7 ms·

Apple’s iOS Is Looking Seriously Stale, But It’s Still the Platform to Beat

26 points by sk2code 14y ago

nopal 14y ago
I'm an iOS user, and I don't much exposure to Android, but I wonder -- is iOS really stale? Apple's added a lot in the past few years while keeping the core design consistent. I'm sure they could have done more in this time period, but my personal feeling is that they don't want to confuse users with some of the more advanced things that can be done on other devices. They want their devices to be useable by everyone, and even now, some things are confusing to novice users (folders, notification center). They are being conservative in their design, but it seems deliberate, and I wonder how that translates to the masses -- usable or out-of-date?
- ocean12 14y ago
  " is iOS really stale? " They are still selling every phone they can make, so I would guess no. The hardware, mostly the screen, needs some refreshing to be current with hardware on other platforms, but no, I wouldn't call it stale. More like the media looking for something to talk about while waiting for the new, next iPhone to come out.
  - rimantas 14y ago
    > The hardware, mostly the screen Uhm? iPhone 5 has one of the best screens ever made, did other surpass it so quick?
    - greetings 14y ago
      Yes. See any of the new generation of android phones.
      - coldtea 14y ago
        Yes. I can't avoid not to, in SE Asia. They range from subpar to just slightly inferior to the iPhone. Except if you mean screen real estate (with some 5 inch plus screens). In which case I wouldn't call that better, just more.
    - Recoil42 14y ago
      The new halo phones from HTC (One) and Samsung (S4) have twice the resolution of the iPhone5.
    - knocknock 14y ago
      If you look at the fact sheet[1] you will see the iPhone 5 has a 4inch display with 326 PPI (pixels per inch) whereas the HTC One (IMO the best Android phone right now) has a 4.7inch display with 468 PPI. The HTC One display is LARGER and has a much higher pixel density! [1]: http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/6116/6274/6863 http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/6116/6274/6863
  - nwh 14y ago
    > The hardware, mostly the screen What needs changing? It's incredibly high resolution, and is the only phone screen I've ever seen that can display purple properly.
  - corresation 14y ago
    They are still selling every phone they can make, so I would guess no A few years back people were calling out the Blackberry for being stale, but supporters would point to its leadership of the market and RIM's strong profits to ignore the point. Being stale is a leading indicator. The impact is not immediate. More like the media looking for something to talk about This is a pretty commonly stated argument to shout down something we don't want to hear, and it's nonsense. A story only has traction if there is a widespread belief that it could be true, and in the case of iOS the belief that they are essentially handcuffed by their own userbase into avoiding significant change is something that is quite widely being believed. Never, ever would I count Apple out (they have been an amazing company), but they are in a tough position where they're being outflanked but any maneuver they make might offend their current userbase (see also: Microsoft).
- coldtea 14y ago
  >"is iOS really stale?" In the sense "they haven't surprised us with something totally new in a while, and we're lazy enough to pretend that me-too offerings by competitors are more current", yes.
  - Drakim 14y ago
    What? Android stopped being "me too" quite some time ago, now Apple needs to play the catch up game.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  As someone who uses both (one personal, one work), but still finds myself gravitating towards iOS pretty much every time I have a choice, my view is that there are definitely a few places it could do with a bit of sprucing up. The most obvious is clearly the lack of any form of live tiles/desktop/widgets. There's a few apps that I would love to get more information straight on the desktop than just a badge with a count of "actions" on it. The calendar, for example - at leas it actually shows today's date - but being able to show the next meeting at a glance would be great. Or being able to show a live stock ticker etc. The other biggie for me is default apps. It's great that we now have Chrome on there, but I'd love to be able to get any browser link to launch that rather than Safari. The skeurmorphic v flat thing is really just window-dressing though. Sure, there's a bit of reskinning that could be done in some of the apps, but if that's one of the biggest problems that people have with a UI that's 6 year old, then it's doing something right.
  - nopal 14y ago
    I'm with you on the live tiles and default apps. As for live tiles, again I think it's Apple optimizing for understanding. If they allow apps to have widgets, they risk users unknowingly eating up bandwidth and battery. I could see them starting with their apps and then opening up some sort of new API for these types of apps.
dr_ 14y ago
Looks fine to me. Would be more interested in additional functionality than cosmetic changes to the OS. By the same token, does Google's homepage look stale?
- fpgeek 14y ago
  Isn't avoiding staleness one of the reasons behind the Google Doodles?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
gavinlynch 14y ago
I'm not suggesting that it's not worth debating whether iOS has become stale, but we can come up with more impartial arbiters of staleness than some of Apple's chief competitors, right? They make vague mention of, but never support with quotations, that this argument is taking place among non-competitors too. That's pretty lazy journalism. From the article: "BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins claimed that the look and feel of Apple’s mobile OS is outdated. “The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly,” he argued. Chris Weber, executive vice president of Nokia’s sales and marketing, claimed that iOS’s focus on the app was “outdated.”
- dclowd9901 14y ago
  I didn't even notice that. If you hadn't pointed out the inherent bias I wouldn't have even discounted the sentiment.
ChrisLTD 14y ago
At some point Apple is going to need to redesign iOS to better integrate features they've accumulated since 2007. I don't think we're anywhere near that point yet. FWIW, Apple has made tweaks to the look and feel. The "dock" at the bottom of springboard has the 3D shelf instead of the grated metal. Apps like Music (formerly iPod), iTunes, Maps have had thorough design updates.
- duaneb 14y ago
  Speaking of stale UI features, when will they trash cover flow? I've never once seen someone use it intentionally or successfully.
  - ChrisLTD 14y ago
    I'm with you. Apple has a history of making UI that's pretty much only useful in commercials and store demos. A lot of the Mac OS X dock is under that umbrella.
  - gte910h 14y ago
    I use coverflow constantly in OS X to look through files quickly.
    - duaneb 14y ago
      I don't mind that as much as the ipod app on the iphone. Landscape mode is coverflow, even though half my music doesn't have album covers, and there's no way of disabling the 'feature'. I agree, though, coverflow is pretty good for pictures in the finder—not for most documents, where the content can't be easily rendered distinctively to a rectangular image.
danso 14y ago
Nowhere is iOS's staleness more evident in everyday use than in its virtual keyboard. At the time iOS came out and dominated, typing on iOS seemed like the natural way to do it, so it's not a terrible implementation by any means. But its autocorrect feature is absolutely abysmal. I tend to use the possessive "its" a lot. However, iOS will by default assume that I mean "it's" no matter the context of the sentence...which means that every time I want to use "its", I have to stop typing, look up at the text box, take my hands off the keyboard, and look for that stupid bubble and the tiny 'x' to prevent the autocorrection. Android, by comparison, is practically magic. Perhaps it's because of the physical screen size that makes this possible, but how Android puts the autocorrect choices (three of them, not just one) right next to the keyboard is just pure logical genius. And I don't know what machine learning/natural language algorithm is used to guess the proper autocorrect choices but when typing at full blast, I have to deliberately make a typo for a typo to actually occur. iOS, by comparison, will inexplicably create nonsensical sentences with words I've never seen or used if I don't watch the textbox while typing. Maybe typing is old-fashioned and Apple wants to put more focus on swiping (Android's swipe keyboard is also pretty amazing, FWIW), but Jesus they've really let the keyboard go. And of course, it's hard to imagine them ever catching up to Google in voice-input.
- cryptoz 14y ago
  It's because Android keyboards are apps. It's part of being an open ecosystem; UI and utilities are not controlled by a central agency making decisions for everyone. There's so much typing innovation happening on Android that it's really amazing; Swype, SwiftKey, 8pen, that new one-line keyboard, and probably 50 projects I've never even heard of.
  - kunai 14y ago
    But then you get all of the baggage that comes along with an open system. Android is not stable in the slightest, which is odd as it does use the Linux kernel, but it still is; even on 4.2. I still get hangs, freezes, and crashes. The system-wide lag is gone, but there are many instances I can name where the system will arbitrarily crash an application: - Trying to open Google Now - Typing an address into Firefox's URL bar - Trying to Swype - Trying to open a new tab in the Android browser And there's many more. Granted, it's CM10 running on a Nexus 7, but there's still so many kinks to be worked out. When I switch back to an iPad, it's such a relief. Full stability. I have NEVER had an application crash on an iPad. Can't say the same about the N7, unfortunately.
drivebyacct2 14y ago
Was I the only one that missed the part where the article explains why "It's Still the Platform to Beat"?
- ichtet31 14y ago
  My thoughts exactly. I was hopeing for a thorough 'apples to other OS's' breakdown and comparison.
- ocean12 14y ago
  " Was I the only one that missed the part where the article explains why "It's Still the Platform to Beat"? " I don't think you missed it; I think you dismissed or disagreed with it. It's here: iOS has undeniably great, intuitive touch-based gestures and a straightforward layout. And here: “It’s that simplicity, combined with a deep developer and app ecosystem, that really has given iOS its power with users.” And here: One of the biggest benefits of the current iOS platform, from a developer standpoint, is that no matter what type of app you’re creating, you can find a few hundred existing examples of what works. And that isn’t always true on other platforms For example, WNM Live CEO Brian Hamachek said when his company decided to create a Windows Phone app, there was “not much we could use as a basis for how it should be laid out, we had to come out with own path — which can be a little risky.” As for Android, Hamachek said it’s “like the wild west” and that there really isn’t much of a standard user interface to go off of, which isn’t good for devs or users. Apple’s human interface guidelines make it easy create an app that looks and feels like an iOS app.
  - drivebyacct2 14y ago
    I literally can't find a single comment from you that isn't bashing Android or Google. Are you a shill?
thechut 14y ago
The iPhone has remained virtually unchanged over the last 5 years. Each model is slightly faster and slightly brighter. Sure you fanboys can make the argument about every feature added, but look at the specs differences. And the look and feel of the phone has barely changed[1]. If you look at the progress not just in design, but software, hardware and everything. Samsung, HTC, Nokia, all the major manfs have come miles further than Apple in the last 5 years when it comes to hardware design. When it comes to software Android has also come miles in the last few years. People that aren't Android users don't realize this and go with the same standby arguments against Android (fragmented, ugly ui, non-integrated UI). When Android first came on the market (HTC G1) it could not even compare to an iPhone. But Android has solved many of these problems over the years, due partially to the fact that it's open source and has lots of people / companies contributing to it. It has now come to a point where it is miles beyond iOS and iOS has even gone as far as starting to steal features from Android (notifications drawer anyone?). I've said it before I will say it again. Apple should spend less money worrying about and suing it's competitors and spend more time and money on improving their mediocre products. The time for something new from Apple is definitely soon or they risk starting to lose market share. Although, most of their users are to drunk on koolaid to even know what other products are in the market. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iOS_devices#iPhone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iOS_devices#iPhone
- micampe 14y ago
  If you omitted the third sentence you comment would have been more interesting.
- shadesandcolour 14y ago
  Maybe HTC, Samsung, Nokia et al have come so far in the last five years because they had no choice. If you look at Android phones from 5 years ago, they were mostly shit. The original iPhone was a huge departure from where mobile phones sat 5 years ago. Does Apple need to change up the look of iOS, yeah probably. But they won't make a radical departure from where they are right now. They are still selling the phone that they built 3 generations ago, and they're selling it well. I'd say that the vacuum chamber says iOS is stale, but the consumer does not.
falcolas 14y ago
As a user who has moved from iPhone to Windows Phone 8... yes, their UI is stale. I'm never going to be able to convince Mac users that Windows Phone is better as an overall phone (though I believe it is), but the UI is responsive, informative, and pleasantly minimal. Most folks agree with that when they get the chance to play with it (despite their repeated assurances to me that they would never switch to Windows).
- danieldk 14y ago
  I also have a Windows Phone 8 (Lumia 820) and indeed, in comparison the iOS UI is very stale. What I do miss is polish of applications (both Microsoft's and third-party), e.g. Facebook in the people hub does not work well (blocked feeds show up again, I cannot like comments, etc). 1Password is only a ghost of its polished iOS version. Also, the battery life is sh*t. My iPhone 4 usually lasted four a five full days, while the Lumia is often gone in 12 hours during a work day. It's very inconvenient when you have a long commute. Currently Apple still makes up the lack of innovation with polish. But time is ticking away...
- duaneb 14y ago
  I think the UI is much better, but as a developer it's still windows underneath, so it's still pretty useless to me.
- rayiner 14y ago
  As someone who just returned my Surface RT for an iPad Mini (lack of LTE was a dealbreaker), I'll say this: Metro is pretty, but it's not all that functional. It has really low content density. The gestures are very well done, much better than iOS, but as a whole I think it's at least one revision away from being competitive functionally. That said, it's heaps better than Android.
dahart 14y ago
Why do so many people take sides in the phone wars, when we the consumers benefit the most if these companies are competing fiercely with each other? Especially mystifying with reports like this one that are so thoroughly weak and lazy. It would be bad if one company were to "win", which perhaps explains a lot of the zealous anti Apple commentary lately, because they've dominated for a while, but in the mean time don't forget that we are arguing over the features of commodity appliances. Arguing which phone is better is like arguing over which dishwasher is better. It's insanely awesome how fast, how small, and how cheap computers are becoming. Throw in growing connectivity and sensing capability, and you realize this is an amazing time. I don't want Google to lose, or Apple to lose. I want them all to win and keep pressuring each other so they all keep making computers smaller, cheaper and more accessible to me.
nicholassmith 14y ago
The iPhone is stale in the same way that the 911 is. This years 911 is better than last years, and this years iPhone is better than the last one. But this isn't about the iPhone, it's about iOS. A lot of the discussion has focussed around the devices themselves but that's not the point of the matter. iOS in some respects is stale. The 'look' has been the same since the first iPhone came out of box. Is that a bad thing? Sure, to some people it is, they want new and fresh and different. That's not how Apple works though, they settle on a design paradigm and iterate repeatedly until they think it's time to move on.
joeblau 14y ago
Not only is it looking stale, but it feels stale. The silo workflow for iOS is so bad for accomplishing simple tasks that require cross application integration.
kaolinite 14y ago
I think this feeling is down to two factors: 1. Many iOS users are now, for the first time, trying out Android as a result of affordable yet high quality devices being available (Nexus 4 and 7, especially). 2. Other platforms, especially Android, are introducing new features that iOS does not have and Apple may not wish to copy. For example: Android recently introduced lockscreen widgets, something I personally find to be completely over the top. Meanwhile, Samsung are trying out all kinds of wacky ideas (as seen with the S4 release). Compared to these, iOS does seem a little plain and boring - though personally I'm glad. Up until 3-4 months ago, I was an Android user and had been for many years. I switched to an iPhone 5 and suddenly iOS feels fresh whilst Android feels stale. It's just what you're used to, I suspect.
- gte910h 14y ago
  I just got a Nexus 7 for work. Some interesting transitions, etc, but many apps still look horrible and scrolling is still painful to watch.

26 points by sk2code 14y ago

nopal 14y ago

I'm an iOS user, and I don't much exposure to Android, but I wonder -- is iOS really stale? Apple's added a lot in the past few years while keeping the core design consistent. I'm sure they could have done more in this time period, but my personal feeling is that they don't want to confuse users with some of the more advanced things that can be done on other devices. They want their devices to be useable by everyone, and even now, some things are confusing to novice users (folders, notification center). They are being conservative in their design, but it seems deliberate, and I wonder how that translates to the masses -- usable or out-of-date?

ocean12 14y ago
" is iOS really stale? " They are still selling every phone they can make, so I would guess no. The hardware, mostly the screen, needs some refreshing to be current with hardware on other platforms, but no, I wouldn't call it stale. More like the media looking for something to talk about while waiting for the new, next iPhone to come out.
- rimantas 14y ago
  > The hardware, mostly the screen Uhm? iPhone 5 has one of the best screens ever made, did other surpass it so quick?
  - greetings 14y ago
    Yes. See any of the new generation of android phones.
    - coldtea 14y ago
      Yes. I can't avoid not to, in SE Asia. They range from subpar to just slightly inferior to the iPhone. Except if you mean screen real estate (with some 5 inch plus screens). In which case I wouldn't call that better, just more.
  - Recoil42 14y ago
    The new halo phones from HTC (One) and Samsung (S4) have twice the resolution of the iPhone5.
  - knocknock 14y ago
    If you look at the fact sheet[1] you will see the iPhone 5 has a 4inch display with 326 PPI (pixels per inch) whereas the HTC One (IMO the best Android phone right now) has a 4.7inch display with 468 PPI. The HTC One display is LARGER and has a much higher pixel density! [1]: http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/6116/6274/6863 http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/6116/6274/6863
- nwh 14y ago
  > The hardware, mostly the screen What needs changing? It's incredibly high resolution, and is the only phone screen I've ever seen that can display purple properly.
- corresation 14y ago
  They are still selling every phone they can make, so I would guess no A few years back people were calling out the Blackberry for being stale, but supporters would point to its leadership of the market and RIM's strong profits to ignore the point. Being stale is a leading indicator. The impact is not immediate. More like the media looking for something to talk about This is a pretty commonly stated argument to shout down something we don't want to hear, and it's nonsense. A story only has traction if there is a widespread belief that it could be true, and in the case of iOS the belief that they are essentially handcuffed by their own userbase into avoiding significant change is something that is quite widely being believed. Never, ever would I count Apple out (they have been an amazing company), but they are in a tough position where they're being outflanked but any maneuver they make might offend their current userbase (see also: Microsoft).
coldtea 14y ago
>"is iOS really stale?" In the sense "they haven't surprised us with something totally new in a while, and we're lazy enough to pretend that me-too offerings by competitors are more current", yes.
- Drakim 14y ago
  What? Android stopped being "me too" quite some time ago, now Apple needs to play the catch up game.
prof_hobart 14y ago
As someone who uses both (one personal, one work), but still finds myself gravitating towards iOS pretty much every time I have a choice, my view is that there are definitely a few places it could do with a bit of sprucing up. The most obvious is clearly the lack of any form of live tiles/desktop/widgets. There's a few apps that I would love to get more information straight on the desktop than just a badge with a count of "actions" on it. The calendar, for example - at leas it actually shows today's date - but being able to show the next meeting at a glance would be great. Or being able to show a live stock ticker etc. The other biggie for me is default apps. It's great that we now have Chrome on there, but I'd love to be able to get any browser link to launch that rather than Safari. The skeurmorphic v flat thing is really just window-dressing though. Sure, there's a bit of reskinning that could be done in some of the apps, but if that's one of the biggest problems that people have with a UI that's 6 year old, then it's doing something right.
- nopal 14y ago
  I'm with you on the live tiles and default apps. As for live tiles, again I think it's Apple optimizing for understanding. If they allow apps to have widgets, they risk users unknowingly eating up bandwidth and battery. I could see them starting with their apps and then opening up some sort of new API for these types of apps.

dr_ 14y ago

Looks fine to me. Would be more interested in additional functionality than cosmetic changes to the OS. By the same token, does Google's homepage look stale?

fpgeek 14y ago
Isn't avoiding staleness one of the reasons behind the Google Doodles?

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

gavinlynch 14y ago

I'm not suggesting that it's not worth debating whether iOS has become stale, but we can come up with more impartial arbiters of staleness than some of Apple's chief competitors, right? They make vague mention of, but never support with quotations, that this argument is taking place among non-competitors too. That's pretty lazy journalism. From the article: "BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins claimed that the look and feel of Apple’s mobile OS is outdated. “The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly,” he argued. Chris Weber, executive vice president of Nokia’s sales and marketing, claimed that iOS’s focus on the app was “outdated.”

dclowd9901 14y ago
I didn't even notice that. If you hadn't pointed out the inherent bias I wouldn't have even discounted the sentiment.

ChrisLTD 14y ago

At some point Apple is going to need to redesign iOS to better integrate features they've accumulated since 2007. I don't think we're anywhere near that point yet. FWIW, Apple has made tweaks to the look and feel. The "dock" at the bottom of springboard has the 3D shelf instead of the grated metal. Apps like Music (formerly iPod), iTunes, Maps have had thorough design updates.

duaneb 14y ago
Speaking of stale UI features, when will they trash cover flow? I've never once seen someone use it intentionally or successfully.
- ChrisLTD 14y ago
  I'm with you. Apple has a history of making UI that's pretty much only useful in commercials and store demos. A lot of the Mac OS X dock is under that umbrella.
- gte910h 14y ago
  I use coverflow constantly in OS X to look through files quickly.
  - duaneb 14y ago
    I don't mind that as much as the ipod app on the iphone. Landscape mode is coverflow, even though half my music doesn't have album covers, and there's no way of disabling the 'feature'. I agree, though, coverflow is pretty good for pictures in the finder—not for most documents, where the content can't be easily rendered distinctively to a rectangular image.

danso 14y ago

Nowhere is iOS's staleness more evident in everyday use than in its virtual keyboard. At the time iOS came out and dominated, typing on iOS seemed like the natural way to do it, so it's not a terrible implementation by any means. But its autocorrect feature is absolutely abysmal. I tend to use the possessive "its" a lot. However, iOS will by default assume that I mean "it's" no matter the context of the sentence...which means that every time I want to use "its", I have to stop typing, look up at the text box, take my hands off the keyboard, and look for that stupid bubble and the tiny 'x' to prevent the autocorrection. Android, by comparison, is practically magic. Perhaps it's because of the physical screen size that makes this possible, but how Android puts the autocorrect choices (three of them, not just one) right next to the keyboard is just pure logical genius. And I don't know what machine learning/natural language algorithm is used to guess the proper autocorrect choices but when typing at full blast, I have to deliberately make a typo for a typo to actually occur. iOS, by comparison, will inexplicably create nonsensical sentences with words I've never seen or used if I don't watch the textbox while typing. Maybe typing is old-fashioned and Apple wants to put more focus on swiping (Android's swipe keyboard is also pretty amazing, FWIW), but Jesus they've really let the keyboard go. And of course, it's hard to imagine them ever catching up to Google in voice-input.

cryptoz 14y ago
It's because Android keyboards are apps. It's part of being an open ecosystem; UI and utilities are not controlled by a central agency making decisions for everyone. There's so much typing innovation happening on Android that it's really amazing; Swype, SwiftKey, 8pen, that new one-line keyboard, and probably 50 projects I've never even heard of.
- kunai 14y ago
  But then you get all of the baggage that comes along with an open system. Android is not stable in the slightest, which is odd as it does use the Linux kernel, but it still is; even on 4.2. I still get hangs, freezes, and crashes. The system-wide lag is gone, but there are many instances I can name where the system will arbitrarily crash an application: - Trying to open Google Now - Typing an address into Firefox's URL bar - Trying to Swype - Trying to open a new tab in the Android browser And there's many more. Granted, it's CM10 running on a Nexus 7, but there's still so many kinks to be worked out. When I switch back to an iPad, it's such a relief. Full stability. I have NEVER had an application crash on an iPad. Can't say the same about the N7, unfortunately.

drivebyacct2 14y ago

Was I the only one that missed the part where the article explains why "It's Still the Platform to Beat"?

ichtet31 14y ago
My thoughts exactly. I was hopeing for a thorough 'apples to other OS's' breakdown and comparison.
ocean12 14y ago
" Was I the only one that missed the part where the article explains why "It's Still the Platform to Beat"? " I don't think you missed it; I think you dismissed or disagreed with it. It's here: iOS has undeniably great, intuitive touch-based gestures and a straightforward layout. And here: “It’s that simplicity, combined with a deep developer and app ecosystem, that really has given iOS its power with users.” And here: One of the biggest benefits of the current iOS platform, from a developer standpoint, is that no matter what type of app you’re creating, you can find a few hundred existing examples of what works. And that isn’t always true on other platforms For example, WNM Live CEO Brian Hamachek said when his company decided to create a Windows Phone app, there was “not much we could use as a basis for how it should be laid out, we had to come out with own path — which can be a little risky.” As for Android, Hamachek said it’s “like the wild west” and that there really isn’t much of a standard user interface to go off of, which isn’t good for devs or users. Apple’s human interface guidelines make it easy create an app that looks and feels like an iOS app.
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  I literally can't find a single comment from you that isn't bashing Android or Google. Are you a shill?

thechut 14y ago

The iPhone has remained virtually unchanged over the last 5 years. Each model is slightly faster and slightly brighter. Sure you fanboys can make the argument about every feature added, but look at the specs differences. And the look and feel of the phone has barely changed[1]. If you look at the progress not just in design, but software, hardware and everything. Samsung, HTC, Nokia, all the major manfs have come miles further than Apple in the last 5 years when it comes to hardware design. When it comes to software Android has also come miles in the last few years. People that aren't Android users don't realize this and go with the same standby arguments against Android (fragmented, ugly ui, non-integrated UI). When Android first came on the market (HTC G1) it could not even compare to an iPhone. But Android has solved many of these problems over the years, due partially to the fact that it's open source and has lots of people / companies contributing to it. It has now come to a point where it is miles beyond iOS and iOS has even gone as far as starting to steal features from Android (notifications drawer anyone?). I've said it before I will say it again. Apple should spend less money worrying about and suing it's competitors and spend more time and money on improving their mediocre products. The time for something new from Apple is definitely soon or they risk starting to lose market share. Although, most of their users are to drunk on koolaid to even know what other products are in the market. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iOS_devices#iPhone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iOS_devices#iPhone

micampe 14y ago
If you omitted the third sentence you comment would have been more interesting.
shadesandcolour 14y ago
Maybe HTC, Samsung, Nokia et al have come so far in the last five years because they had no choice. If you look at Android phones from 5 years ago, they were mostly shit. The original iPhone was a huge departure from where mobile phones sat 5 years ago. Does Apple need to change up the look of iOS, yeah probably. But they won't make a radical departure from where they are right now. They are still selling the phone that they built 3 generations ago, and they're selling it well. I'd say that the vacuum chamber says iOS is stale, but the consumer does not.

falcolas 14y ago

As a user who has moved from iPhone to Windows Phone 8... yes, their UI is stale. I'm never going to be able to convince Mac users that Windows Phone is better as an overall phone (though I believe it is), but the UI is responsive, informative, and pleasantly minimal. Most folks agree with that when they get the chance to play with it (despite their repeated assurances to me that they would never switch to Windows).

danieldk 14y ago
I also have a Windows Phone 8 (Lumia 820) and indeed, in comparison the iOS UI is very stale. What I do miss is polish of applications (both Microsoft's and third-party), e.g. Facebook in the people hub does not work well (blocked feeds show up again, I cannot like comments, etc). 1Password is only a ghost of its polished iOS version. Also, the battery life is sh*t. My iPhone 4 usually lasted four a five full days, while the Lumia is often gone in 12 hours during a work day. It's very inconvenient when you have a long commute. Currently Apple still makes up the lack of innovation with polish. But time is ticking away...
duaneb 14y ago
I think the UI is much better, but as a developer it's still windows underneath, so it's still pretty useless to me.
rayiner 14y ago
As someone who just returned my Surface RT for an iPad Mini (lack of LTE was a dealbreaker), I'll say this: Metro is pretty, but it's not all that functional. It has really low content density. The gestures are very well done, much better than iOS, but as a whole I think it's at least one revision away from being competitive functionally. That said, it's heaps better than Android.

dahart 14y ago

Why do so many people take sides in the phone wars, when we the consumers benefit the most if these companies are competing fiercely with each other? Especially mystifying with reports like this one that are so thoroughly weak and lazy. It would be bad if one company were to "win", which perhaps explains a lot of the zealous anti Apple commentary lately, because they've dominated for a while, but in the mean time don't forget that we are arguing over the features of commodity appliances. Arguing which phone is better is like arguing over which dishwasher is better. It's insanely awesome how fast, how small, and how cheap computers are becoming. Throw in growing connectivity and sensing capability, and you realize this is an amazing time. I don't want Google to lose, or Apple to lose. I want them all to win and keep pressuring each other so they all keep making computers smaller, cheaper and more accessible to me.

nicholassmith 14y ago

The iPhone is stale in the same way that the 911 is. This years 911 is better than last years, and this years iPhone is better than the last one. But this isn't about the iPhone, it's about iOS. A lot of the discussion has focussed around the devices themselves but that's not the point of the matter. iOS in some respects is stale. The 'look' has been the same since the first iPhone came out of box. Is that a bad thing? Sure, to some people it is, they want new and fresh and different. That's not how Apple works though, they settle on a design paradigm and iterate repeatedly until they think it's time to move on.

joeblau 14y ago

Not only is it looking stale, but it feels stale. The silo workflow for iOS is so bad for accomplishing simple tasks that require cross application integration.

kaolinite 14y ago

I think this feeling is down to two factors: 1. Many iOS users are now, for the first time, trying out Android as a result of affordable yet high quality devices being available (Nexus 4 and 7, especially). 2. Other platforms, especially Android, are introducing new features that iOS does not have and Apple may not wish to copy. For example: Android recently introduced lockscreen widgets, something I personally find to be completely over the top. Meanwhile, Samsung are trying out all kinds of wacky ideas (as seen with the S4 release). Compared to these, iOS does seem a little plain and boring - though personally I'm glad. Up until 3-4 months ago, I was an Android user and had been for many years. I switched to an iPhone 5 and suddenly iOS feels fresh whilst Android feels stale. It's just what you're used to, I suspect.

gte910h 14y ago
I just got a Nexus 7 for work. Some interesting transitions, etc, but many apps still look horrible and scrolling is still painful to watch.