iPhone Apps Gone Wrong

[kittle]

hrm with all these problems, mabye I wont get one afterall

 

[Guest]

What I see as a problem with the iPhone is something that many users like; it has an immersive user interface that you have to pay attention to. On a phone with a physical button to answer a call, that button is always in the same place and for many people, muscle memory will put your finger in the right place. With virtual buttons, you certainly can look at the screen to see what to do - but having to look does take more of your attention. For some apps that's good, for some it's not.

Putting a button with a different function in a familiar place and changing what built-in gestures do, or making you click OK before you correct a password instead of highlighting the field are small things; if they're small things that irritate you frequently, they're bad things. I view a phone as something you use on the move, with patience for navigating interfaces, without the fine control of a mouse and keyboard, often when you're in a hurry. Getting the experience right for the phone means being simpler and more accomplished than on a desktop/notebook; there's less margin for error.

Nearly all of the interface 'glitches' here (including the moving answer button) break Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the iPhone, so it's developers who could give users an extra second of delight rather than frustration each time. We included examples of apps that get the experience right for contrast, because it's the difference between a seamless user experience and something that breaks you out of flow.

 

[theuerkorn]

[citation][nom]Mary-Branscombe[/nom]Nearly all of the interface 'glitches' here (including the moving answer button) break Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the iPhone, so it's developers who could give users an extra second of delight rather than frustration each time. We included examples of apps that get the experience right for contrast, because it's the difference between a seamless user experience and something that breaks you out of flow.[/citation]

So this being the purpose of the article is completely fine with me, though it can be argued that the write-up itself does not necessarily convey that message very well. Instead, it seems to want to put the blame on Apple. Now we know that's really not what you're trying to say. I suggest reworking the article to better express your intent.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

I think I can speak for every tech enthusiast when I say that we all want better design out of every tech company. This article doesn't place blame--it simply points out where the "pain points" are in the user experience. People in the iPhone business (which includes Apple AND iPhone App developers) should heed our concerns and fix it. We should demand better, even from very good products.

 

[Guest]

While reading this article, I thought "what a lot of fuss over things so little". I really like my iPhone; it is far better than my previous cel phone and my previous pocket-PC, and way more convenient. However, it certainly is not perfect and is missing some very common features (like SMS messaging, FLASH player during web browsing, etc) that are far more significant than the times covered int his article. In fact, I'm very surprised not to see mention of such things here.

 

[qwakcookie]

I don't agree with the 'Answer' issue. I have never pressed the red button by mistake because the handset was unlocked. It is not hard to look at the handset and press (or swipe) the appropriate button.

Anyways, most of us have caller ID and look at the screen anyways to know who's calling. How much energy does it take to look a couple of degrees down to know if you need to swipe to answer or press the left icon to answer? Not a lot I hope.

 

[Guest]

iPhone sucks my right nut now.