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WWDC 2012
- Thread starter giga
- Start date
- Status
Good Job Bob
Member
Nonsense.
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
He's right. Name some. I'm currently using Twitterific and it leaves a lot to be desired.
mescalineeyes
Banned
Twitter.app
I'm never sure what people mean when they say iOS needs an overhaul. I think they're talking about the homescreen because I see a lot of comments about the homescreen being "boring".
I think the homescreen is great. And I think the simplicity of it is a big reason for iOS's success. if they make it more complicated and "fiddly" to appeal to a tech user, what's the benefit for everyone else? they shouldn't make it more complicated just for kicks.
One thing I've noticed about Android and WP7 compared to iOS is that there's one extra hierarchy of app arrangement/ storage in those two OSes. They both have two locations where apps are "stored" or can be placed. there's the app drawer/ app list then there's the homescreen. and you have to move apps from that storage spot to the homescreen - then you can rearrange stuff on your homescreen.
fundamentally, that is more complex than iOS, where there's just one level of hierarchy for apps. And I think that's one of the reasons why iOS is so intuitive for new users - they don't need to check two locations to find an app.
And I'm not convinced that the things WP7 and Android have done with these homescreen canvases are interesting enough to justify that two level approach. what I've seen is bigger icons that have a little bit of real time data displayed on them and widgets. I'm not sure Apple needs to reinvent their homescreen to provide similar functionality.
I do think they could offer more icon customization for apps. and I think that the Notification center drawer will become a mini widget repository soon. but that grid of icons isn't going anywhere for a while. Apple is just now starting to get non technical folks to use their devices. I don't think they want to offer a "radical" interface change.
And any change they do make down the line will be to make things easier for your grandpa and your kid sister, and not any more customizable for you or me.
quick edit:
From what I've seen, I think Metro in W8 only has one level of app "storage". not counting the entire windows desktop environment, of course. but from what I've seen, Metro W8 has that one scrolling homescreen where all app icons go and then you rearrange them like on iOS without grabbing them from a hidden superset list of apps. I like that approach.
I think the homescreen is great. And I think the simplicity of it is a big reason for iOS's success. if they make it more complicated and "fiddly" to appeal to a tech user, what's the benefit for everyone else? they shouldn't make it more complicated just for kicks.
One thing I've noticed about Android and WP7 compared to iOS is that there's one extra hierarchy of app arrangement/ storage in those two OSes. They both have two locations where apps are "stored" or can be placed. there's the app drawer/ app list then there's the homescreen. and you have to move apps from that storage spot to the homescreen - then you can rearrange stuff on your homescreen.
fundamentally, that is more complex than iOS, where there's just one level of hierarchy for apps. And I think that's one of the reasons why iOS is so intuitive for new users - they don't need to check two locations to find an app.
And I'm not convinced that the things WP7 and Android have done with these homescreen canvases are interesting enough to justify that two level approach. what I've seen is bigger icons that have a little bit of real time data displayed on them and widgets. I'm not sure Apple needs to reinvent their homescreen to provide similar functionality.
I do think they could offer more icon customization for apps. and I think that the Notification center drawer will become a mini widget repository soon. but that grid of icons isn't going anywhere for a while. Apple is just now starting to get non technical folks to use their devices. I don't think they want to offer a "radical" interface change.
And any change they do make down the line will be to make things easier for your grandpa and your kid sister, and not any more customizable for you or me.
quick edit:
From what I've seen, I think Metro in W8 only has one level of app "storage". not counting the entire windows desktop environment, of course. but from what I've seen, Metro W8 has that one scrolling homescreen where all app icons go and then you rearrange them like on iOS without grabbing them from a hidden superset list of apps. I like that approach.
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
I use that exclusively and it's trash compared to iOS Twitter apps.
VariantX04
Loser slave of the system :(
Hopefully iPad's notification system won't look as useless as it does now. So much potential to expand on that implementation.
Dreams-Visions
Member
Unfortunately, this isn't always true of iOS. I feel like they need to do something about having Settings in multiple locations.
There are settings that can be changed in an app...and yet more settings that can be changed in the Settings app. For example, many features in iCab Mobile web browser can be changed inside the app. In fact, you'd think all the settings were there given how many there are. But nope...I was looking for a way to disable an annoying swipe and thought there was no way to. By happenstance, I clicked on my Settings button and scrolled...low and behold, there were more settings for iCab and just what I was looking for was there. If a tech-head like me didn't even know where to find those settings I wanted, what of the average user?
Having 2 places for app settings is, in my opinion, horrible in many cases. I'd rather see less of that or a more universal way to access settings. Yes, finding an app only requires you to check one location...but setting the app up the way you want it often requires you to check 2 places. That's something you don't have to do on Android.
That's a real good point. It was never really clear to me why apps had settings in different spots. Was it because some settings changes HAD to be in the settings app and others didn't?
Was apple too lax on allowing the two locations for settings early on and now they're in this little mess?
I wouldn't mind if Apple forced devs to stick to one spot for all settings changes.
Was apple too lax on allowing the two locations for settings early on and now they're in this little mess?
I wouldn't mind if Apple forced devs to stick to one spot for all settings changes.
Indeed. I honestly laughed out loud the first time I saw it.
mescalineeyes
Banned
needs the same sort of integration as OS X. Much nicer.
If Windows mobile wasn't shit and failing in the market, Windows phone 7 wouldn't exist or need to exist. Consumers hated Windows Mobile. They love iOS. It's a lousy comparison.
Uh no, not really. WP7 in particular is much simpler than the iOS home screen. iOS now has folders—one is included by default—which is a extra level of hierarchy that Metro UI doesn't support. The alphabetized list of apps in Metro UI is much simpler than the randomly arranged and limited iOS springboard pages. Metro UI's tiles are akin to, and no more complicated than, the iOS Dock. Metro UI's search button is much simpler that iOS's concept breaking spotlight page. The only reason iOS might appear simpler is if you got used to it first.
I don't believe having a separate app drawer necessarily makes a UI more complicated. webOS had an app drawer but kept their home screen much less cluttered (despite the smaller size) making it slightly simpler or equivalent to iOS imo. It's just emphasizing a different feature other than launching apps.
Android's homescreen is more complicated I'll agree with you on that. It's flexible though—the Android UI designers could make a much simpler default and still leave room for customization for those who want more sophisticated home screens. And some manufacturers just duplicate Apple's home screen to a T in their android skins thus making it just as simple
It's a damn shame because all the features that Apple has been tacking on over the years, from spotlight through multiple home screens to multitasking and now a notification center with widgets, has been for the technical users not grandpa or my kid sister. That's why Apple hides those new features so non technical users don't easily discover and use them. The iOS home screen was designed in a time when Apple didn't even allow third party apps. It's a different era now. I want Apple to redesign iOS not to make it more complicated to satisfy me me but to make it simpler for everybody.
Phoenix
Member
That's not what I'm saying at all. Where Android makes its mistake is that it provides *TOO MANY* choices. It in itself is an embodiment of violating Hick's Law. When the original HTC EVO came out it was one of the first ones that simplified the OS and bettered the User Experience in a way such that I could see where Android would be acceptable to a class of user, and it has. However, they still try to expose too many options to the user all the time in every variant of the OS that I see. The Samsung stock interface is good... DAMN good for a tablet - but it tries to cram too many options in front of the user. This leads to the normal design problem of analysis paralysis for the average user. This however is something that is relatively easily rectified if they can get their designers understand that less is more, that's where IOS makes a lot more design sense.
However from an innovation perspective there is a lot more capability for the developer within Android today with ICS than there is with iOS5. The solution set you can create is richer and its just a matter of time before the tipping point on the developer side happens. Today there are a small number of very good devs on the Android side that are exploiting the platform but nVidia is "tech bribing" many developers on the Tegra side - something Apple simply doesn't do. This results in many Android versions of the same application being better (in gaming) as people are sitting on shitloads of donated shaders and techniques. You can already start to see this advantage in comparisons between the Transformer Prime and the new iPad. nVidia is lowering the friction for developers to create good content and Google is lowering the friction for creating application types (connected, touch, NFC, payment, face/speech recognition, etc) as their APIs are readily accessible.
You're starting to get into app development scenarios where you're at a DISADVANTAGE when you're not with a Google device. This is not the trend we had before.
The world is more than just the Apple universe and at the end of the day its all about money and where the money is in the market. People are waiting for Apple to release certain functionality before they put that onto their technology plans (NFC being a HUGE one) but that isn't going to last indefinitely. People are already starting to look for ways to implement the functionality primarily on Android (i.e. micropayments, NFC transactions, etc) with the work around being on iOS (i.e. dongle from Square, audible tone receivers, etc). So now you're starting to see a different world evolve. Today iOS is the primary target and people will use PhoneGap, Titanium (ugh), Sencha, etc. to hit more platforms. But as the gap in capability between Android and iOS increases - this market will fragment as well. There will be things that you just won't be able to do. Developers will still do them because they will be paid to do them, but iOS will in MANY instances start to become the secondary platform. Its all about network effects. That's how Microsoft got to where they were, and how they were able to protect it for so long. Its how Apple got to where it is and how they were able to protect it.
And it is the one thing that strips the old guard from its power as well. There is always a tipping point where the critical mass becomes sufficient on the competitive side to shift away support from the previous leader. It is how Microsoft was able to distort the market and shift developers en masse to XBox (DirectX - the one ring of game development), it is how Amazon is able to build the biggest empire that most people are clueless to recognize (AWS), it is how Hyundai was able to shift their brand from being one of cheap-ass rattle traps (Genesis), and it is how one day the world will move away from gasoline powered vehicles (see IBM air fuel cell battery). There is always a shift, you can almost always see where it can become a disruptor as well... all you need is enough leverage (and that DOES NOT mean the majority of the market) to become a player such that you enter *CONSIDERATION* and then your other advantages that weren't strong enough before become critical must haves for the new generation of products.
Apple has been able to hold the market because for the most part, the development community hasn't shifted and said "well, if you don't support X we won't support YOU" - but that time is coming. The longer Apple delays somewhat critical changes to the platform - the faster that shift is going to come. Then things like being a closed platform, like preventing customization, providing open solutions for things like Siri, providing a built in navigation system, blah blah blah become HUGE detriments and they are no longer the market leader in the eyes of the buyers. That is how a platform dies and that is how PalmOS, Blackberry OS, Windows CE, Symbian, etc. have all eroded into near obsolescence. When the change happens, it happens quickly and I can think of very few examples where the previous market leader was able to recover.
It is just the way of things... always been that way.
Uh no, not really. WP7 in particular is much simpler than the iOS home screen. iOS now has foldersone is included by defaultwhich is a extra level of hierarchy that Metro UI doesn't support. The alphabetized list of apps in Metro UI is much simpler than the randomly arranged and limited iOS springboard pages. Metro UI's tiles are akin to, and no more complicated than, the iOS Dock. Metro UI's search button is much simpler that iOS's concept breaking spotlight page. The only reason iOS might appear simpler is if you got used to it first.
I don't believe having a separate app drawer necessarily makes a UI more complicated. webOS had am app drawer but kept their home screen much less cluttered (despite the smaller size) making it slightly simpler or equivalent to iOS imo. It's just emphasizing a different feature other than launching apps.
Android's homescreen is more complicated I'll agree with you on that. It's flexible thoughthe Android UI designers could make a much simpler default and still leave room for customization for those who want more sophisticated home screens. And some manufacturers just duplicate Apple's home screen in their android skins to a t thus making it just as simple
It's a damn shame because all the features that Apple has been tacking on over the years, from spotlight through multiple home screens to multitasking and now a notification center with widgets, has been for the technical users not grandpa or my kid sister. That's why Apple hides those new features so non technical users don't easily discover and use them. The iOS home screen was designed in a time when Apple didn't even allow third party apps. It's a different era now. I want Apple to redesign iOS not to make it more complicated to satisfy me me but to make it simpler for everybody.
once again we need to agree to disagree.
the WP7 list of apps is hidden away with an arrow and, the last I saw, was limited to an alphabetized list. it's not exactly a great UI for getting to apps quickly. it's just an A-Z list and is not comparable to the iOS homescreen at all. the icons on the left are more than just the iOS dock. they are the key to the entire homescreen.
and folders aren't the same as the two examples I gacv because they are entirely optional. the same way I don't think having multiple home pages (or a scrolling home page) in the three OSes is similar to the Android app drawer/ homescreen split.
(and before we get too far into this, I just want to say that I don't think the WP7 and Android methods of app organization are broken. just a bit more complicated. there's a difference)
the notification system is a complication but it was necessary because, without it, the pop up notifications were a pain in the butt for all users, including novices. they had to get away from that as the original OS wasn't built for apps providing notifications so the pop ups didn't scale. now, we can go back and forth about implementation details and ease of discovery for notification center but it's still an important feature to have with an OS that allows apps to notify you of things at any time.
as for the double tap multitasking tray. hey, that's just a shortcut. a lot of times i find myself not even using it as I can just single tap it and go to the homescreen and tap the app in he dock that I want to go to. it remains just a shortcut to features accessible by novice users. I think it's a fine implementation.
I still think that the fact we can debate these things means it's an interesting time in UI design. it's fun
RubxQub
ÏÎ¯Î»Ï á¼Î¾ÎµÏÎÎ³Î»Î¿Ï Ïον καί ÏÎµÏ Î´Î¿Î»Ïγον οá½Îº εἰÏÏν
You're asking to have your cake and eat it to, from an Apple design POV.
You're asking for the design to be overhauled so all of the advanced functionality that power users take advantage of aren't hidden, but made core to the experience of the operating system so everyone gets the benefit of these features instead of just people with the where-with-all to learn it or find it. That's implying that those features are things that typical users even want to know exist or want to worry about or are actively missing out on.
What are the things that Apple hides that every user needs to bother themselves with? People are happy picking an app, using it, closing it with the home button and moving on to whatever else they want to do in another app, using it, closing it...etc.
Apple is all about making all the critical UI elements required to do anything right there on the screen. Having an onscreen cue for opening the app launcher or bringing down the notification tray or swapping between open apps. These aren't things people need to enjoy their devices...and for the people that DO want these things, they are savvy enough to either figure them out or research how to do them.
I'd argue that people internally at Apple know that using pinch to zoom or double tapping the screen or launching Siri with a hold of the home button are all things that are breaking these principles and they'd rather avoid them, but the visual simplicity of the operating system would be compromised if they tried putting onscreen controls for everything. This is why they beat you over the head with the gestures and commands needed to do these things in their advertising. All the early Siri ads showed someone launching Siri a thousand times by holding the home button. All the early iPad ads (and current to a large degree) overly show people executing various gestures to do common tasks to clue a lot of people into those things.
My understanding of Apple's UI philosophy is that they want it to be stupid simple, and I'd say that you can't really get more stupid simple than "here's where you download apps, here's where they all sit, here's a big button to close them, we'll always have the UI elements needed on screen for you that you need"
Those things that I think you're implying should be standard and widely available to all users muck with that simplicity in one way or another.
...
ALL OF THAT BEING SAID...you can tell that iOS is getting bloated. Apple is sneaking functionality all over the place (notification center, app switcher, camera icon on lockscreen, double tapping home on lock for music controls, gesture controls for app switching and app switcher presentation, selecting text and the options available to you when you do...etc etc etc). Things are clearly getting packed and I think the UI IS becoming a bit of a Frankenstein. The problem is that I don't have any idea how you could try and bring everything back to peace.
iOS seems like it inevitably will get just as complex as desktop OS (as far as expected features), but the core concepts that make them easier to use (lack of file system, lack of physical controls, specific UI for specific function, etc) will remain. People using iOS will be more productive and can do more things more quickly than the desktop counterparts...that should remain true throughout.
...
I'm sure I contradicted myself in there somewhere, but it's a complicated situation. I don't think its at all an easy or obvious thing that needs to happen here.
It's comparable to the iOS home screen because it's the app launcher. The newest versions of WP7 included a search button and letter jumper. It's much quicker to find and open randomly located apps on WP7 than on iOS. The tiles are more than just the the iOS dock (duh) but they are rooted in the same idea that these are your favorite/most important/need quick access apps
Well if folders are optional then we might as well say that the app drawers are optional and not an issuer because you can stick every app on the home screen and ignore the app drawer completely (indeed it's the default action on Android to add the icon shortcut on the home screen when installing an app).
Sure got that. Well I think iOS method of app organization is a bit more complicated than you say it is. I also think it's broken because it's no longer adequate for accurately reflecting all the features that iOS has added to the table since its inception.
This doesn't contradict anything I said. We're practically in agreement on this one
The multitasking tray also hides useful features the mute/lock rotation button and the multimedia controls. Novice users have a much worse experience without knowing those and having to navigate through the home screen to switch back and forth between apps. Having a hidden shortcut is fine if the default isn't a pain point.
yes
Ok
well yes, that's the whole point. That's what Apple is usually known for (just to pick one random example: Mac OS X's Time Machine).
Phoenix
Member
That's one areas where I will disagree. While I won't argue the need for a traditional file system, there definitely needs to be a mechanism whereby applications can share files. As we start getting more complex content authoring scenarios on the device there needs to be a mechanism where multiple applications can share the same file.
Mecha_Infantry
Banned
Not too interested in iOS6 for the iPhone now I have an iPad, but the things I'd most like to see:
-a non-LOL level of Notification. I mean the whole screen is so big and a little tiny patch comes down. Maybe something more clever but I don't know
-Increased Active Sync options for Exchange
-More customisable dictionary, like how shortcuts work, but everytime you type a message and you press X to stick to the word typed, it should go to ther personal dictionary list- aka Android implementation
Everything else will be a benefit
-a non-LOL level of Notification. I mean the whole screen is so big and a little tiny patch comes down. Maybe something more clever but I don't know
-Increased Active Sync options for Exchange
-More customisable dictionary, like how shortcuts work, but everytime you type a message and you press X to stick to the word typed, it should go to ther personal dictionary list- aka Android implementation
Everything else will be a benefit
I like that idea. Give it the same two finger swipe right to left gesture as well.
Phoenix
Member
I like that idea. Give it the same two finger swipe right to left gesture as well.
I'm willing to bet something like that is coming with widgets in-hand. The current approach for iOS was rushed together IMO. If they leave that piece the way it is on the iPad it will be LOL worthy.
Unless I'm not understanding what you're saying, iOS also has the search-for-apps functionality?
What I'm saying there is that you can compare the sum of iOS Springboard pages, dock, spotlight to WP tiles, app list because they largely fulfill the same function.
To answer your question, yes, iOS has the search-for-apps functionality.
brotkasten
Member
I like that idea. Give it the same two finger swipe right to left gesture as well.
Seeing that screenshot reminds me ... A quick way to see the date would be great.
Your comparison with NVidia paying devs: Apple doesn't directly pay developers but it spotlights certain devs and gives them exclusive access to hardware beforehand. Every one of Epic's 4 iOS products has been featured in Apple keynotes or ads, even the beta Epic Citadel and unreleased Infinity Blade Dungeons. Its a lot of marketing dollars that pays for itself--the Infinity Blade franchise had $30 million revenue as of January.
The tipping point does not come from APIs available to the developer. As long as the customers are buying on the platform at a much higher rate than Android, as long as Apple makes it easy to sell to a worldwide audience, they will stay on iOS because that's where the money is. How do you sell an Android App in China? You can't sell through Google Play, and you need to navigate a landscape of heavy piracy and about 80 different proprietary Android app stores. For iOS, you can make payments as long as you have a Chinese bank account, and you can even go to the Apple Store to buy credit. It's no wonder that Chinese app developers make 18x more money on iOS than Android, despite the huge market lead that Android has over iOS.
The ecosystem does not revolve around developers, disgruntled developers will still be building for iOS when the customers are there. They sold nearly 70 million iPhones and nearly 30 million iPads in the last 2 quarters, with customer satisfaction higher than before. I don't see the signs that the Apple ecosystem is dangerously dangerously close to being killed off.
RubxQub
ÏÎ¯Î»Ï á¼Î¾ÎµÏÎÎ³Î»Î¿Ï Ïον καί ÏÎµÏ Î´Î¿Î»Ïγον οá½Îº εἰÏÏν
brotkasten
Member
Just click on the "Show Date" option in settings.
This looks nothing like iOS. Are you a wizard?
Phoenix
Member
I expected that in iOS5 quite honestly. I expect to see it on AppleTV with apps. I'm not sure what the hold up is.
RubxQub
ÏÎ¯Î»Ï á¼Î¾ÎµÏÎÎ³Î»Î¿Ï Ïον καί ÏÎµÏ Î´Î¿Î»Ïγον οá½Îº εἰÏÏν
Sorry, you quoted a picture of OS X and I thought that's what you meant
I use the iCal app icon on the homescreen as my "what day is it" indicator.
mescalineeyes
Banned
yes, swipe the homescreen to the left.
mescalineeyes
Banned
I like that idea. Give it the same two finger swipe right to left gesture as well.
Exactly what I meant.
The only problem is that it creates a rift between the 2 main iOS devices functionality wise (use one and you'll know how to use all the others).
Using the same gesture would make it look like a train wreck.
Phoenix
Member
I can't disagree more strongly with that. Disgruntled developers were building applications for PalmOS, J2ME (shudder), and Series 60 for years after the iPhone was out and had an app store. When the shift came they moved rapidly to the new platform. People were buying at a higher rate on other platforms when the iPhone came out. Purchase rate is a mastabatory statistic, what matters is trending and growth rate. If we followed your statistical reasoning, the first guy to reach mass scale would always stay there.
The fact that it is difficult does not mean that you can't sell it through Google Play. The Google infrastructure is fragmented in that space and that is an area where Google needs to do some serious work, however there are only 2 major wallet providers in the NFC space - Google Wallet and ISIS.
As for piracy and app selling, many of those issues will be resolved by the security frameworks coming with NFC and the trusted security platform that those chips provide (since NFC doesn't itself handle security).
I'm sure there were a large number of consoles manufactured by Atari before they were dethroned by Nintendo who sold a lot before they were dethroned by Sony who sold a lot before being dethroned by Microsoft. Selling a lot does NOT protect your market, especially in a space where we're only at the tip of the iceburg in overall unit sales.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
or press home while on the home screen.
So this:
On the iPad, there are a number of system-wide gestures, such as swiping left or right with four fingers to switch between apps. Four-finger swipes? That's convoluted, but imagine a virtual mixing console with horizontal sliders. Quickly move four of them at once...and you switch apps. Application designers have to work around these, making sure that legitimate input methods don't mimic the system-level gestures.
The worst offender is this: swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the Notification Center (a window containing calendar appointments, the weather, etc.). A single-finger vertical motion is hardly unusual, and many apps expect such input. The games Flight Control and Fruit Ninja are two prime examples. Unintentionally pulling down the Notification Center during normal gameplay is common. A centered vertical swipe is natural in any paint program, too. Do app designers need build around allowing such controls? Apparently, yes.
or more of this:The worst offender is this: swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the Notification Center (a window containing calendar appointments, the weather, etc.). A single-finger vertical motion is hardly unusual, and many apps expect such input. The games Flight Control and Fruit Ninja are two prime examples. Unintentionally pulling down the Notification Center during normal gameplay is common. A centered vertical swipe is natural in any paint program, too. Do app designers need build around allowing such controls? Apparently, yes.
:?
Phoenix said:
I don't see where you see the trends. Here are some recent statistics on developer interest on platforms.
If anything, developer interest in Android phones and tablets is going down at a faster rate than on iOS.
You can't sell it on Google Play. Google doesn't support payments from China. It's blocked on many carriers. It's only technically possible if you have a credit card with an address in a country that Google Play is available in. And I doubt Google is going to work with all the state-owned banks to enable payments anytime soon.
I think this is the first time I'm hearing of possible widespread dissatisfaction by developers for iOS. I thought most of them were pretty content with the ecosystem and how Apple has improved review times and support in the past couple years. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I don't read about developers complaining on a regular basis. Those comments come in short surges, like when the IAP regulations got a lot more strict or when they had that clause forbidding use of alternate coding tools (which was later removed)
It's still way ahead of Android if a developer is looking to have any sort of success and visibility. WP7 isn't a factor at this time. I don't see how Apple is in any precarious position for losing developer support. and predicting too far in the future is silly since they update every year and we don't know where they'll go.
Let's see what Apple publicly announces for iOS 6. there should be some new APIs and hooks for developers to create more ambitious apps. I'd only start worrying about Apple if they kept all the tools and APIs stagnant for a couple years.
It's still way ahead of Android if a developer is looking to have any sort of success and visibility. WP7 isn't a factor at this time. I don't see how Apple is in any precarious position for losing developer support. and predicting too far in the future is silly since they update every year and we don't know where they'll go.
Let's see what Apple publicly announces for iOS 6. there should be some new APIs and hooks for developers to create more ambitious apps. I'd only start worrying about Apple if they kept all the tools and APIs stagnant for a couple years.
While I think it is kind of shitty the way that developed, and I don't think it was Apple's intention (their intention was likely to have all app settings in Preferences.app), I think we will have to live with it. Preferences.app does give us a few nice things - namely if a setting borks an app, you don't have to rely on the app executable to fix the setting (which could crash due to the setting). This is worth its weight in gold IMO.
What I would really like to see is fewer settings and more dynamically designed interfaces that present what are traditionally done using settings in a top level way.
Phoenix
Member
I don't see where you see the trends. Here are some recent statistics on developer interest on platforms.
If anything, developer interest in Android phones and tablets is going down at a faster rate than on iOS.
Appcelerator is a platform for building cross platform applications. These numbers are actually inline with the expectations by many that the era of going cross platform is starting to want and people are starting to go native direct because they cannot take advantage of functions of the platforms from a cross platform tool anymore (that and titanium sucks). Please consider and understand the nature of the source before trying to derive that sort of information from it.
You didn't understand what I spoke about with NFC and payments. The one major issue is one of infrastructure. Google is not trying to simply drop a market in there because they manner in which they conduct business is not allowed in China from a carrier and banking perspective. The GSMA and TSM pair for future NFC phones provides a secure and authorized payment infrastructure that carriers in banks in China will support going forward. Its a similar issue to why NFC adoption has been glacial here, just that it simply isn't allowed there.
Phoenix
Member
I never said there was widespread dissatification by developers for iOS - I said that there was more SATISFACTION and acceptance for Android. This will start to yield more Android apps that aren't built by unskilled teams and will start to exploit the platform in a way that will highlight the fact that iOS hasn't improved in some critical areas. As this happens, consumers will notice that Android is more viable than they currently believe it to be and actually superior in several areas. This will yield a tipping point which threatens the ecosystem as it depends entirely on application support.
That's the issue. People didn't think iOS 5 brought enough stuff to the table and most were expecting a lot more - many of those things being available in android.
I make my living in mobile dev (primarily iOS - hell I've published a book on iOS Game Programming with Unity) and the innovative applications that people come asking for require a lot of features that aren't in iOS yet so you ask people to wait until WWDC to see what Apple will announce and if not, we build on Android. For example take a look at the Lexus Wired NFC ad that they recently ran.
http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/lexus-brings-nfc-enabled-print-ad-wired-magazine/233426/
Major brand, major move and can only run on Android despite the fact that their demographic has iOS platforms. In a "happy" ecosystem this would have never happened without iOS - but it did... and it was successful and its not the only one. I know of at least 2 other MAJOR brand projects that will roll out and not be supportable by iOS because the platform isn't capable yet. THESE things move consumers because they are in their faces and saying "your product is inferior."
Time is the enemy.
Can you provide a better source of developer dissatisfaction with iOS and the App Store and people on the verge of migrating to Android and Google Play?
Google Play will continue to run into issues in China, NFC or not. As long as the company chooses to pick a fight with the government, including Brin's recent statements, they see no reason to work with Google--on my most recent trip to China, they seemed to block 1/5 Google searches, randomly--I started having to depend on Baidu to search for innocuous things like American anti-trust law. Google Drive was completely blocked in less than a day, while iCloud has never had issues.
This claim goes against everything devs have been saying. iOS has been consistently the prefered platform to develop for and release apps for. I see devs complain constantly about androids wild inconsistencies in spec and screen size. Where are all these mythical devs who are more satisfied with the android market place and android development?
Phoenix
Member
I dunno. I guess they don't exist. People are just building increasing amounts of high profile stuff that can't run on iOS because someone farted in their Alphabits that morning.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
One thing I dislike about iOS is the 5 finger gestures. So unnatural and weird. They're useful in functionality but not in implementation.
Phoenix
Member
Sure. Point me to anybody major you know that is JUST writing iOS applications. Everybody in the mobile space has to support both just like everyone in the web space has to support WebKit and IE. Those that have to support both, those that have to develop for TV platforms (and that audience is growing), those that are in the mobile payments space (they can ONLY develop for Android today), those that are developing military applications (that is being pushed to Android because the govt wants an open source solution), those that are developing applications that run within vehicles (there is no iOS in that space), those that are building retail and kiosk applications at scale (the major agencies are shifting based upon cost). That's your audience that is on the verge.
They guys you're talking about that are small 1 man shops, that are putting out an app every so often, or that are not using a cross platform tool to build with and only have iOS talent (because getting mobile development talent is absurdly difficult AND expensive right now) - those folks are sticking with iOS for a long time right now.
Are you aware of the mechanics for getting approval for moving through the China Telecom infrastructure? Its not like the US. You don;t just host a service and it goes through the net. If you don't metatag your infrastructure and register it accordingly it gets blocked no matter who it is. I used to do a lot of work with IHG and we had to do a number of things at the router level just to keep from being blocked as well. The world isn't as simple as "China and Google are having a pissing match so they are being blocked". Google is, however, not playing by the rules for a lot of their systems and they do get blocked. So does a lot of things in China. Spent 2 days chatting with the US Department of Commerce about doing business in China while in Beijing for my MBA and those we just some of the things listed. There are LOTS of brands that can't function properly in China.
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