Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
iPhone GUI Inconsistencies: Take 1
The iPhone offers many ways to send mail. Unfortunately, consistency is not the strong point here. You'd imagine Apple would have designed a single universally recognized "compose email" button and placed it more-or-less in the same place for each application. You'd be wrong. Here's a quick run-down of several extremely different ways to create a new message across several programs:
- Compose Button. The compose button, which looks like a square with a pencil through it, appears at the bottom right of many Mail screens and in the SMS Text application at the top-right of the screen. The Reply/Forward button appears just to the left of the Compose icon in Mail. Tap this to reply to a message or forward it on to another party.
- Envelope Icon. In the Notes application, the envelope icon appears on the bottom of the page, to the left of the garbage can. Tap it to email the current note.
- Use-For Icon. The use-photo-for icon appears at the bottom left of the screen. It looks like a rectangle with an arrow jumping out of it-the arrow is basically a mirror of the Reply/Forward button. Tap this and select Email Photo from the pop-up menu.
- Share. You can share YouTube video and Safari URLs by email. Tap the Share button on the Information page in YouTube and in the navigate-to-URL screen in Safari. To find this in YouTube, tap the blue reveal button located to the right of the video name. In Safari, tap on the URL bar and then look up and to the left.
So why so many ways to do what is essentially the same task? This inconsistent design speaks volumes to me about rushing the iPhone to market. It's as if the different groups simply didn't have time to communicate with each other and standardize the way they do what is truly a core task with consistent icons and naming. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Gallery: Inconsistent UI Design on iPhone #1
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Aron Trimble said 10:13AM on 8-27-2007
Lots of blatant inconsistencies which is ironic given how "closed" *ahem* the iPhone is. You would think with such a "closed" *ahem* platform Stevie J. would have insured a more unified appearance - of course, have you seen OS X (Pre-Leopard) lately?
Reply
Goran said 10:20AM on 8-27-2007
Did you write Apple about this?
Reply
Elliott Pogue said 10:26AM on 8-27-2007
Your "observation" on the Notes app has no merit. Composing, in the Mail app, is a very different action from emailing the current note in the Notes app. Same goes for all your observations, actually. They're different icons for different contexts. If it were the exact same thing, it would probably actually be the exact same icon.
And if your sticking with your argument, then ask why iPhoto has the Mail icon instead of Mail's compose icon for sending an email. Or why any application does, pretty much, the exact same thing. It just doesn't transfer well.
Reply
dgermony said 10:31AM on 8-27-2007
I completely agree that this is problem. One of the reason I dislike the experience on other phones is because of these types of inconsistencies and this is the sort of thing Apple normally does so well.
Reply
Eric Robert said 10:32AM on 8-27-2007
I agree with the inconsistencies between the compose, envelope, and use-for icon. I just bought an iPhone last week and find myself trying to remember which button to use sometimes. However, the Share button in YouTube is consistent with YouTube's website (there is a Share button next to the videos when watching in a regular browser).
Reply
Chef J said 10:34AM on 8-27-2007
Wow, thanks I just learned about sending a note to myself via email..... All this time and I did not know. I would aggree though that there are inconsistant areas on this. But it is Gen 1 right?
Reply
James Donevan said 10:58AM on 8-27-2007
I would have to agree with Elliott Pogue: you haven't really made your point as these are not the same functions. You seem to be suggesting that any function that involves sending info by the internet should use a common icon - now that would be confusing. Moreover, if they all shared a common icon, we would be seeing the flipside with bloggers asking why such varied functions shared a common icon.
Reply
KennX said 11:06AM on 8-27-2007
This is something that I've been saying for a long time. And it's not just functionality that varies, it's the look and feel. I have a feeling that when apple pulled people from the Leopard team to help get the iPhone out the door that there wasn't a lot of communication between various app teams. My guess (and hope) would be that when the anticipated 'feature update' of the iPhone comes out in October that they'll have gone through and re-skinned things consistently as well as modify these 'quirks'. Overall, however, I feel that for a 1st gen device they did quite well.
-KennX
Reply
Erica Sadun said 11:16AM on 8-27-2007
Rick, you seem to think that the criticism from http://iphone.share.googlepages.com/examples.html is unwelcome. On the contrary, I see that as both fabulous feedback and excellent advice that I am taking to heart.
Reply
KiltBear said 11:17AM on 8-27-2007
Nice to see this called out in a highly "circulated" blog. I also find this aggravating. I understand from reading blogs that SJ hated Scully and the Newton, but damn-it, a lot of work went into its interface. Let's here it for the consistent presence of a drop-down "action envelope" that contains, well, actions to be performed (other than navigation).
Your observations here, were some of my first on the iPhone, and I find it aggravating mostly because Apple should know better.
Reply
Frustrated Mac Guy said 11:41AM on 8-27-2007
Nothing new here. Apple has always had inconsistent UI issues. Don't believe me? Try this on your mac. Launch iTunes and iPhoto. Click the red X for each window. On iTunes this will close the window, but not the application. On iPhoto, it closes the application.
Reply
Rick said 11:44AM on 8-27-2007
I find this rather ironic, Erica, as your Voice Recorder app was featured in the unofficial iPhone User Interface Guidelines, in a section providing constructive criticism for non-standard apps:
http://iphone.share.googlepages.com/examples.html
Don't get me wrong, Erica, your apps are amazing and wonderful, and I'm thankful they exist. But you know what they say about the one to cast the first stone...
Reply
Mike said 11:53AM on 8-27-2007
The good thing about the iPhone's UI design is that it's all software-based. Only a matter of time before these things get squashed.
Reply
josh said 12:29PM on 8-27-2007
I think Apple is correct here. The 'Compose' button is appropriate when you're in a situation where you're intentionally composing a message with the specific intent that it is to be sent/shared. Email and SMS are exactly this type of situation. Notes/Stickies are not intrinsically shared items, so the rule becomes "email this note that I have already written for some other purpose" as opposed to "write something that I want to send to someone else (or maybe myself as a reminder)." Those are two different actions, and they deserve two different annotations. You wouldn't open the Notes application to compose an email, and vice versa for using Mail to jot a quick note which you have no intention of sending. Still, the option to email that note is a nice touch.
For photos, sending an email is only one of the possible things you can do with this application, so a 'Compose' button would be out-of-place and misleading here. Even when you click the "do something with this photo" button, placing a "compose" icon on that screen would still be misleading because it wouldn't be immediately obvious what you're composing; because that's not the principal function of the photos application.
Similarly, the 'share' option makes sense because you're not composing anything; you're merely taking something in its current form (in this case a URL) and giving it to someone else, so again 'composing' would be misleading.
I'm not saying Apple doesn't have its share of interface snafus, but in this case I think they did a very good job.
Reply
Stephen Lang said 12:45PM on 8-27-2007
It seems the different controls are mostly appropriate for the context in which they occur. It definitely SHOULDN'T be the same icon for all those instances.
I do think the button in Notes could probably be labelled 'Share' instead of the envelope icon, if other apps also use 'Share' as the control to forward the content in an email.
Otherwise the interface seems fine. The 'Compose' icon is the same in the email and SMS apps, for example (as they should.)
Reply
josh said 1:28PM on 8-27-2007
A simpler, but related, complaint: I think it's odd that the "compose" button for Mail is in the top right corner, the "compose" button for SMS is in the lower right.
Reply
Dave said 2:12PM on 8-27-2007
I think the buttons/controls are consistent within the context of the individual application. It would look a bit odd, and probably more confusing, if it was the exact same in every single app and I don't think it takes away from the ease of using the iPhone.
Reply
jonathan ober said 6:23PM on 8-27-2007
I think more over...how come I can't type notes or mail messages sideways? I'm more proficient in one button or two fingered "cramped" style, but I would like to see the mail and notes section turn sideways. Who cares if I can't see all of what I am typing, I just would like that ability.
Also, I was curious whether notes would get an upgrade to allow for smart listing of 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C the way that "other" company does in their Word program...
I think it's minor, but something I would like to see.
As far as the current posting woes, I would agree that sometimes I do hit the wrong button out of stupidness...but I also hit it, because I'm so darn excited showing off my new two. Hell, Apple should be paying me, since I have gotten a few people to go and get one!
Reply
DWBjr said 6:44PM on 8-27-2007
I was going to agree with Elliot, then James, but the list of people who think you're out to lunch just got too long. Go back and look at all the UI changes posted between the iPhone shown at MacWorld and the one that shipped. Things have been work, worked, and reworked. "Rushed"? Honestly, they may never have shipped the damn thing if they kept holding more focus groups. The BEST feedback is always going to be from customers. People in "NOTES" may not think "sharing" a note is what they want, yet a simple "e-mail" icon is more than clear enough if they want to send it off. Notes is a perfect example of a native app with a more creative interface. Don't tell me every app is required to have clear text or that every text button should also be married to an icon. Loads of garbage in my book. We're about the enter the second round of criticism with the new features in the pipe.
With select/paste coming into play, I'm sure they're be even more for people to criticize needlessly (or even justifiably). I still like pinch, flick, tap, throw and tilt, personally. If you're going to talk about consistancy... how about allowing tilt in all the apps (and all sections), or allowing "throw" (the act of flicking horizontally) to go "back" from "now playing" all the way to the root of the iPod section (instead of only one step outward). That's "consistency" that makes more sense.
Reply
Reg Muffet said 7:55PM on 8-27-2007
The design criticisms about action button placement and appearance are fair.
However, they could also apply to desktop apps, particularly the iLife suite: eg, buttons, menu commands, vulcan pinchlocks to do things such as publishing, sorry sharing, sorry exporting, or whatever it's called in GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto, etc, etc.
And don't get me started on the inconsistency of command key shortcuts that power users love. command-delete (Finder) vs option-delete (iTunes) vs option-command-delete (iPhoto) for an action which is essentially the same thing.
I think the reason for both iPhone and iLife inconsistency is simply:
DIFFERENT TEAMS WORK ON DIFFERENT PRODUCTS. There is not enough communication between them. And there is no UI czar overseeing their decisions.
John Geleynse, you need more power, dude!
Reply