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Is my vision that bad? No, it's just a bug in Apple's Calculator

(martin.wojtczyk.de)
631 points wojtczyk | 10 comments | 31 Aug 24 04:29 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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jb1991 ◴[31 Aug 24 09:12 UTC] No.41407501[source]▶
On mobile devices, Apple’s Calculator app has always been one of the most frustrating apps I’ve ever used, and I’m surprised it’s a stock app by the company itself. If you press buttons quickly, like you would a normal calculator, many of the key presses simply don’t register at all. I’m not sure if they’re prioritizing some pretty little visual animation over actual functionality, but it’s incredibly surprising from a company that focuses on user interaction, supposedly.
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PaulHoule ◴[31 Aug 24 13:26 UTC] No.41408727[source]▶
Apple's greatest weakness is that many of it's fans and I'd assume people in house assume they are the epitome of UI design when actually it's not. The thoughtlessness/pixel ratio might be worse than Microsoft in some cases, which can be hard to believe.
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diggan ◴[31 Aug 24 13:42 UTC] No.41408807[source]▶
> Apple's greatest weakness is that many of it's fans and I'd assume people in house assume they are the epitome of UI design when actually it's not.

Which led to people like me making a fool out of themselves. Always been using Android, and listened to iPhone users singing the praise of the amazing UI and UX of iOS. Well, eventually iPhone 12 Mini released so I figured, "why not give it a try, can't be worse than my current Motorola Moto G gen4 right?"

Well, it is worse. I still have the phone because it still works, but that was my first and last iPhone. Everything is dog slow, not because poor performance but because of slow animations. Same on Android by default, but at least I can speed it up. And the UX makes you jump through hoops, things are impossible to discover unless you watch tutorials on YouTube, and the amount of UI bugs seems sky-high for something that sells itself as "Premium".

And then CarPlay is just an abomination! Even the most basic things like "I'd like to answer a call while still being able to see the map I use for navigation" seems to be completely ignored and it honestly doesn't make any sense at all.

Ugh, I almost look forward to accidentally dropping the phone so I can go back to having a non-distracting experience in the car again.

Edit: I just remembered the most egregious issue: How can I see the current year without having to open up a separate calendar application/put a huge widget on my home screen?

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1. PaulHoule ◴[31 Aug 24 14:42 UTC] No.41409225[source]▶
CarPlay is a thing because carmakers just can't seem to make a decent "radio" with a touchscreen no matter how they try. It would be nice to see a business school case study that reveals why.
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2. copperx ◴[31 Aug 24 15:18 UTC] No.41409485[source]▶
That problem isn't limited to "radios." Have you ever used a smart thermostat? A touchscreen fridge? A smart TV? Horrible, horrible UX.
3. DistractionRect ◴[31 Aug 24 15:22 UTC] No.41409511[source]▶
Radios don't need a touch screen. Old button radios are pretty intuitive. The display/touch aspect is because people want navigation, apps like deezer/itunes/Spotify, etc. Then you have to think about updates/real time data. How does that work? Does the car need its own data plan? Or do we do everything via usb and just do everything offline?

And then people still expect to connect their phones to the car, for calls/reading texts etc, so you still have to support that in some way... and people will expect that to play nice with the audio playback features (calls pause/unpause music, etc)

Since we're already supporting a phone connection, then it just makes life easier to bring your own experience. The auto maker supplies the interface, you bring your own apps, data plan, etc via carplay/android auto.

Personally, I find it's a huge step forward to whatever OEMs make in house which aren't updated/obsolete in a few years.

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4. diggan ◴[31 Aug 24 15:32 UTC] No.41409585[source]▶
> CarPlay is a thing because carmakers just can't seem to make a decent "radio" with a touchscreen no matter how they try

But CarPlay is 100x worse than Android Auto, even though Apple is supposed to excel at UI and UX, this was the point I was trying to make, not that car makers such at UI/UX.

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5. Angostura ◴[31 Aug 24 16:01 UTC] No.41409768[source]▶
Having used both, I disagree. What do you prefer with AA?
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6. lotsofpulp ◴[31 Aug 24 16:29 UTC] No.41409937[source]▶
I am happy CarPlay and Android Auto are a thing because I do not want to give any other entity access to my phone.
7. diggan ◴[31 Aug 24 17:00 UTC] No.41410171{3}[source]▶
Well, for starters, if I'm using a map app on the CarPlay/Android Auto dashboard, then I expect phone calls to not cover the entire screen automatically, as I'm probably using the map for navigation.

Anything on top of that would just be extras, but something basic like that should work at least. Which it does on Android Auto, but not on CarPlay.

8. akdev1l ◴[31 Aug 24 18:29 UTC] No.41410778[source]▶
In theory you could use a smartphone as data provider for updates etc
9. immibis ◴[31 Aug 24 19:15 UTC] No.41411160[source]▶
You can't feel the controls on a touchscreen. You always have to look at it.
10. wave100 ◴[31 Aug 24 23:30 UTC] No.41412849{3}[source]▶
The biggest shock for me moving from Android Auto to Carplay was the complete lack of multi touch support in Apple's offering. Worked perfectly on Android.