←back to thread

559 points cxr | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0.864s | source
Show context
zmmmmm ◴[] No.44476622[source]
I think the article overlooks that it is not really an accident that apps and operating systems are hiding all their user interface affordances. It's an antipattern to create lock in, and it tends to occur once a piece of software has reached what they consider saturation point in terms of growth where keeping existing users in is more important than attracting new ones. It so turns out that the vast majority of software we use is created by companies in exactly that position - Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta etc.

It might seem counter intuitive that hiding your interface stops your users leaving. But it does it because it changes your basis of assumptions about what a device is and your relationship with it. It's not something you "use", but something you "know". They want you to feel inherently linked to it at an intuitive level such that leaving their ecosystem is like losing a part of yourself. Once you've been through the experience of discovering "wow, you have to swipe up from a corner in a totally unpredictable way to do an essential task on a phone", and you build into your world of assumptions that this is how phones are, the thought of moving to a new type of phone and learning all that again is terrifying. It's no surprise at all that all the major software vendors are doing this.

replies(4): >>44476656 #>>44476691 #>>44476747 #>>44480205 #
BLKNSLVR ◴[] No.44476656[source]
It's a double edged sword though in that it can discourage users from trying their interface.

Apple's interface shits me because it's all from that one button, and I can never remember how to get to settings because I use that interface so infrequently, so Android feels more natural. Ie. Android has done it's lock-in job, but Apple has done itself a disservice.

(Not entirely fair, I also dislike Apple for all the other same old argument reasons).

replies(1): >>44476723 #
1. copperx ◴[] No.44476723[source]
Which button do you mean?
replies(1): >>44476830 #
2. BLKNSLVR ◴[] No.44476830[source]
Yeah, that's how old my Apple knowledge is.

Another comment elsewhere on this page informed me that the universal button no longer exists.

replies(1): >>44484629 #
3. wpm ◴[] No.44484629[source]
The home button's death was the end of the reality and the beginning of the myth that iOS is easy to use.

The home button was an important lifeline. It did one thing if you pressed it once. No matter what, it took you home. For my older relatives, that one button made using iOS incredibly easy and safe feeling. No matter what, no matter where you ended up, just hit the home button. There, back to start. Easy peasy.

Now with everything hidden behind stupid gestures that even I don't fully understand, my parents struggle to not inundate their iPads with extra windows and split window "Windows" that show up in the app switcher. My mom has had a none home-button iPhone for years and still can't get the home screen gesture right most of the time, and she hates it. I had to scramble to buy up old 9th gen iPads for them and my grandmother once it was discontinued.

replies(1): >>44488611 #
4. fingerlocks ◴[] No.44488611{3}[source]
Did you know that the home button still exists in virtual form? It can be enabled in the accessibility menu