11 ms·

As an Android user, I am completely blown away by two things: #1 iPhones got this only in 2020, when Android had this since the first version, #2 iPhone owners

As an Android user, I am completely blown away by two things: #1 iPhones got this only in 2020, when Android had this since the first version, #2 iPhone owners are willing to spend $28 for a icon pack, a very nice one, but still an icon pack.

hnlmorg 6y ago
Technically it's still not available to iPhone users. The actual method of changing the icons is a really nasty workaround that needs to be performed for each and every application. Instructions: https://icons.tr.af/how https://icons.tr.af/how Don't get me wrong, I do love my iPhone, but this isn't something most people (myself included) will have the patience to do.
- tl 6y ago
  It also slows down the launch of every app because you're launching an app to launch your app. The idea that people would pay money, do a bunch of extra work and make their device slower just to change the appearance of their home screen because a handful of people on social media popularize it blows my mind.
  - newen 6y ago
    I see no one remembers MySpace.
  - hnlmorg 6y ago
    > The idea that people would pay money, do a bunch of extra work and make their device slower just to change the appearance of their home screen because a handful of people on social media popularize it blows my mind. I'm surprised you find that surprising because customisation isn't exactly a new phenomenon. I mean is it really any different to techies slapping stickers on their laptop? Or car enthusiasts modding their vehical? Or home owners decorating their house? Maybe you consider this different because it is software rather than physical stuff; but people do also change their ring tones and wallpaper images too, people customise their avatars on MMO games and profile pictures on social networks. Heck, I even have an alternative coloured border on HN. So while this particular workaround will undoubtedly be more work than most people are willing to take I do still get why some people might want to customise their home screen.
    - mduncs 6y ago
      Not sure if you've used shortcuts on iOS but a lot of those customizations don't change the performance of anything. The shortcuts on an iphone add a half second each time you use the app, because the icon has to open the shortcuts app THEN open the app the shortcut is linked to. If adding a sticker to your laptop increased the boot time a fraction of a second some people would still do it, but many would it find it maddening!
      - pdmfz 6y ago
        Half a second is actually quite a big deal. "A delay of less than 100 milliseconds feels instant to a user, but a delay between 100 and 300 milliseconds is perceptible. A delay between 300 and 1,000 milliseconds makes the user feel like a machine is working, but if the delay is above 1,000 milliseconds, your user will likely start to mentally context-switch." http://designingforperformance.com/performance-is-ux/#designers-impact-on-performance http://designingforperformance.com/performance-is-ux/#design...
        ReverseCold 6y ago
        Not in the context of an 8 second boot time. Almost no one will notice 8 vs 8.5s
        nwienert 6y ago
        Most apps start in about a second.
      - hnlmorg 6y ago
        I've seen people mod their car in ways that are detrimental to it's performance. I've also known people who have intentionally bought inferior hardware because it looked nicer. In fact I've seen some people wear shoes that has give them blisters but done so because those shoes were pretty. You'd be surprised at the lengths of inconvenience some people will endure for the sake of aesthetics.
    - colinmhayes 6y ago
  - csomar 6y ago
    Digital life is taking over. It's the equivalent of putting some plant trees in your living room. As we spend more time (most of our time?) on our digital devices, the aesthetic is switching from real life to digital life.
  - andreterron 6y ago
    It's so common to open apps from the search bar (and the app drawer now, I imagine), that it probably becomes less of a burden. Might even make people use those other patterns more, who knows.
  - daniellarusso 6y ago
    Well, here is some history (from 1992): https://winworldpc.com/product/icon-do-it/1x https://winworldpc.com/product/icon-do-it/1x I remember it was not inexpensive ($19).
  - divbzero 6y ago
    It also removes context menus from app icons, reduced functionality on top of slower launch time.
- rmetzler 6y ago
  I don't even understand why you would want to change icons on your phone.
  - corobo 6y ago
    Personally I don't want to change the icon. I do want to change (or better yet, hide) the text underneath the icon. I know what the logos correspond to, Apple.
coldtea 6y ago
Yeah. On the other hand we had 1/10 less mallware, faster UIs, updates for older devices up to several years, and other small things since day one which Android still doesn't have :-)
- komali2 6y ago
  If you're gonna rehash the iOS vs android flamewar at leat use up to date arguments...
  - coldtea 6y ago
    All 3 items I've mentioned are still issues that plague Android in 2020, so there's that...
oefrha 6y ago
Is the average iPhone owner willing to spend $28 on an icon pack? Probably not. Can you find 3626 iPhone owners willing to spend $28 on an icon pack? Sure you can. In fact I bet you can find 3626 Android owners willing to part with $28 too. The key to this success story is this: > Then, MKBHD happened.
- ahmadss 6y ago
  the key to his success is honing his craft via side projects, sharing these ideas often, having a quick and easy tooling to publish ideas, pushing to prod and sharing these ideas. thats the key to success. the MKBHD pickup is just the recognition of the skill honed through this process.
  - vmception 6y ago
    MKBHD picking it up had nothing to do with his journey or level of skill. MKBHD could have picked up something much less refined and it would have been popular, a different designer dabbling with no prior mobile icon interest could have come up with something appealing to others as well. Being there and getting an influencer is what made this story, and can be repeated by anyone. OP is conflating the rest of it with his own trials and tribulations.
    - sumedh 6y ago
      > MKBHD could have picked up something much less refined and it would have been popular I think MKBHD also has to worry about his reputation, if he promoted something less refined his viewers might get pissed off.
      - vmception 6y ago
        It can happen and happens to influencers all the time. I'm glad it worked out for everyone involved. OP's prior work is not why it worked out.
  - necovek 6y ago
accountLost 6y ago
#2 A few thousands iPhone owners out of 900 millions willing to pay $28 for a icon pack. Not that mind blowing for me. Compare that to the billions of $ users spend on loot boxes. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-01-loot-boxes-expected-to-drive-games-market-to-usd160-billion-by-2022 https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-01-loot-boxes...
- doc_gunthrop 6y ago
  It's not an apt comparison. Loot boxes is gambling, which is something completely different.
mrtksn 6y ago
> iPhones got this only in 2020, when Android had this since the first version It's not a technical achievement(that took Apple 10 years to do), it's a design choice(that Apple made then and now). It can have multiple motivations that we can speculate on, would have been great to have someone from Apple to give us some perspective. >iPhone owners are willing to spend $28 for a icon pack, a very nice one, but still an icon pack. There are multiple games that make billions of $ by simply selling cosmetic items, this is very similar. It also has a a version in the physical world, people pay a premium for stuff with a special visual design and no functional advantage all the time. Handbags, clothes, cars, jewellery, movie merchandise(like Darth Vader helmets etc), houses, paint, books, computers - you name it, people actually pay for design.
- zmk_ 6y ago
  It seems more like an unintended consequence, not a design choice by Apple.
- yonixw 6y ago
  > It's not a technical achievement(that took Apple 10 years to do), it's a design choice That's the most poetic way of saying "it's not a bug, it's a feature"
  - AlphaSite 6y ago
    Probably more apt to say, they didn’t want to.
  - rmetzler 6y ago
    Take two apps and switch their icons without the owner knowing it. Or put the same icon for every app. Make the icon even offensive. Then it becomes a bug.
swiley 6y ago
Of course most X11 DEs have had this since the 90s.
bdcravens 6y ago
Other than the derisive "sheeple" response, why do people stick with iPhones when Androids have more desirable features?
- aembleton 6y ago
  > Androids have more desirable features That's subjective. Many people prefer iPhones. They may find the features of iPhone more desirable or some other aspect about it like the Apple ecosystem.
  - bdcravens 6y ago
    I'm referring to features that were in Android and later implemented on iOS - presumably those are desired features, and at some point Android had it and iOS didn't. There's likely features that Android has today that will at some point be implemented in iOS in the future. Yet those features aren't enough to encourage switching. (For context, I'm writing this not as an Android fanboy, but as an 11-year iPhone user, though I've often had a secondary current gen Android for testing, etc, and have constantly evaluated switching and never found a compelling reason for doing so, despite some of those attractive line-items)
    - jschwartzi 6y ago
      This is true, but for the most part the Android features come earlier but are very poorly thought out and usually have usability issues which prevent people from using them effectively. In contrast Apple usually waits a couple of years and ends up releasing something that solves the problem in a usable way. Let's talk about cameras specifically. Samsung has this "burst mode" feature which lets you take 100 or 200 shots in rapid succession. This was linked to a long press of the "take picture" button, so when I would use my wife's phone if I paused for a moment with my finger on the button it would fill up the memory card with hundreds of identical JPEG images that she would then have to sort through and delete individually. Contrast this with Apple's "Live Photo" feature which takes a short 2 or 3 second video around the moment when you take your picture. You can still sort through each individual frame and pick the best one but it doesn't completely fill up the device's memory with hundreds of identical JPEGs. And it gives you this cool video of the moment for every picture. Being first to market doesn't matter if the feature isn't actually usable.
talmr 6y ago
Off topic, but I really like that I don't have to customize my iPhone much at all. It works great right off the bat, I don't need to download another camera app, another gallery app, or have to root it so I can fix my CPU settings so the phone won't melt just in my pocket (happened on my LG android back in 2015 which made me switch to iOS and never look back).
- JohnTHaller 6y ago
  In fairness, I don't have to do any of that to my Google Pixel either. It all just works great off the bat. I can if I want to, but I don't. I do appreciate being able to install my own fully open source web browser of choice (Firefox) and my own fully open source ad blocker of choice (uBlock) instead of being stuck using skins over Safari's engine.
  - talmr 6y ago
    Oh yeah for sure! I'm developing mobile apps now, and I'm excited to get my hands on a pixel device some time. It's too tempting after using simulator :)
outworlder 6y ago
Different platforms have different priorities. Is android still using really low resolution icons?
IkmoIkmo 6y ago
Not even that but, you can't change icons. What you can do is create a siri shortcut, assign an icon to that, and make the shortcut just open an app. Everytime you click it, it'll load siri, then siri loads the app, visibly and with a delay. It's painful to use and look at, all of which was described in the video, and people paid $28 for it. Pretty insane.
asdff 6y ago
It's almost as ridiculous as people spending $100 on windows 10 licenses so they can change their desktop background.

hnlmorg 6y ago

Technically it's still not available to iPhone users. The actual method of changing the icons is a really nasty workaround that needs to be performed for each and every application. Instructions: https://icons.tr.af/how https://icons.tr.af/how Don't get me wrong, I do love my iPhone, but this isn't something most people (myself included) will have the patience to do.

tl 6y ago
It also slows down the launch of every app because you're launching an app to launch your app. The idea that people would pay money, do a bunch of extra work and make their device slower just to change the appearance of their home screen because a handful of people on social media popularize it blows my mind.
- newen 6y ago
  I see no one remembers MySpace.
- hnlmorg 6y ago
  > The idea that people would pay money, do a bunch of extra work and make their device slower just to change the appearance of their home screen because a handful of people on social media popularize it blows my mind. I'm surprised you find that surprising because customisation isn't exactly a new phenomenon. I mean is it really any different to techies slapping stickers on their laptop? Or car enthusiasts modding their vehical? Or home owners decorating their house? Maybe you consider this different because it is software rather than physical stuff; but people do also change their ring tones and wallpaper images too, people customise their avatars on MMO games and profile pictures on social networks. Heck, I even have an alternative coloured border on HN. So while this particular workaround will undoubtedly be more work than most people are willing to take I do still get why some people might want to customise their home screen.
  - mduncs 6y ago
    Not sure if you've used shortcuts on iOS but a lot of those customizations don't change the performance of anything. The shortcuts on an iphone add a half second each time you use the app, because the icon has to open the shortcuts app THEN open the app the shortcut is linked to. If adding a sticker to your laptop increased the boot time a fraction of a second some people would still do it, but many would it find it maddening!
    - pdmfz 6y ago
      Half a second is actually quite a big deal. "A delay of less than 100 milliseconds feels instant to a user, but a delay between 100 and 300 milliseconds is perceptible. A delay between 300 and 1,000 milliseconds makes the user feel like a machine is working, but if the delay is above 1,000 milliseconds, your user will likely start to mentally context-switch." http://designingforperformance.com/performance-is-ux/#designers-impact-on-performance http://designingforperformance.com/performance-is-ux/#design...
      - ReverseCold 6y ago
        Not in the context of an 8 second boot time. Almost no one will notice 8 vs 8.5s
        nwienert 6y ago
        Most apps start in about a second.
    - hnlmorg 6y ago
      I've seen people mod their car in ways that are detrimental to it's performance. I've also known people who have intentionally bought inferior hardware because it looked nicer. In fact I've seen some people wear shoes that has give them blisters but done so because those shoes were pretty. You'd be surprised at the lengths of inconvenience some people will endure for the sake of aesthetics.
  - colinmhayes 6y ago
- csomar 6y ago
  Digital life is taking over. It's the equivalent of putting some plant trees in your living room. As we spend more time (most of our time?) on our digital devices, the aesthetic is switching from real life to digital life.
- andreterron 6y ago
  It's so common to open apps from the search bar (and the app drawer now, I imagine), that it probably becomes less of a burden. Might even make people use those other patterns more, who knows.
- daniellarusso 6y ago
  Well, here is some history (from 1992): https://winworldpc.com/product/icon-do-it/1x https://winworldpc.com/product/icon-do-it/1x I remember it was not inexpensive ($19).
- divbzero 6y ago
  It also removes context menus from app icons, reduced functionality on top of slower launch time.
rmetzler 6y ago
I don't even understand why you would want to change icons on your phone.
- corobo 6y ago
  Personally I don't want to change the icon. I do want to change (or better yet, hide) the text underneath the icon. I know what the logos correspond to, Apple.

coldtea 6y ago

Yeah. On the other hand we had 1/10 less mallware, faster UIs, updates for older devices up to several years, and other small things since day one which Android still doesn't have :-)

komali2 6y ago
If you're gonna rehash the iOS vs android flamewar at leat use up to date arguments...
- coldtea 6y ago
  All 3 items I've mentioned are still issues that plague Android in 2020, so there's that...

oefrha 6y ago

Is the average iPhone owner willing to spend $28 on an icon pack? Probably not. Can you find 3626 iPhone owners willing to spend $28 on an icon pack? Sure you can. In fact I bet you can find 3626 Android owners willing to part with $28 too. The key to this success story is this: > Then, MKBHD happened.

ahmadss 6y ago
the key to his success is honing his craft via side projects, sharing these ideas often, having a quick and easy tooling to publish ideas, pushing to prod and sharing these ideas. thats the key to success. the MKBHD pickup is just the recognition of the skill honed through this process.
- vmception 6y ago
  MKBHD picking it up had nothing to do with his journey or level of skill. MKBHD could have picked up something much less refined and it would have been popular, a different designer dabbling with no prior mobile icon interest could have come up with something appealing to others as well. Being there and getting an influencer is what made this story, and can be repeated by anyone. OP is conflating the rest of it with his own trials and tribulations.
  - sumedh 6y ago
    > MKBHD could have picked up something much less refined and it would have been popular I think MKBHD also has to worry about his reputation, if he promoted something less refined his viewers might get pissed off.
    - vmception 6y ago
      It can happen and happens to influencers all the time. I'm glad it worked out for everyone involved. OP's prior work is not why it worked out.
- necovek 6y ago

accountLost 6y ago

#2 A few thousands iPhone owners out of 900 millions willing to pay $28 for a icon pack. Not that mind blowing for me. Compare that to the billions of $ users spend on loot boxes. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-01-loot-boxes-expected-to-drive-games-market-to-usd160-billion-by-2022 https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-01-loot-boxes...

doc_gunthrop 6y ago
It's not an apt comparison. Loot boxes is gambling, which is something completely different.

mrtksn 6y ago

> iPhones got this only in 2020, when Android had this since the first version It's not a technical achievement(that took Apple 10 years to do), it's a design choice(that Apple made then and now). It can have multiple motivations that we can speculate on, would have been great to have someone from Apple to give us some perspective. >iPhone owners are willing to spend $28 for a icon pack, a very nice one, but still an icon pack. There are multiple games that make billions of $ by simply selling cosmetic items, this is very similar. It also has a a version in the physical world, people pay a premium for stuff with a special visual design and no functional advantage all the time. Handbags, clothes, cars, jewellery, movie merchandise(like Darth Vader helmets etc), houses, paint, books, computers - you name it, people actually pay for design.

zmk_ 6y ago
It seems more like an unintended consequence, not a design choice by Apple.
yonixw 6y ago
> It's not a technical achievement(that took Apple 10 years to do), it's a design choice That's the most poetic way of saying "it's not a bug, it's a feature"
- AlphaSite 6y ago
  Probably more apt to say, they didn’t want to.
- rmetzler 6y ago
  Take two apps and switch their icons without the owner knowing it. Or put the same icon for every app. Make the icon even offensive. Then it becomes a bug.

swiley 6y ago

Of course most X11 DEs have had this since the 90s.

bdcravens 6y ago

Other than the derisive "sheeple" response, why do people stick with iPhones when Androids have more desirable features?

aembleton 6y ago
> Androids have more desirable features That's subjective. Many people prefer iPhones. They may find the features of iPhone more desirable or some other aspect about it like the Apple ecosystem.
- bdcravens 6y ago
  I'm referring to features that were in Android and later implemented on iOS - presumably those are desired features, and at some point Android had it and iOS didn't. There's likely features that Android has today that will at some point be implemented in iOS in the future. Yet those features aren't enough to encourage switching. (For context, I'm writing this not as an Android fanboy, but as an 11-year iPhone user, though I've often had a secondary current gen Android for testing, etc, and have constantly evaluated switching and never found a compelling reason for doing so, despite some of those attractive line-items)
  - jschwartzi 6y ago
    This is true, but for the most part the Android features come earlier but are very poorly thought out and usually have usability issues which prevent people from using them effectively. In contrast Apple usually waits a couple of years and ends up releasing something that solves the problem in a usable way. Let's talk about cameras specifically. Samsung has this "burst mode" feature which lets you take 100 or 200 shots in rapid succession. This was linked to a long press of the "take picture" button, so when I would use my wife's phone if I paused for a moment with my finger on the button it would fill up the memory card with hundreds of identical JPEG images that she would then have to sort through and delete individually. Contrast this with Apple's "Live Photo" feature which takes a short 2 or 3 second video around the moment when you take your picture. You can still sort through each individual frame and pick the best one but it doesn't completely fill up the device's memory with hundreds of identical JPEGs. And it gives you this cool video of the moment for every picture. Being first to market doesn't matter if the feature isn't actually usable.

talmr 6y ago

Off topic, but I really like that I don't have to customize my iPhone much at all. It works great right off the bat, I don't need to download another camera app, another gallery app, or have to root it so I can fix my CPU settings so the phone won't melt just in my pocket (happened on my LG android back in 2015 which made me switch to iOS and never look back).

JohnTHaller 6y ago
In fairness, I don't have to do any of that to my Google Pixel either. It all just works great off the bat. I can if I want to, but I don't. I do appreciate being able to install my own fully open source web browser of choice (Firefox) and my own fully open source ad blocker of choice (uBlock) instead of being stuck using skins over Safari's engine.
- talmr 6y ago
  Oh yeah for sure! I'm developing mobile apps now, and I'm excited to get my hands on a pixel device some time. It's too tempting after using simulator :)

outworlder 6y ago

Different platforms have different priorities. Is android still using really low resolution icons?

IkmoIkmo 6y ago

Not even that but, you can't change icons. What you can do is create a siri shortcut, assign an icon to that, and make the shortcut just open an app. Everytime you click it, it'll load siri, then siri loads the app, visibly and with a delay. It's painful to use and look at, all of which was described in the video, and people paid $28 for it. Pretty insane.

asdff 6y ago

It's almost as ridiculous as people spending $100 on windows 10 licenses so they can change their desktop background.