Maccast Members #154 - The Next iOS

Radical Redesign

• The big rumors have been about a radical redesign in the UI
• Jony Ive, is in charge and going about undoing all the Skumorphisim that Forestall (and Jobs) reportedly loved.
  • I’m actually indifferent about the embellishments
  • I personally really only find Game Center to truly egregious.
  • My wife actually likes the skumorphic enhancements. She thinks they add a familiarity and comfort to the UI and can see her point.
• Sources have described iOS 7 as “black, white, and flat all over.”
  • Ive stated that software designs filled with physical metaphors do not stand the test of time
  • He wants to unify the look across applications, at least among Apple’s, to avoid confusion. They will all feel like they are part of the same family of design.
  • Apple’s apps will reportedly lose all linen and textured elements. The will have primarily white backgrounds with colored buttons that are specific colors based on the app

More than a pretty face?

• Beyond a radical UI redesign we haven’t heard much more
  • There has been mention of Flickr and Vimeo integration
  • Also, better car integration of Siri and Maps, but that requires help from auto makers and a new car
• I read a great editorial on Apple Insider, by Daniel Eran Dilger where he mentions that iOS needs more that a new UI to come of age.
• iOS also needs to bring with it some significant new and upgraded features.
• Currently the common complaint levied against iOS 6 by the tech community is that it is “stale and boring”
  • visually that is true, the UI has remained largely unchanged since 2007, especially in areas like the home screen and core Apple apps.
  • The UI consistency, in my mind, is actually a strength.
  • The varied UI’s of different GUI layers placed on top of Android devices, or the recent radical UI shift of Windows 8 tend to be confusing to most consumers.
  • even if we accept the current iOS needing a refresh, the rumored UI changes should address that.
  • Also, I think that while the UI changes will feel visually “radical” they will actually be mostly just about removing the visual embellishments (shadows, textures, accents, etc.). The overall way we interact with the OS probably won’t change much.
• A UI change is needed so that critics have a visual way see that OS is “fresh”, but more importantly Apple needs to focus on advancing features as well.
• The trick is which features and how “radical” so they need to be?
  • Apple’s competition seems to be taking the try everything and see what sticks approach.
  • this is how we end up with features like no-touch gestures that have little utility in actual usage (unless you need to swipe while eating BBQ ribs).

Where to focus?

• Apple needs to continue the trend of unifying the desktop and mobile OS
  • that is not to say make them work the same, that would be bad.
  • they do need to continue making them work seamlessly together.
  • this means consistent design cues, apps, and functionality. Something Apple started with Mountain Lion and I expect we’ll see more of at WWDC with 10.9
• Web services also need to play a bigger part.
  • This is one area where Apple really needs to step up their game and impress.
• It’s the marriage of new software features and integrated services that will be the killer feature here.
  • More integration options for things like Siri, iCloud, and social media integration.
  • More and more our iOS should be morphing from passive tools to becoming helpful, active, assistants and the key to unlocking that is this powerful combination of software, data, and services.
• Examples
  • The AppleInsider piece mentions OCR. This is something none of Apple’s own apps take advantage of, but is an ideal input method for a mobile device.
    • Imagine scanning a business card directly into Contacts.
  • Web services could be used to supplement information you might be missing and proactively provide details you might want
    • If I enter a contacts street and city, why can’t Apple proactively attempt to enter the postal code, area code, etc?
    • Why does Siri have to open Safari to turn information from a web search?
  • Extending functionality for Apps like Notes.
    • Another app where OCR could be helpful
    • RTF support, not a full blown word processor, but why not allow images, urls with previews, drawing tools, maps, etc.
  • iCloud needs to be made easier for 3rd party apps to integrate. Ubiquity is the key here. It needs to be so seamless and easy to integrate that there is no reason for a developer not to do it.
    • And from the OS X side it needs to be more like Dropbox.
    • Why not simply have an iCloud folder inside my home folder with each app having it’s own folder where i sync any docs
    • peer to peer file sharing also needs to be as ubiquitous and built in. I should be able to send a document from an iOS app directly to OS X or another iOS device over my local wi-fi or Bluetooth (without iCloud) in click or two.

Let Siri be a true assistant

• Siri is amazing at parsing what I say and doing what i want ( within her current limits), but she is more of a Go-fer than an assistant.
• Apple can steal a page from Google Now.
• iOS has an incredible amount of data available to it and it can all mostly be obtained locally
  • Contacts, calendar, reminders, web history, location data, map history, etc.
  • Siri should be watching these and “predicting” what information I may need next.
  • If i have a meeting at 2:00 and it’s 20 minutes away and at 1:40 I haven’t left my house shouldn’t she chime in with a reminder? And also check the traffic for any accidents and offer to route me around them so I wont be late? Or if I am going to be late offer to call or text the person I’m meeting to let them know? All this is possible.
  • If the person i’m meeting sends an email to cancel or change our meeting why not chime in and offer to remove or reschedule it on my calendar?
  • what’s cool is Apple might be able to do this all locally without having to have my data in the cloud on their servers like Google. Even if not, I might be more apt to trust Apple with my data than say Google, especially if they say they wont mine it for advertising.

How do they do it?

• Mike Elgan from Cult of Mac wrote a piece recently where he laid out four things he feels Apple needs to do to keep iOS ahead of the game.
  1. Partner with Google again.
     • This seems crazy and very unlikely to me, but I see his point.
     • plus, geek cred, he used Matthew Broderick “War Games” reference to make his point. “The only winning move in a thermonuclear war is not to play”
     • Google already has the great web services side of the equation that could parse data Siri needs to be a better assistant.
     • the huge disadvantage here (besides partnering with a competitor, something that common in tech), is giving up personal customer information to a third party.
     • As i mentioned, I think Apple already has all the access to data and information they need they just need the tools and technology to leverage it. They can build some and partner or buy the components they need for others, but they need to move fast.
  2. Improve Siri faster
     • This is all about opening up Siri hooks to developers and integrating more services.
  3. Fix iCloud
     • Apple needs to make iCloud work for mere mortals. Giving up the idea that they need to move away from the file system metaphor might be a huge start.
     • Dropbox is amazing and people love it. why not embrace and extend that model.
     • if they do choose to say on their own path Apple needs to seriously go back to their roots and simplify the workflow. right now Documents in the Cloud is a joke.
  4. Get a Social Network
     • Again, I don’t agree with Elgan here, but see his point.
     • This is about sharing our stuff and making at easy and seamless.
     • If anything iOS started down thus path with Facebook and Twitter integration. Add in Google+, Flickr, Tumblr, App.net, Vimeo, and other popular services and your done.
     • This isn’t too hard and as trends change you can swap out support in iOS updates.
     • I don’t think Apple should build out their own social network because trends change. Apple should stay focused on more long term endeavors and leave that to others. They can partner for social.

Closing

• So just to summarize…
• Apple has a big lead and advantage with iOS. I still think it’s the most advanced and easiest to use mobile OS, but recently Android has gained ground.
• Add to that Google’s incredible services and their integration and you can see where the future is going.
• Tim Cook said it himself, we are entering the post-PC era. In that era we need tablet, phones, and wearable devices that can do more without needing a keyboard, mouse, a large screen or maybe even any screen.
• In that world integration of hardware, software, and even more so, services is key. looking at the mobile OS race that way it’s easy to see where the advantage currently lies.
• we know Apple will give use beautify devices, a gorgeous interface, and easy to use experience. the question is can they build the services to back it all up?
• I think they can and that’s what I hope to see hints of at WWDC.