obrhoff

While researching how an iPad app should look, I came across this 13-year-old video of Spotify's iPad app. It reminds me how we are stuck in mobile app design.

We have achieved nothing in the last 13 years besides adding some meaningless gestures and maybe pushing a few pixels to the left or right (metaphorically).
#ipad #ios #indiedev #iosdev #buildinpublic #skeumorphism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqvS94-ScFM

Spotify for iPad review

YouTube
Jan 11 at 10:17amIvory for Mac
Show threadobrhoffJan 11

Here another example with Tweetie (15 years!!!) and how it pushed everything forward.

The early years of mobile app design were full of energy and creativity (something Apple HIG zealots would probably hate today).

The energy in tech disappeared and we went from: „how could this be the best app we could imagine“ to „it’s good enough, ship it“.
#ipad #ios #indiedev #iosdev #buildinpublic #skeumorphism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIJTXNfGHuM

Twitter for Apple iPad app review

YouTube
Show threadNick SloanJan 11

@obrhoff Maybe I’m a HIG zealot, but as a user I appreciate familiar and predictable UI far more than beauty and novelty. I’ve never bounced off an app harder than Snapchat (accusing them of being novel, not beautiful). I view the native components of SwiftUI as an incredible gift to users (with notable exceptions for when Apple fucks everything up).

I’m glad for people who experiment with UI and for the people who appreciate it, but I always reach for the utilitarian app first.

Show threadKonstantin 🏳️‍🌈🔭Jan 11
@obrhoff lol, it's actually hard to get that layout with SwiftUI... it will fight you every step of the way :D
Show thread~/phranck Jan 11
@obrhoff Look at this gorgeous keyboard with its subtle 3D effects and depth. 😍
Show threadChristian TietzeJan 11
@phranck @obrhoff funny how thick the bezel looks though
Show threadobrhoffJan 11
@ctietze Jonny and Dye took everything from us 😡 /s
Show threadJanusz LeidgensJan 11
@obrhoff is the layout ugly or hard to use? I'm not sure we need breakthrough innovations. Maybe we learned enough to make usable apps with established patterns. I mean my browser looks very much the same for thirty years I think. The biggest innovation was to combine search and address bar years ago.
Show threadMelvin GundlachJan 11
@Killerdackel @obrhoff Vertical tabs seem like a fairly recent addition to (mainstream) browsers.
Show threadobrhoffJan 11

@Killerdackel Idk. I think we even regressed with Liquid Design and its obsession with emphasizing the content.

Like for example changing the tabs in Safari. It takes more taps to change tabs now (opening a popup, then selecting the tab screen). They added a hidden gesture (you can swipe the searchbar up) to directly access this screen.

Who will ever figure this out?

Show threadMark AsbachJan 11
@obrhoff @Killerdackel Only those who scroll the tab screen to the very top - there‘s a hint now about this (why at the top?!?).
Show thread bitterseedsJan 11
@obrhoff @Killerdackel you can revert it back to the old style. So is it a real problem?
Show threadNevyn BengtssonJan 11
@obrhoff I built that app!! It’s my proudest achievement, the prettiest thing I’ve ever been involved in building. I really really miss the era, and the amazing designs around that time.
Show threadobrhoffJan 11
@nevyn Wow how cool is that. Yeah that energy is kinda gone and moved to the AI space.
Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jan 11
@nevyn @obrhoff My hat’s off to you. I was never a full-time Spotify user but I remember being impressed how cool this UI was – and subsequently disappointed when it went away in favour of the more pedestrian blown-up mobile layout. The first years of iPad overlapping with the tail end of rich UI design were something quite special.
Show threadJan Philipp SachseJan 11
@obrhoff I‘d even say we’ve taken a few steps back. IMO Apple hit the target pretty well back then, but nowadays one really can’t reason what you can and cannot do on any given screen on iPadOS 😔
Show threadColinJan 11
@obrhoff This whole thing looks so much nicer
Show threadMichael CritzJan 11

@obrhoff We live in a time of platform maturity so I’d expect less wild innovation for innovation’s sake. It’s easy to forget what’s been added by the platform. By year:

2023 - Interactive widgets, standby mode
2022 - Live activities
2021 - Focus modes, sheet detents
2020 - Widgets, Picture-in-Picture
2019 - Dark Mode and modal cards

It’s striking we’re still getting “basic” UX features from the OS.

Show thread bitterseedsJan 11
@obrhoff it’s only going to get worse as they tech community singularly focuses on AI slop. 🤨