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Show HN: Pixate - Themeable, scalable, beautiful buttons for iOS

78 points by pcolton 14y ago

halayli 14y ago
This breaks consistency.
- statictype 14y ago
  Breaks consistency with what?
- speedyapoc 14y ago
  Be real, how many successful applications use default rounded rectangular buttons? This breaks absolutely nothing.
  - ricardobeat 14y ago
    Thousands? Most that don't a) are games b) have goofy design. You have to be very careful with redesigning native controls (see drop-down lists on the web), most of the time it's just an excuse for making the app not look "plain", instead of doing good design.
    - k-mcgrady 14y ago
      Thousands out of over half a million. It's very rare to see the default rounded rect button used anywhere anymore. It's even rare to see apple use it in their own apps.
kenrikm 14y ago
It's like bootstrap for iOS, kinda cool because lets be honest, the default Round Rect is UGLY. I like how it's vector, that helps keep bundles small (instead of a bunch of custom button PNGs I usually have to have in there) I had exactly this idea for a while I had not gotten around to implementing it, my plan was to make it open source.
- wvs 14y ago
  The thing with round rect buttons is not that they're irreconcilably ugly, but that they're only meant to be used in pinstriped table views. It's rare to see them used correctly anymore since pinstripes are dead as a popular design style in third-party apps. (The original Tweetie 2 was a notable exception.) Instead they just get used because they're the only freely placable styled button in Interface Builder.
  - kenrikm 14y ago
    Well like it or not with the App Store you need to go Big or go Home. There is almost no place for default interface elements in most Apps because you get lost in a sea of crappy generic apps. I only use them as a placeholder to wireup the button in IB and the off to custom button land I go.
- FixThisPOSSite 14y ago
  The continued lack of a decent button in iOS is just embarrassing.
jmonegro 14y ago
This is extremely cool. One of the things I find lacking about Cocoa Touch is the lack of native, powerful customization of the default UI elements. Sure, iOS5 added the appearance APIs, but I still find them lackluster. I look forward to playing with this thing.
debreuil 14y ago
Anxious to see this component set evolve, looks really useful for apps that need their own look.
flyosity 14y ago
Why is the drop shadow at an angle other than straight down? It stands out like a sore thumb within the rest of iOS and makes the button design look sloppy. I appreciate the usefulness of a button class like this but the default design just doesn't look polished.
- pcolton 14y ago
  We're just at the very beginning of building this, so specific styles aren't finalized yet. We are also talking with as many designers as possible to make sure it's themeable in the way they want. At the end of the day, we won't define how it looks, but rather enable you to be as creative as you want to be.
  - gurkendoktor 14y ago
    No matter if the angle is configurable or not, the current default is a bug rather than a question of taste. The lighting angle is one of the few design choices where there is a clear right and wrong on iOS.
smallegan 14y ago
Will this work fine with AutoLayout and constraints?
- pcolton 14y ago
  It should work just fine. I did a quick test settings constraints... http://youtu.be/8AUA8KeDtc8?hd=1 http://youtu.be/8AUA8KeDtc8?hd=1
danso 14y ago
I love the domain name. Itd be a classic name for any design related startup or service
- FixThisPOSSite 14y ago
  Except that it's now offline entirely. If you do a search on "Pixate", you'll find it's being used for numerous other products and companies. My guess is that they got served with a takedown notice for trademark infringement.
arnorhs 14y ago
Too bad it's iOS >= 5 only.. That basically makes this unusable for me.
- blueprint 14y ago
  Seen the slide at WWDC? Something like 85% of iOS users are on iOS 5. Now if the question is how to convince your boss....
  - arnorhs 14y ago
    Since when is 85% satisfying? If there's a 17-18% increase in downloads out there by simply using a slightly different API and memory technique (not being able to use weak references), then I'd say it's worth it.
    - blueprint 14y ago
      According to my experience that's an understatement of the benefits of not supporting old OS versions (and the negatives of having to support them).
      - arnorhs 14y ago
        Interesting. I would love to hear more about your experience and that point of view. Do you have a blog?
        blueprint 14y ago
        I do but I've not blogged about iOS stuff really. You've got a couple things to consider. One of the big ones is maintainability going forward - old code & processes cost more to maintain and add to software entropy overall.

78 points by pcolton 14y ago

halayli 14y ago

This breaks consistency.

statictype 14y ago
Breaks consistency with what?
speedyapoc 14y ago
Be real, how many successful applications use default rounded rectangular buttons? This breaks absolutely nothing.
- ricardobeat 14y ago
  Thousands? Most that don't a) are games b) have goofy design. You have to be very careful with redesigning native controls (see drop-down lists on the web), most of the time it's just an excuse for making the app not look "plain", instead of doing good design.
  - k-mcgrady 14y ago
    Thousands out of over half a million. It's very rare to see the default rounded rect button used anywhere anymore. It's even rare to see apple use it in their own apps.

kenrikm 14y ago

It's like bootstrap for iOS, kinda cool because lets be honest, the default Round Rect is UGLY. I like how it's vector, that helps keep bundles small (instead of a bunch of custom button PNGs I usually have to have in there) I had exactly this idea for a while I had not gotten around to implementing it, my plan was to make it open source.

wvs 14y ago
The thing with round rect buttons is not that they're irreconcilably ugly, but that they're only meant to be used in pinstriped table views. It's rare to see them used correctly anymore since pinstripes are dead as a popular design style in third-party apps. (The original Tweetie 2 was a notable exception.) Instead they just get used because they're the only freely placable styled button in Interface Builder.
- kenrikm 14y ago
  Well like it or not with the App Store you need to go Big or go Home. There is almost no place for default interface elements in most Apps because you get lost in a sea of crappy generic apps. I only use them as a placeholder to wireup the button in IB and the off to custom button land I go.
FixThisPOSSite 14y ago
The continued lack of a decent button in iOS is just embarrassing.

jmonegro 14y ago

This is extremely cool. One of the things I find lacking about Cocoa Touch is the lack of native, powerful customization of the default UI elements. Sure, iOS5 added the appearance APIs, but I still find them lackluster. I look forward to playing with this thing.

debreuil 14y ago

Anxious to see this component set evolve, looks really useful for apps that need their own look.

flyosity 14y ago

Why is the drop shadow at an angle other than straight down? It stands out like a sore thumb within the rest of iOS and makes the button design look sloppy. I appreciate the usefulness of a button class like this but the default design just doesn't look polished.

pcolton 14y ago
We're just at the very beginning of building this, so specific styles aren't finalized yet. We are also talking with as many designers as possible to make sure it's themeable in the way they want. At the end of the day, we won't define how it looks, but rather enable you to be as creative as you want to be.
- gurkendoktor 14y ago
  No matter if the angle is configurable or not, the current default is a bug rather than a question of taste. The lighting angle is one of the few design choices where there is a clear right and wrong on iOS.

smallegan 14y ago

Will this work fine with AutoLayout and constraints?

pcolton 14y ago
It should work just fine. I did a quick test settings constraints... http://youtu.be/8AUA8KeDtc8?hd=1 http://youtu.be/8AUA8KeDtc8?hd=1

danso 14y ago

I love the domain name. Itd be a classic name for any design related startup or service

FixThisPOSSite 14y ago
Except that it's now offline entirely. If you do a search on "Pixate", you'll find it's being used for numerous other products and companies. My guess is that they got served with a takedown notice for trademark infringement.

arnorhs 14y ago

Too bad it's iOS >= 5 only.. That basically makes this unusable for me.

blueprint 14y ago
Seen the slide at WWDC? Something like 85% of iOS users are on iOS 5. Now if the question is how to convince your boss....
- arnorhs 14y ago
  Since when is 85% satisfying? If there's a 17-18% increase in downloads out there by simply using a slightly different API and memory technique (not being able to use weak references), then I'd say it's worth it.
  - blueprint 14y ago
    According to my experience that's an understatement of the benefits of not supporting old OS versions (and the negatives of having to support them).
    - arnorhs 14y ago
      Interesting. I would love to hear more about your experience and that point of view. Do you have a blog?
      - blueprint 14y ago
        I do but I've not blogged about iOS stuff really. You've got a couple things to consider. One of the big ones is maintainability going forward - old code & processes cost more to maintain and add to software entropy overall.