here. still on a 5s waiting on a reiteration of se. all you said applies to me as well plus the new generic form factor which is uninspirning bust most importantly too large for comfortably pocketing the real thing that keeps me locked to apple for now is the app commitment, but if a se2 fails to materialize I'll definitely jump to android at the end of life of my 5s

gm-conspiracy 10y ago
I just bought a used 5s w/ 64GB of RAM, also waiting for a decent SE2. I've been curious about the Sony Xperia Z5 compact. I would really like a Kickstarter for replacement form-factor main boards for classic iPhones (4S,5S) to run modern android or something. I have so many "obsolete" phones with working hardware and barely usable software.
- LoSboccacc 10y ago
  myself was looking at the lg g5, mainly because it has recent android, as android hardware rarely receives updates. there's the pixel, of course, but that rear bulge :(

smcl 10y ago

In your usability rants I have every one of those problems too (particularly autocorrect and swiping). I wonder how widespread this is? I'd like to add four more: 1. iTunes is slowly degrading into a usability nightmare - recommendations are often albums I own and bought from Apple! 2. the OS itself seemingly picks apps at random for the "play" button on the "swipe-up" menu. Like I might play a podcast on, say, Monday morning and then switch to music - but for the remainder of the monday and some of tuesday when I pause, lock and then later use the "swipe-up" menu it tries to resume playing the podcast not the music. not to mention this menu has two tabs, and switching between them involves a swipe - which usually triggers some of the sliders (Brightness, volume, position) on the screen. This clearly didn't go through any UX testing. 3. no way to disable "voice control" home key shortcut - my iPhone 6S has an AWFUL habit of interpreting background noise as "Dial my ex girlfriend". I somehow can't kill the call before it starts ringing, but usually I don't see it because something has pressed the home button in my pocket. It's truly embarrassing. 4. "Do you trust this computer?" for the millionth time, yes! This is my last iPhone, I think.

legodt 10y ago
>iTunes is slowly degrading That is incredibly generous considering the past decade of itunes, especially for Windows users. So much bad code, legacy cruft, and inconsistent UI decisions
- smcl 10y ago
  Ah so I typed "iTunes" instinctively, but I meant the iOS app - guess it's called just "Music". The desktop iTunes is a horror show in and of itself :D
- tdkl 10y ago
  I'm a Windows user and love iTunes. There's just isn't any piece of software that lets me sync all my selected playlists with a single click via Wifi to Android (iSyncr app) reliably. I can also use a remote to navigate (Retune app) and access whole library. Too bad there's no other contenders on Linux as well, there's a million players, but no syncing because apparently it makes more sense in 2016 to sync a song with uploading it to an other computer (teh cloud™) then download it back instead of copying it locally within 1m of proximity. Surely it has grown into a behemoth with managing iPhones, online Music etc., but one can simply not use that.

geon 10y ago

> please, offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them Ios have had that for at least a year. Two years?

taf2 10y ago

Let me echo the issues with iOS since the upgrade to 7 with an example from my children. We decided when my youngest was 3 to buy both girls a new ipad mini. This allowed them to watch shows. Sometimes but not often we'd also let them bring the ipad on walks (if you have not had kids don't judge). I was amazed at how well our girls figured out how to load a movie or show. It was pretty easy for my 5 year old to figure this out. My 3 year old struggled but after a few times showing her where and how to click she got it. A few weeks/months go by and ios7 is released. The new "flat" (cough invisible UI) is released into the wild. I am from the always upgrade generation because it's exciting so we upgraded everything. my 3 year was very very upset. Simple things like finding the video playback icon were now nearly impossible, even my 5 year struggled. Well, the worst possible outcome for us was my 3 year throwing the ipad in frustration down the street (literally we were on a walk). It gave me a whole new perspective on UI change. I believe Apple has improved since ios7 a lot - however many deficiencies remain that make the UI challenging - the multiple touch / 3d touch features. For us specifically, the distinction between a show or movie that is downloaded vs one that is not is crazy confusing and having to navigate into settings to switch between showing movies that are not on the device and ones that are has led to near repeat incidents of smashed ipads... I'm not sure what the right answer is for Apple... they have put themselves into a hard position for "fixing" things. Many people have probably become accustom to the new designs and features so a rollback is not what's needed. I believe they are mostly doing the right thing at this point which is to refine and improve, i just hope they can fix the extremely confusing itunes interface...

spronkey 10y ago

I read your comment soon after you posted it and sort of nodded internally, but over the last two days I've been actively noting how often I'm making a slip (i.e. through accidental 3D touch, or accidental swipe or whatever). I think the 20% is actually pretty damn close to what my real error rate is, which astounded me. Even just stuff like initiating a scroll, I'm finding that I've started subconsciously ignoring the accidental 3D touch activations. I thought it would have been maybe 5%.

stcredzero 10y ago

I just can't consistently control the phone. A large percentage of taps or swipes do things I did not intend (how many I'm not sure -- 20%? 33%?) It's just completely crazy. I'm an iPhone user since the 1st gen iPhone with 8GB. the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works The worst part of autocorrect is how it sometimes autocorrects at just the last moment when you hit send. It's like my iPhone wants to break me up from my girlfriend! (I was dating an aspergirl recently, so literal meanings had a bit more meaning. Now I'm dating a foreign born ex-college professor, and she's more insistent on correct grammar than anyone I've known.)