Design nitpicking at its finest

[s44]

A fan dissects stock 4.2 and current GApps.

You know, I knew Google Play Music was wonky, but wow, it's much, much worse than I'd thought. Hilarious.

 

[Red Storm]

Lol that was great.

 

[MrX8503]

I hate to say it, but I'm a nitpicker. All of those things would bother me.

 

[Eug]

Yeah, after using full time for several months now, it really does feel more clunky than it should be, even in Jelly Bean.

Either make the back button consistent, or else get rid of it completely.

 

[dlock13]

I don't think some of his thoughts were nitpicking.

One thing I'm upset with Google about is the fact that it looks like their designs are getting thrown over to iOS first and then Android second. It honestly doesn't make sense at all.

Also, that Google Music bash was precisely what it needed. The service is decent, but the fact is that the app is completely meh.

 

[Eug]

Yeah, a lot of that isn't nitpicking. Stuff like a couple of extra dark pixels in the icon is nitpicking, but some of them are fundamental UI fails, that still are not fixed in 4.2.

As I've said in other threads, Google really needs to spend much more time cleaning up the OS and making it more consistent. If that comes at the expense of adding more features, then so be it.

 

[dlock13]

Yeah, a lot of that isn't nitpicking. Stuff like a couple of extra dark pixels in the icon is nitpicking, but some of them are fundamental UI fails, that still are not fixed in 4.2.

As I've said in other threads, Google really needs to spend much more time cleaning up the OS and making it more consistent. If that comes at the expense of adding more features, then so be it.

lol. Expense. You'd think a company would want a super fluid and consistent product with great design and functionality!

Google needs to keep adding to this theme, but while doing so, they need to make logical choices such as.... oh I don't know... keeping the menu in the same exact spot throughout their own apps. Let's use the clock app for instance. The menu is in 3 different places. :l

 

[s44]

Google's attempts at "consistency" are what gave us, e.g., the dumb-ass second horizontal bar on tablet 4.2.

They just need faster and better clean-up iteration after the initial great advance. I don't expect the *entire* company ever to settle on one thing, even a single presentation -- it's just not top-down/rigid enough for that.

 

[VashHT]

I agree with most of the stuff on there, none of it is big enough to make me drop android but it would be nice to see it fixed.

One thing I don't understand is all the complaints about the back button, it always seems to work fine for me and do what I expect so why do people consider it inconsistent and unpredictable?

 

[Ravynmagi]

Google's attempts at "consistency" are what gave us, e.g., the dumb-ass second horizontal bar on tablet 4.2.

They just need faster and better clean-up iteration after the initial great advance. I don't expect the *entire* company ever to settle on one thing, even a single presentation -- it's just not top-down/rigid enough for that.

I agree. Consistency is nice, but not to that level. I hate that Google is using the same UI on phones and tablets now. They are harping on the developers to make their apps more tablet friendly, then in a bizarre turn Google makes their OS less tablet friendly. What the frak Google?

Not sure Google is ever going to figure out tablets.

 

[bearxor]

Most of these UI inconsistencies are why I just can't ever end up switching. I'll use an android device as a daily driver for a couple of months and just get fed up by how clunky and stupid everything looks.

I know I've said it before, but it just feels like Android is too mish-mashy. Like different departments of Google are doing different things and nothing ever feels uniform, even with different apps from Google itself.

 

[Bman123]

Android is all over the place honestly, it really has come a long way tho I will give it that. At the same time it still has a long way to go

 

[TuxDave]

I hate to say it, but I'm a nitpicker. All of those things would bother me.

My inner OCD is causing me to twitch at the icon sizing part. Holy crap.

Love the calculator complaint. haha

 

[gus6464]

My main gripe with JB is the Navigation app from google. iOS gets bleeding edge UI and Android is still stuck in the dark ages (and by that I mean GB).

 

[Red Storm]

My main gripe with JB is the Navigation app from google. iOS gets bleeding edge UI and Android is still stuck in the dark ages (and by that I mean GB).

Huh? I find the Android version to be better and easier to use, especially on the typically larger Android screens.

 

[Sheep]

Love the calculator complaint. haha

I'm looking at my calculator app right now on a TeamEOS 4.2.1 nightly and don't see that offset at all. Is that really something custom ROM developers actually picked up on? I noticed things like the uneven icons but it's not enough to set off my design OCD which usually kicks in on things like uneven fonts and spacing and Comic Sans.

I agree fully with that article's assessment of the camera app, though. The newest version takes a dump all over usability in favor of a minimalist design.

 

[s44]

I'm looking at my calculator app right now on a TeamEOS 4.2.1 nightly and don't see that offset at all.

Apparently it's not visible on the GNex, only the 4.

 

[pm]

Huh? I find the Android version to be better and easier to use, especially on the typically larger Android screens.

So, I'll grant you that a bigger screen is nicer in general for most things, but in terms of the actual interface, I agree with gus6464 (and the author of the linked article) that the one on iOS looks slicker and is a bit more intuitive to a novice than the Android one.

What sort of interface someone likes is, of course, a totally subjective thing; what's confusing to one person may make total sense to another, and visa-versa. But I have used both the Android 4.2 version of Google Maps as well as the new iOS 6 version and I definitely think the iOS6 version looks better/slickier/more modern and is a bit more intuitive to use... for me.

 

[Mopetar]

One thing I'm upset with Google about is the fact that it looks like their designs are getting thrown over to iOS first and then Android second.

I believe there are separate teams at Google that work on the iOS and Android version of apps. It's not like they have a team do the maps app for Android and then go on to do it for iOS or vice versa.

It's kind of like how Microsoft has a separate team that makes versions of the software for Mac.

 

[dlock13]

I believe there are separate teams at Google that work on the iOS and Android version of apps. It's not like they have a team do the maps app for Android and then go on to do it for iOS or vice versa.

It's kind of like how Microsoft has a separate team that makes versions of the software for Mac.

Regardless of that fact, it's like they are saying the Android side is lazier and doesn't try and throw design there. Still, the iOS apps look and function like Google's web offerings whereas Android does not whatsoever. Well, they might have similar functions, but they look nothing alike.

I'm not sure if Google is trying to go to a singular look or keep Chrome/Android/Web designs separate, but that seems extremely silly.

 

[QueBert]

Android reminds me of a Source Forge project that 100 random people are working on. It has the feel of an open source WIP that still needs a lot of work.

 

[Sheep]

Android reminds me of a Source Forge project that 100 random people are working on. It has the feel of an open source WIP that still needs a lot of work.

Up to 2.3 I'd agree. 4.0 onward has made real strides towards consistent design. It's clearly not all the way there yet but it's light years beyond the pre-ICS days.

I recall reading somewhere that Mattias Duarte indicated they're not close to done with polishing up Android which can only mean many more improvements to come.

 

[dlock13]

Up to 2.3 I'd agree. 4.0 onward has made real strides towards consistent design. It's clearly not all the way there yet but it's light years beyond the pre-ICS days.

I recall reading somewhere that Mattias Duarte indicated they're not close to done with polishing up Android which can only mean many more improvements to come.

I'm assuming with KLP that we'll be getting a pretty rock solid version of Android. Honestly, I can't fathom what Google is going to be doing with it.

One thing I really wish and hope is that they implement some sort of lock down to it so that OEM customizations are only a layer that can be removed regardless and to have more control over Android as a whole. What I mean by more control is to take away control that other cellular providers have over it and give Google a foothold in their own product (Wallet anyone?). Pipe dreams, I know.

 

[Midwayman]

One thing I don't understand is all the complaints about the back button, it always seems to work fine for me and do what I expect so why do people consider it inconsistent and unpredictable?

I hit it and sometimes it works like an up a level button where it will take me from something like a single message to a list. Other times it takes me back to the page I was looking at before. This could be another application, the home page, etc. If I was previously in that application, it works pretty well. In the cases where I just started an app, or it opened another app to view something (like an attachment from email) it can be kinda random.

 

[s44]

Still, the iOS apps look and function like Google's web offerings whereas Android does not whatsoever.

What?

You mean the Android apps have Google's exact look when they came out, while the iOS apps have Google's exact look when *they* came out. Of course, the latter look first appeared on Android with Google Now.

Android is where all the innovation happens.