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How does the leather skin on "Find My Friends" trick people into assuming familiarity? It's an application without a physical analog, other than shouting your f
by WiseWeasel 15y ago
How does the leather skin on "Find My Friends" trick people into assuming familiarity? It's an application without a physical analog, other than shouting your friends' names really loudly or wearing a weird hat or bright shirt.
I think someone with a high position in Apple's iOS app software department just really likes that leather look, and people are reading way too much into this. There are cases where the skeuomorphism is appropriate, such as the striped yellow notepad or the wooden bookshelf in iBooks, but Apple has clearly extended the use of these themes beyond where they make any kind of logical sense, making them simple arbitrary aesthetic choices.
- treetrouble 15y agoThe physical counterpart is a "Rolodex" or leather address book
- WiseWeasel 15y agoWhat you're referring to is the Contacts app (which happens to have a clean, standard-themed interface on the iPhone, though I believe it does have a leather-themed interface on the iPad). The "Find My Friends" app is a new buddy geolocation app from Apple released (in the App Store) alongside iOS 5; it's similar to Google Latitude.
- treetrouble 15y agoIsn't the purpose of a Rolodex to "find my friends" ? I believe that's what they were going for. It's weak, sure...
- WiseWeasel 15y agoFind My Friends displays their current location on a map using GPS. The analogy to a Rolodex is pretty weak.
- chrisdroukas 15y agoCould it be a function of 'comfort in familiarity' in what's otherwise a jarringly personal app?
- WiseWeasel 15y agoTo me, it just looks weird, with interface elements such as buttons and text fields sculpted in leather. I cannot see how it would make me feel familiarity.
- chrisdroukas 15y agoMaybe comfort is a better word for it. It would be interesting to see an A/B test of the leather UI and a standard iOS UI — something that looks exactly like Google Maps with Latitude on top of it, for instance. I'd be willing to bet that the leather UI is better received by users. The app is divulging a core aspect of privacy but it certainly manages to look friendly doing it.
- glhaynes 15y agoI think it's as simple as "it doesn't look computery".