The article complains about Apple's notes app, but doesn't actually say what specifically is wrong with it (Bad Design? Where? How?).
Then, it turns out to be an ad for the author's notes app, which presumably has "good design", but we aren't told what is better about it.
On top of that, the article has some clickbait title which is just engagement bait for people who aren't gonna read the article.
This article is a microcosm of everything that's wrong with the Internet today: Clickbait, engagement farming, and ads, all rolled into one single, forgettable waste of time.
The only good thing I have to say about the article is that it was short.
jebarker · 2h ago
I actually quite like Apple Notes. Then again, I’m in it for a note taking app not an aesthetic experience. I’m also not a tech visionary I guess.
tptacek · 2h ago
Every time I read something like this, three words loop through my brain: "rich Corinthian leather".
parpfish · 2h ago
for software design, i'd expect that launching the app store played a big role.
the app store ceded a lot of the experience to other developers that apple couldn't control or hold to their standards, so it's not a surprise that they responded by just kind of giving up and chasing flashy aesthetics in order to compete.
it's one thing to belabor every little design detail when you know that you are shaping a holistic experience, but if you know that the user is going to spend half their time using some janky app that you didn't make, it's hard to convince yourself to spend a ton of time making your half better.
zahirbmirza · 4h ago
Does anyone else remember being evangelical about literally every Apple design decision?
PaulHoule · 3h ago
It’s kinda funny how it happened. Maybe 10 years ago Apple fanbois could not admit that Apple could do anything wrong. Maybe 2 years ago I was finding Macers were no longer fanatical about MacOS and were recognizing the things I always thought were wrong with it and in fact it was easy to draw out bitter complaints about various quality problems with it. (I am amazed at the M4 Mini hardware, the software is adequate but… meh)
When I first saw Liquid Glass I had just gotten my first iPhone and was in that flush of attraction and thought “that looks pretty good” but there has been such an outpouring of scorn for it that I’m pretty shocked.
zahirbmirza · 3h ago
Maybe. I think there is some real insight in this viewpoint.
I think there was a time, long ago, that I justifiably believed that some of Apple's design was forward thinking. But, I think they are now more like WhatsApp, who apparently have a unit that is charged with ensuring that the UI does not change for fear of unsettling users.
I think this translates to - 'Apple has to play it safe as it is too big a company to make risky changes'. Ie, it can no longer do revolutionary things for fear of a collapse in faith of the consumer masses rather than the avidly convinced first adapters.
XorNot · 2h ago
But there's nothing wrong with that? Computers are tools. Software is a tool. Unless a change is absolutely improving the user experience, then it shouldn't be made just for the sake of change.
Imagine picking up a drill and it updates and now the trigger is somewhere new. And they've taken away the sped settings in the interest of simplicity?
chiefalchemist · 2h ago
When you’re the underdog you can do underdog things. People love and expect underdog things. But Apple’s underdog days are long gone. Stability is now Apple’s M.O. Liquid Glass is now what Apple passes off as innovation.
jdjdjdjdjd · 2h ago
Notes is probably one of favorite apple apps of all time...
amelius · 2h ago
How important is design if literally everybody and their mother uses Apple devices?
readthenotes1 · 2h ago
The title at hacker News is not the title of the article.
The answer to the "when" question is of course when they gave up the curved iPhone 3s design for the iPhone 4 which felt like a sharp brick and had antenna problems but only if you held it in an unapproved way. Oh, and God, now I'm hahaving traumatic flashbacks to the bad camera on the iPhone 4. I gave up after my third one and the Apple employee told me I was just thinking about it wrong.
teapot7 · 1h ago
I remember how much I liked my old iPhone 4. I liked the straight edges and crisp look and feel. I upgraded eventually to an iPhone 6 and hated the roundness - the design language of the phone said one thing to me, and that was "drop me on the ground and break me". I got a case for only minutes after I bought it so it would have a chance of survival.
Currently on an iPhone 12 mini and happy both that the clean straight edges came back, and that Apple's still making the occasional small phone.
Then, it turns out to be an ad for the author's notes app, which presumably has "good design", but we aren't told what is better about it.
On top of that, the article has some clickbait title which is just engagement bait for people who aren't gonna read the article.
This article is a microcosm of everything that's wrong with the Internet today: Clickbait, engagement farming, and ads, all rolled into one single, forgettable waste of time.
The only good thing I have to say about the article is that it was short.
the app store ceded a lot of the experience to other developers that apple couldn't control or hold to their standards, so it's not a surprise that they responded by just kind of giving up and chasing flashy aesthetics in order to compete.
it's one thing to belabor every little design detail when you know that you are shaping a holistic experience, but if you know that the user is going to spend half their time using some janky app that you didn't make, it's hard to convince yourself to spend a ton of time making your half better.
When I first saw Liquid Glass I had just gotten my first iPhone and was in that flush of attraction and thought “that looks pretty good” but there has been such an outpouring of scorn for it that I’m pretty shocked.
I think there was a time, long ago, that I justifiably believed that some of Apple's design was forward thinking. But, I think they are now more like WhatsApp, who apparently have a unit that is charged with ensuring that the UI does not change for fear of unsettling users.
I think this translates to - 'Apple has to play it safe as it is too big a company to make risky changes'. Ie, it can no longer do revolutionary things for fear of a collapse in faith of the consumer masses rather than the avidly convinced first adapters.
Imagine picking up a drill and it updates and now the trigger is somewhere new. And they've taken away the sped settings in the interest of simplicity?
The answer to the "when" question is of course when they gave up the curved iPhone 3s design for the iPhone 4 which felt like a sharp brick and had antenna problems but only if you held it in an unapproved way. Oh, and God, now I'm hahaving traumatic flashbacks to the bad camera on the iPhone 4. I gave up after my third one and the Apple employee told me I was just thinking about it wrong.
Currently on an iPhone 12 mini and happy both that the clean straight edges came back, and that Apple's still making the occasional small phone.