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Android doesn't have as much "drag and drop" as iOS. For example, you can't add a tab bar at the bottom, nav bar at the top, table view in the middle, set the t

by pkulak 14y ago

Android doesn't have as much "drag and drop" as iOS. For example, you can't add a tab bar at the bottom, nav bar at the top, table view in the middle, set the text of each cell in the table view, and have an app that looks complete and looks like a stock Apple app. If you do that with Android you're just going to have a flat black screen with lines of text crammed next to each other with 0px of spacing. You really have to do _all_ your own design with Android. That tends to lead to more inconsistency, but more originality as well. Besides, when each app takes up all available real estate, do you really need consistency between apps? Distinctive styles are just a nice reminder of what app you're in.

dpark 14y ago
> Besides, when each app takes up all available real estate, do you really need consistency between apps? Yes. Consistency between apps is what allows you to start up a new app and intuitively know how to use it. You shouldn't have to re-learn how to interact with each app. > Distinctive styles are just a nice reminder of what app you're in. Distinctive style up to a point is useful and pleasant. Gratuitous differences make interaction more awkward. Even at the purely aesthetic level, a reasonable level of consistency improves the feel of the device. When an app looks completely different from all the apps that come with the device, it looks less distinctive and more out-of-place.
niho 14y ago
It's not (only) about the consistency of visual style. It's about the the consistency of interaction.
- KirinDave 14y ago
  But this is not a problem Android has when apps target 4.0. The ActionBar has been a huge stabilizing influence on the Android interaction pattern; strongly enforcing backpaning, swipe-to-navigate, and consistent locations for navigation. I'm not sure why you'd say this. Android actually hasn't suffered from tactile UI fragmentation much more than iOS has.
  - dpark 14y ago
    > Android actually hasn't suffered from tactile UI fragmentation much more than iOS has. If the apps on this page a representative, I'd say that Android has experienced a lot more UI fragmentation than iOS. These are being held up as examples of best Android interfaces, and they look very inconsistent to me. In contrast, I just opened up a bunch of random apps on my phone's home screen, and they all look very much like "iOS style". Obviously the native apps match well, but so does OneBusAway, Wikipanion, Skype (though the UI is flatter than the rest), Google Voice, Amazon, OneNote, etc. These all look like iOS apps to me. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onebusaway/id329380089 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onebusaway/id329380089 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wikipanion/id288349436 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wikipanion/id288349436 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skype/id304878510 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skype/id304878510 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-voice/id318698524 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-voice/id318698524 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-mobile/id297606951 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-mobile/id297606951 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-onenote/id410395246 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-onenote/id410395246
    - KirinDave 14y ago
      I thought you were talking about the actual meaning of taps and swipes and whatnot... that's what I was referring to the as "tactile" part of it, where things like long presses and swipes mean the same thing between apps. In terms of visual style, there has been significant change over the last 18 months as designers come to grips with the new 4.0 style. Both iOS and Android tend to suffer from the problem of "What the fuck can I press?" with some apps. But to my eyes as an Android user, I see a lot of consistency here. The ActionBar is firmly in place, so I know where to go for navigation. The visual metaphors vary in terms of actual look, but I get what's up. For example, compare to very different apps: Catch and doubleTwist Alarm Clock. Both are "bounded" by their top bar (although Catch has elected to add extra app-specific chrome at the bottom, too). The navigation "upwards our out" between panes is consistently in the upper left. The additional actions for the app as a whole are on the top right. In cases where the apps deviate (e.g., bottom bars in Gmail and Catch), the designers have had the good sense to use the standardized icons as opposed to further customization, helping to signal the user that this app does deviate from pure actoinbar navigation. The share, attach, favorite, and trash icons are all with pixels of standard. A lot of iOS users first coming to Android (including myself) after the advent of ICS may be surprised once they realize how consistent the presence of the ActionBar is, even if it varies in appearance. I encourage you to play with one to see this in action. I certainly felt that sense of confusion at first because I'm used to unified navigation chrome from iOS for most things outside of games. I think this is just a case of longtime iOS users not being familiar with the visual language of the Android platform.

by pkulak 14y ago

dpark 14y ago

> Besides, when each app takes up all available real estate, do you really need consistency between apps? Yes. Consistency between apps is what allows you to start up a new app and intuitively know how to use it. You shouldn't have to re-learn how to interact with each app. > Distinctive styles are just a nice reminder of what app you're in. Distinctive style up to a point is useful and pleasant. Gratuitous differences make interaction more awkward. Even at the purely aesthetic level, a reasonable level of consistency improves the feel of the device. When an app looks completely different from all the apps that come with the device, it looks less distinctive and more out-of-place.

niho 14y ago

It's not (only) about the consistency of visual style. It's about the the consistency of interaction.

KirinDave 14y ago
But this is not a problem Android has when apps target 4.0. The ActionBar has been a huge stabilizing influence on the Android interaction pattern; strongly enforcing backpaning, swipe-to-navigate, and consistent locations for navigation. I'm not sure why you'd say this. Android actually hasn't suffered from tactile UI fragmentation much more than iOS has.
- dpark 14y ago
  > Android actually hasn't suffered from tactile UI fragmentation much more than iOS has. If the apps on this page a representative, I'd say that Android has experienced a lot more UI fragmentation than iOS. These are being held up as examples of best Android interfaces, and they look very inconsistent to me. In contrast, I just opened up a bunch of random apps on my phone's home screen, and they all look very much like "iOS style". Obviously the native apps match well, but so does OneBusAway, Wikipanion, Skype (though the UI is flatter than the rest), Google Voice, Amazon, OneNote, etc. These all look like iOS apps to me. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onebusaway/id329380089 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onebusaway/id329380089 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wikipanion/id288349436 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wikipanion/id288349436 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skype/id304878510 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skype/id304878510 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-voice/id318698524 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-voice/id318698524 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-mobile/id297606951 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-mobile/id297606951 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-onenote/id410395246 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-onenote/id410395246
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    I thought you were talking about the actual meaning of taps and swipes and whatnot... that's what I was referring to the as "tactile" part of it, where things like long presses and swipes mean the same thing between apps. In terms of visual style, there has been significant change over the last 18 months as designers come to grips with the new 4.0 style. Both iOS and Android tend to suffer from the problem of "What the fuck can I press?" with some apps. But to my eyes as an Android user, I see a lot of consistency here. The ActionBar is firmly in place, so I know where to go for navigation. The visual metaphors vary in terms of actual look, but I get what's up. For example, compare to very different apps: Catch and doubleTwist Alarm Clock. Both are "bounded" by their top bar (although Catch has elected to add extra app-specific chrome at the bottom, too). The navigation "upwards our out" between panes is consistently in the upper left. The additional actions for the app as a whole are on the top right. In cases where the apps deviate (e.g., bottom bars in Gmail and Catch), the designers have had the good sense to use the standardized icons as opposed to further customization, helping to signal the user that this app does deviate from pure actoinbar navigation. The share, attach, favorite, and trash icons are all with pixels of standard. A lot of iOS users first coming to Android (including myself) after the advent of ICS may be surprised once they realize how consistent the presence of the ActionBar is, even if it varies in appearance. I encourage you to play with one to see this in action. I certainly felt that sense of confusion at first because I'm used to unified navigation chrome from iOS for most things outside of games. I think this is just a case of longtime iOS users not being familiar with the visual language of the Android platform.