iOS 7 isn’t Dumb (but it still is)

And the iPhone 5c is REALLY Dumb

This post is in no way meant to negate my previous post titled iOS 7 is Dumb. This is merely meant point out the parts of iOS 7 that really aren’t dumb at all, and are actually brilliant.

The iPhone 5c feels like Apple is trying to jump back in time.

First, iOS 7

Anybody who knows anything about computer programming or engineering understands that iOS 7 isn’t dumb in the least. The underpinnings of the OS are quite sound and incredibly stable, more-so than Android and Windows Phone.

What is dumb about iOS 7 is the feel and look of the interface, but that’s not to say that there isn’t brilliance there.

While Notification Center has gotten better, it’s still more annoying than it is useful.

On the other hand, the swipe up from the bottom to get to some quick-action controls that are frequently used is brilliant. So is the addition of a flashlight button available from the lock screen that also stays on when you lock the device, unlike the 3rd party flashlight apps.

More than anything, Apple has quite a hold on app development. This doesn’t make iOS dumb or not dumb, this simply means that developers tend to code for iOS before they’ll code for other platforms. Apple makes it incredibly easy and offers a slew of frameworks to work with. Android is more difficult to code for for a number of reasons, one of which is the disparity in screen size/resolution of the various devices on market. Now, I’m not a coder myself so I’m not certain exactly how accurate that complaint is. What I do know is that I’ve never spoken to a developer who feels it’s easier to code for Android than it is for Apple.

The points I mentioned previously about how the interface looks more toy like and less high-end professional like is still very apt.

And the use of white space is horrid. Anybody who uses Windows 8 knows about white space, but I’ve felt it’s used well within the OS. iOS 7 had no idea how to make use of white space, so it’s just tossed in there and makes things look blank and empty. Windows 8 looks slick and professional.

I can’t argue the code of iOS 7 at all. It’s brilliant, even if you hate the OS, you have to give credit where credit is due.

Please, Apple, fix the interface. Skeuomorphic sucked eggs, but this is worse by a billion light years. Find a happy medium.

iPhone 5c

Remember back when Jobs came back to Apple and suddenly everything was scrapped and these all-in-one candy colored computers made an appearance on the scene? These new, uniquely engineered devices captured the minds and imaginations of consumers and helped to bring Apple back from the brink of failure. The original iMac was new, it was fairly inexpensive and offered a ton of software and features that weren’t as easily available on Windows.

Time wore on and the candy colors were retired for the new, half-moon base with the swivel arm attached to the display. This was all white and stunning in it’s engineering feats.

The original iBook also came in multiple color options and looked fun, and hip with it’s curvy design and sexy, I’m not a boxy PC appeal. Then it was moved over to the white design, giving it clean, simple lines – something that would become very popular and important with Apple in the future.

Apple ditched the color and focused on simplicity instead. If you look at what Apple has released since the iBook and iMac both went to white, you’ve had pretty much White, Black and Aluminum as the colors that dominate Apple’s lineup. There’s hardly been an external design change to the MacBook Pro since it was updated to the unibody form factor in 2008 and it still sells like crazy, compared to most other computer hardware manufacturers.

Now, with sales beginning to fall to Samsung they’re looking for something new to catch people’s eye. This time, instead of digging into their bag of creativity for a new product that we didn’t even know we needed (the way Jobs used to do it) they look back and say “Hey, multiple colors worked for the iMac and the iBook, let’s do that again.”

They even touted the fact that it’s running the same internals as the iPhone 5 as something to be proud of. There is nothing here to be proud of. You made a cheap, plastic phone using a gimmick that was used up when the iMac and iBook went to white. There is nothing unique, nothing new, nothing earth shattering.

Much like the 5s with it’s unnecessary 64bit processor, this is a thud in the world of Apple.

Does that mean people won’t buy it? Not at all. Right now, Apple still has some momentum, but I think that it might be slowing down.

If Apple doesn’t do something soon, it’s going to stop turning heads and start looking the fool.

When Steve Jobs said that a new product was coming out and that it was going to be an exciting year, it was.

When Tim Cook says it, there’s nothing for me to imagine, nothing for me to look forward to. Instead of an exciting new product, it’s just an update to something that already exists – and not a very exciting update at that.

You know what I want to see from Apple?

A bigger screen on the iPhone. I’ve been using my HTC One for over a month at this point, and all I can say is “Perfect Screen Size for Me.” Not everybody is comfortable with the same screen size, which is why there should be more options for the public.

Keyboard Options. I love SwiftKey on my HTC One. It saves me a billion years (exaggeration) of thumb typing. I can swipe around much faster with one hand than I can type out with one hand.

More openness as to what’s allowed in the App Store. I can understand not wanting to have a porn section in your App Store, but making certain graphic novels censor nudity in previously published works is beyond insane. So is the forced removal of the Swastika from World War II educational apps. What?

They need to letup on the reigns a little in that regard.

Allow Find my iPhone to work on Android devices. This is just mean. Why wouldn’t you allow Find my iPhone to work on any device, anywhere? What if I lost my phone and my buddy only has an Android? How do I find it then?

I know there are ways to make an Android device act like something else with certain browsers and settings, but average Joe isn’t going to know how to do that. Why piss off your customer base that way?

There are many reasons to not like Apple. The more I am outside of their little garden, the more I see of this.

But I can’t fault their coding or their software – only what they choose to do with it and how they choose to manage it and their company.