iOS

Bigger Screen iPhones? I’m Not So Sure

February 13, 2019 Design
Bigger vs Smaller iPhones
The iPhone 7 (left) and the iPhone SE (right)

Apple’s current lineup of the XS, XS Max and XR iPhones sport bigger screens, that has made me wonder about the practical use for large screen phones which are increasingly becoming unwieldy due to its rounded corners. Has the form finally exhausted its potential and it’s time to bring back the flat edges?

I got my first iPhone in 2010, which was the iPhone 3GS introduced by Steve Jobs in 2009 and unarguably the best iPhone that I have owned even by today’s iPhone standards — if you ignore the SE’s sleek design, including being super portable, in which, Apple dovetailed the potential of communication, music and an internet platform, in a light-weight, user-friendly form factor that fit snuggly into my pant pocket and just as easily removable, though I wouldn’t say it was easier to hold.

Now, admittedly, none of those first generation iPhones had any of the high-tech or hardware splendour that Apple today is cramming into every single new version of the company’s most successful product, TouchID, FaceID, etc. Even the camera on my then 3GS, for instance, was a mere 3 mega pix (mp), it took some decent pictures for me although can’t compare that with the current phones which are insanely high-quality in not just the resolution but the video quality as well. I thought the camera had been sufficiently enhanced with the SE giving it a 12mp and better picture quality and what another practical use of a good resolution image is unless it’s satellite imagery of a secret military installation? Bottom line, a camera isn’t tempting enough for me to invest a fortune into the iPhone.

Practically Small, Not Glamorously Bigger!

For me, it has been less about the bigger hardware (form) and more about the technology (functions) which the iPhone packs into its palm-sized brick shape. The TouchID, for instance, has been a great feature in speeding up the sign-in process, not only within Apple’s own eco-system which consists of iCloud, App Store, and Apple Pay on iOS and macOS but also for the humongous size of its app universe. Much recently, Apple introduced Password AutoFill using iCloud Keychain (also allowing third-party password managers) – also using TouchID, to fill your login credentials in Safari and the rest of the other apps. The experience is not near to perfect, moving in an out of the app depending on the app architecture, but it nevertheless removes the stress of remembering and copying/filling passwords. Of course, another platform that predominantly uses the advantages of TouchID is Apple Pay for secure payments. And now, even Apple is acknowledging its support for old generation (smaller) phones with the iOS 12, that may not remain so in the near future. In all of this, there’s one thing that has stood out for me quite evidently – the bigger screen sizes of the iPhones which have now become a standard feature are no longer validated proof of good design. It’s how the whole package works.

I have always surmised that it’s the technology within an iPhone that makes the iPhone experience truly the best for me. Even if it’s still a smaller iPhone SE which I have recently owned and cherished for its overall design effort.

It’s No Longer An ‘Old’ iPhone

June 7, 2018 Happenings Technology

The iPhoneSince that spectacular launch of the iPhone, the Apple WWDC events have brought loads of encouraging features and promising apps to the dedicated consumers. However, during every WWDC event, I always get the jitters before the announcement of a newer iOS version, the innate question being, will they support my iPhone model or will I have to live with an ‘older’ model. I say “old” because, in Apple’s parlance, the annual releases of iOS and macOS makes even a two-year-old device purchase obsolete! Without an upgraded iOS the iPhone becomes slower, loses support for most of the apps I use frequently which consequently downgrades the overall user experience for me. Besides, as a committed Apple consumer, the addition of features and product upgrades with subsequent iOS releases, there’s a sense of betrayal that they couldn’t manage to upgrade the software and support a wide array of iPhones. Not anymore. At the WWDC 2018 this week, Craig Federighi announced that the forthcoming iOS 12 (launching this fall 2018) would be supporting the same iPhone/iPad devices running iOS 11! Which means, not only would the newer release include tons of new features the apps in older iPhones are expected to launch up to 40 per cent faster, and you can slide to take a photo at up to 70 per cent faster than with iOS 11. This is a big win for iPhone 5S owners which was launched as far back as 2013. Most importantly, it decisively puts to rest the argument about the ‘planned obsolescence’ theory in iPhones and iPads thus saving them from the land-fills.

As Jason Koebler at Motherboard opines:

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It remains to be seen whether iOS 12 will actually make the iPhone 6 faster, especially with third-party apps. But it’s important that Apple is at least paying lip service to phone longevity, and appears to be trying to optimize its new software for old hardware. It’s not sexy, but it’s a small step toward making our electronics less disposable.[/perfectpullquote]

This is a promising start by Apple and their commitment to sustaining the environment is noteworthy, but what the consumers heartily desire is to hold onto their beloved iDevices a little bit longer.

Free The Apple Watch

December 10, 2015 Technology

The Apple Watch was perfectly poised to sweep the industry. It had the goodness of the iPhone/Mac kitty, mainly the apps, the amazing product design and the indisputable quality of the Apple brand. Reasons which are enough for a device like the Apple Watch to own the industry which hadn’t seen much innovation in some time. Some of the early entrants to this arena were no match to the promise of experience and the technology which only Apple could deliver with its first wearable device. Sadly when it arrived it wasn’t the product we had anticipated, it wasn’t an ‘independent’ product. And let me explain.

The rich product basket of Apple including the iMac, the iPod, the iPad, and, the iPhone have existed as sovereign personalities with its own audience. The iPad, iPhone and iPod need the Mac/PC only for syncing content and are pretty much independent devices. Apple with its vast design experience curated an entire domain of great product design with hardware and software. Beginning with the unibody design and later with Yosemite by transforming the skeuomorphic UI with the flat design language. Other features such as HandOff and Continuity, and introduction of Maps, Notes, and Notifications on OSX which brought about a wonderful cohesion of OSX/iOS environments. All this and yet it did not take away the freedom of its users to work independently with these devices. Until the Watch came along. The graphic depicting the Apple devices isn’t honest to the Watch which can’t work without the iPhone.

The Watch as a wearable gadget with a small form factor meant that it would not naturally transition the rich cohesion of experience of the OSX/iOS devices. Although this does not make it an exceptional case when it comes to making it self-reliant within its functions and features. There are other watch devices today which do not need the phone support for offering a better user experience. And sure they may not tote a rich app ‘garden’ like the App Store. For now, let’s free the Watch from the clutches of the iPhone.

Apple’s product design cycle is unclear, if one is to understand that the earlier design iterations of the iPhone and iPad missed some essential features that were common to the devices of its kind. Considering this, the Watch isn’t freewheeling so soon until about a few more design iterations. Let’s hope the wait isn’t too long and painful.