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I am starting to think John Gruber doesn't like Alan Dye.
by djmips 10mo ago
I am starting to think John Gruber doesn't like Alan Dye.
- pupppet 10mo agoWhere were Gruber’s posts about Dye so obviously being a problem before his exit?
- elicash 10mo agoQuickly googled his website and found this from January 2021: > [...] I’m reminded of all the UI and interaction designs and changes in iOS and MacOS that are just bad. There’s a real sense that Apple’s current HI team, under Alan Dye, is a “design is what it looks like” group, not a “design is how it works” group. And this, from June of this year: > Re-watching Jobs’s introduction of Aqua for the umpteenth time, I still find it enthralling. I found Alan Dye’s introduction of Liquid Glass to be soporific, if not downright horseshitty. He has been even more critical on his podcast. This has been a repeated refrain and increasing over the years. My first reaction, when I read the news, was "Apple bloggers and podcasters will be THRILLED."
- pupppet 10mo agoHe’s had the position for 10 years and you found two mentions?
- whynotminot 10mo agoHow many times would appease you?
- lateforwork 10mo agoAt least 50% as harsh before his departure than he is afterwards.
- jtbayly 10mo agoAll criticism of Apple’s UI would count, as Dye was in charge of it and ultimately responsible, whether he is named in the article or not. And Gruber has been at least this harsh on the UI before.
- elicash 10mo agoHow about this sarcastic and brutal bit, on his podcast (end of July): "But maybe instead of firing him, they start selling pizzas out of the back of Apple stores and Alan Dye can run that and do the graphic design on the boxes. Do the menus. I think Alan Dye could kill that with his Levi's experience, right?" That's rougher than anything he has said post-firing, in my opinion.
- raldi 10mo agoThere are a lot more. Here’s another I found in under half a minute: https://daringfireball.net/2025/08/macos_26_tahoes_dead_canary_utility_app_icons https://daringfireball.net/2025/08/macos_26_tahoes_dead_cana... You seem to have already had your mind made up, though, and are maybe not actually interested in evidence.
- pupppet 10mo agoHe doesn't even mention his name in this article. Let's all pretend he totally wasn't going out of his way to prevent burning bridges with his Apple connections but starts throwing Alan under the bus after he's gone like he was so obviously the problem at Apple.
- raldi 10mo agoWe don’t have to pretend; there’s ample evidence. Here’s one from 2020 that specifically calls Dye out: https://daringfireball.net/2021/01/my_2020_apple_report_card https://daringfireball.net/2021/01/my_2020_apple_report_card You seem to have an axe to grind against Gruber, are immune to all evidence against your preconceived worldview, and are projecting this behavior onto the other side of the discussion.
- x0x0 10mo agoThe same example shared upthread. So two mentions in 5 years?
- systoll 10mo agoHis podcast with Louie Mantia in July was pretty clear with it, though it also suggests why he’s given significant criticism of the design direction, but mostly just has quips and shade thrown at Alan Dye on the blog: > I get to ask Alan Dye about [the shadows on Apple Watch faces]. And he was like, oh, we render a shadow? And I was like, oh, you never even looked. I just instantly realised he’d never really even looked at it. Like, somebody at Apple has, but Alan Dye didn't. […] It just suddenly came to me, oh, he doesn't do the job I thought he did.