Interface Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Kids' iPad magazine Timbuktu rethinks in-app purchasing model

by Mike Schramm (Apr 22nd, 2013)

Timbuktu is an iPad magazine meant for children, and as our friends over at TechCrunch have noted, its developers recently rethought how it implements in-app purchases. The previous incarnation of Timbuktu (and most famously, Smurf Village, among others), made in-app purchases too tempting and ...

Gmail's mobile web interface now looks just like the app

by Mike Schramm (Mar 11th, 2013)

I use Gmail pretty much exclusively for my incoming email, with three or four different accounts that redirect to my always online, easily accessible, and seemingly bottomless inbox. I thought the app the company recently released with a brand-new look was pretty impressive, and apparently so ...

Dropbox for iOS updated to version 2.0 with all-new design

by Mike Schramm (Dec 14th, 2012)

Dropbox is our filesharing workhorse of choice around these parts, and the company has just updated its iOS app (for iPhone and iPad, of course) to version 2.0. The update is a big one, featuring an all-new (and "shiny," according to the release notes) design, as well as a new Photos tab, for ...

Netflix for iOS updated with new player UI

by Mike Schramm (May 31st, 2012)

Netflix has updated its iOS interface to run a little more smoothly and look a little nicer while playing streaming media on both the iPhone and the iPad. You can see the iPhone version above -- there are bigger buttons more clearly laid out, and the search bar itself has "more precise seeking ...

Hands on: Apple TV software update and new UI

by Michael Rose (Mar 7th, 2012)

The next-gen Apple TV isn't alone in getting the new button-centric UI; older Apple TV models (iOS-based, not the really old OS X Apple TVs) got the new look as part of an update today, bringing the devices to system software version 5.0. It would be nice if the iOS versions on iPhone and on Apple ...

Apple updates look and feel of App Store on iOS

by Mike Schramm (Nov 17th, 2011)

Apple has updated the App Store as usual today with the newest staff picks and featured apps for the week, but there's one other new touch (so to speak) on the iPhone and iPad. You can now simply swipe in the App Store's featured window to flip through pages of apps, as pointed out by ...

Former Apple interface expert rants on Microsoft's "Vision of the Future" video

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Nov 10th, 2011)

A few weeks ago Microsoft came out with a future of productivity video proposing a very touchscreen-based future for us humans. A former human-computer interface inventor for Apple, Brett Victor, has picked apart this video in a beautifully designed "rant" on his site, essentially taking ...

'Invisible' touchscreen prototype tested with iPhone

by Mike Schramm (May 23rd, 2011)

The video on the next page features a prototype for an "invisible" iPhone created by researchers at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany. Basically, the idea is that with your iPhone in your pocket, you can hold your hand out and move your finger around on it as if you were holding your ...

Thunderbolt peripherals announced at NAB this week

by Mike Schramm (Apr 11th, 2011)

Sure, you've got a shiny new MacBook Pro with that top-of-the-line Thunderbolt interface, but odds are that you don't have anything besides a DisplayPort adapter to plug it into yet! Worry not -- the National Association of Broadcasters is meeting in Las Vegas this week, and a few companies ...

Pioneer demos new iPhone-powered in-dash interface

by Mike Schramm (Mar 29th, 2011)

We first heard about Pioneer's AVIC in-car units back at CES earlier this year, but earlier today, the company was kind enough to drive a Land Rover up to my curb here in Los Angeles, and I checked out the system in action. The main unit, as you can see in the picture above, is a pretty ...

Aza Raskin shares Jef Raskin's 1981 memo on the genesis of the Macintosh

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Feb 14th, 2011)

If you don't already know Jef Raskin's name, you should spend some time getting to know his work. His son, Aza Raskin, turned out to be a bit of a prodigy, eventually doing important and amazing work at Mozilla in the Labs department. Aza's latest endeavor is a company called Massive Health. His ...

Macworld Expo 2011: Smart Technologies' interactive whiteboards

by Mike Schramm (Feb 1st, 2011)

One of the most interesting booths at last week's Macworld Expo was that of Smart Technologies, who were showing off their interactive touch surface systems. These aren't necessarily Mac-related, unfortunately -- the equipment Smart sells is just an interface, or rather a series of interfaces ...

Papershow for Teachers introduced at Macworld 2011

by Mike Schramm (Jan 28th, 2011)

Papershow made a big splash last year at Macworld during its introduction, and since then has apparently sold fairly well in business circles (the product is now being sold in Staples as well). This year, Papershow is introducing a new edition styled for education applications, called Papershow ...

Boxee demonstrated on iPad at CES 2011

by Mike Schramm (Jan 8th, 2011)

As soon as we heard that Boxee was demoing their iPad version at this year's CES conference, we had to hunt them down and see it. We found them over at Iomega's booth (stay tuned for a writeup of an Iomega product designed to help iPhone backups as well), and asked to see the app. It's about what ...

Apple patents Cover Flow-like spiral interface

by Mike Schramm (Dec 16th, 2010)

Patently Apple has unearthed a new patent that shows off a Cover Flow-like interface for browsing icons or album covers, only instead of Cover Flow's linear layout, this one organizes content in a spiral. We've seen rotating menus in Apple's patents before, but this looks more involved. It's ...