Thursday, September 19, 2013

Getting flattened under the iOS7 bus

Unless you're living under a rock in the middle of Mongolia, you've probably heard that the iPhone has a new look. Oh, of course, it comes in a rainbow of colors and probably has the NSA drooling with the spying possibilities.

But I'm not talking about the new hardware, I'm talking about the software. iOS7 is famously flat. Very FLAT. I've been using it for a week and I've become accustomed to many of the new visual elements. Moreover, I've come to really like many of the features and user-experience changes.

Many people has said that iOS7 is just a visual change and it's really just about copying Windows Phone. Or that it's just putting lipstick on a pig and that iOS needs more fundamental changes to keep up with the flexibility and additional features that Android provides. Well, some of that may well be true, but after using iOS7 for a week, I can say that the OS level changes and the changes to the default Apple apps like Mail, Calendar, Safari, & Weather are really well thought out. There were flaws in the old Calendar app that I didn't even realize until I started using the new version and then it's like "WOW, I can't believe I lived that old version!"

Updates to apps certainly don't require a revamped OS, but I must say that the changes are really aligned well so that the way you use the OS is similar to the way you use apps. Gestures has become more important and more useful. And since visually, many of these apps have been cleaned up quite a bit, it becomes all the more important to provide the right cues so that these new gestures or features are easy to use and make sense. Overall, I think Apple has done a good job with that and it becomes more clear that the job they did wasn't just about changing the look of apps or the OS, they worked on usability and making it easier and better to use things throughout the phone.

The question now comes about the other apps. The ones that people may spend a heck of a lot more time in. Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram. What will those apps look like once they update for iOS7? Well, for Facebook and Twitter, we already know since they released new versions yesterday. Facebook has changed the layout of its screen to include a bottom button bar and the ability to swipe between screens. In some ways it feels more confusing to me, but I've only used it a couple of times since the refresh, so I can't lay judgement until I've tapped around more. Twitter's app is mainly a visual refresh, but there are a number of OS level changes and connections to Twitter elsewhere which are interesting such as the ability to search Twitter via Siri and the link list available via Safari. A number of other apps updated yesterday to ensure they work with iOS7, but they don't all have usability changes or even visual changes. The bus is clearly picking up steam and it's going to be an interesting few months as more apps are updated.

TechCrunch has a rundown of some of the first movers in the iOS7 space.
Before & After iOS 7: How Your Favorite Apps Are Changing
It's going to be really interesting to see where apps go from here. I agree wholeheartedly that new icons and flatter design isn't the most important thing. But the usability changes that Apple is heading towards are what app designers need to keep in mind as they develop new versions of their apps. It's not to say these designers need to follow the same mindset that Apple may have. But it's clear that the simplification of on-screen elements is important and well-thought-out integration of gestures, menus, and navigation are at the heart of the changes we should expect. As the TechCruch article points out, some app designers started from the ground-up and others have made simpler changes.

As we see more of these changes, it's quite clear that it's not just time for a re-vamp of the mobile OS, but of the mobile app as well. This is not just about becoming flatter or more colorful, it's about re-imaging how users should interact with a mobile app. And while developers for Android or Windows Phone could certainly take up the same challenges, it seems that the real momentum for these changes is due to the release of iOS7. I'd love to hear your first impressions of iOS7 as well as your favorite apps. What do you think so far? What do you think is still needed?


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

New and creative ways to use touch screens with kids

Since reading an article about the "touch screen generation" nearly a month ago, I've been allowing my two older kids more time on the iPad. I'm not worrying about whether they're using learning apps or if they're just coloring. Here's the article on The Atlantic if you haven't seen it:

The Touch-Screen GenerationYoung children—even toddlers—are spending more and more time with digital technology. What will it mean for their development?
Just because I've been letting them play on the iPad more doesn't mean I'm not watching them. In fact, I've been watching them more closely. I'm mainly curious to see what they end up doing. My 5 year old tends to doodle a lot, play a bunch of Toca Boca games, and watch some PBS Kids shows. However, she often pulls up educational apps on her own. My 2 y year old tends to cycle between apps at warp speed, but he recently found the PBS Kids app and basically watches the same videos on the iPad that he gets to watch on the TV. But watching them on the iPad is special since he gets to choose the app and the video. All-in-all, it's pretty interesting to see what they choose to do on there. Some of it (coloring & watching shows) are things they do away from the iPad in almost exactly the same way. Some  of it (like math and spelling) are similar but rather different). Some of it (like the Toca Boca games) are completely different. Typically, every thing they do on the iPad involves quite a bit of interactivity even if they're just selecting short videos to watch.

Now things get interesting when app makers start throwing things out there which pull in multiple aspects from things they know, and then throw in some unique interactivity. Here's a great example of what Disney is planning for screenings of The Little Mermaid:
Disney Wants You To Bring Your iPad To The Little Mermaid Screenings
Let me first state that I'm not yet sure if I'll take my daughter to such a screening, but this really intrigues me. This is the kid/Disney-enthusiast's version of the perfect "second screen app" As it is, my daughter loves singing and dancing so she'd really love this. In fact, this would increase her level of activity and thinking as compared to just watching a movie for 90 mins. The biggest problem with this is the idea of not simply sitting back and immersing oneself in a film. Isn't that the idea of going to a movie...to sit back, relax, and enjoy a wonderful immersive story?

It's an interesting trade-off...give up on some of the complete immersion in the story to get a level of interaction with the movie and the audience.

So for parents out there, what would you do in these situations? Does this Disney app intrigue you? Does the idea of more screen time, in general, seem useful? I'd love to hear from you all!


Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Really Interesting Reads about Mobile

As I'm still having difficulty keeping up with blogging, I'm going to pass this along as really interesting reading about mobile. I've got lots of commentary about specific posts you'll find within these links so I'll try to put some thoughts together. In the meantime, you should definitely go through this list of blogs since I think you'll find a lot of great, insightful, and well-written content.

Here's the list from Semil Shah:
Required Reading Regarding Mobile