Userinterface Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

On UI inconsistency in iOS 5

by Chris Rawson (Dec 6th, 2011)

A while back, designer Jake Marsh commented on an inconsistency in Apple's use of linen textures in iOS 5 (hat tip to Daring Fireball). In both OS X Lion and iOS 5, the linen texture is "underneath" other UI elements in almost every instance. In Lion, linen textures lie beneath the Mission ...

Size matters: why the iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen

by Steven Sande (Oct 10th, 2011)

One of the things Android phone owners love to brag about -- particularly those who have the new Samsung Galaxy S II with its 4.27-inch diagonal screen -- is that the larger screens are much easier to read and watch videos on. Dustin Curtis has owned both the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S II, and ...

From the boneheaded design file: Browsing Versions in Lion

by Mel Martin (Aug 15th, 2011)

I like Lion. I really really do. I can forgive Apple for breaking my Network Area Storage device, but in general it's a nice upgrade. There is, however, that matter of the "browse versions" feature in iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), Preview and some other apps designed to work with the ...

Apple keyboard gets touchy-feely with wooden tactile mod

by Steven Sande (May 2nd, 2011)

This seems to be the day for keyboards. First, I wrote a review of the Scosche freeKEY flexible and water-resistant Bluetooth keyboard. Now we have word from CreativeBits of a wonderful keyboard mod that uses the tactile feel of sandblasted wood grain on a standard Apple keyboard to "strengthen ...

TUAW's Daily App: VelaClock

by Mike Schramm (Mar 11th, 2011)

Yes, before you ask, we are choosing to spotlight a clock app for the iPhone. And yes, we know that every iPhone already has the time right there on the lock screen. But take a look at the interface on this thing -- it's been thought through so well that just that first page, with the bars and ...

Rumor: Mac OS X Lion to have UI overhaul, developers to see beta build soon?

by Matt Tinsley (Feb 23rd, 2011)

Since Apple's official announcement of Mac OS Lion last October, there's not been so much as a peep, let alone a roar, on the new operating system. We know to expect Lion at some point this summer, but as summer fast approaches, all we know about Lion is what Apple has told us (full-screen apps, ...

Aqua: Digital paintings made up of OS X elements

by Keith M (Sep 7th, 2010)

Here's more proof that beauty can often lie hidden, even though it's right before your eyes. Digital artist Johannes P Osterhoff found an artistic quality to Apple's Aqua user interface and decided to base a series of digital "paintings" using several of its elements. With a few simple and subtle ...

Tablet OS "has a good bit of new sexy to it"

by Steven Sande (Jan 7th, 2010)

Dan Frommer over at The Business Insider had a nice, juicy tidbit to send out to anyone who is interested in Apple tablet rumors: he's apparently heard from someone who has seen the tablet's operating system, but not the actual device. There were three little quotes from the mysterious source in ...

Mega-super TUAW shootout of the iPhone UI sketchbooks

by Steven Sande (Oct 3rd, 2009)

Part of my work requires me to mock up iPhone apps, often to show developers how I would redesign a user interface to work better than something they've come up with. Over the past few months, a number of paper sketchbooks have appeared on the market, all designed expressly for this purpose. I ...

Beta Beat: Grape, a new way to manage your Desktop clutter

by Brett Terpstra (Apr 14th, 2009)

Grape, just released as a beta, is a new take on desktop file management. I've seen several attempts at innovative user interfaces for file management in my day, some better than others, but this is the first one I've been really excited about. In the words of the author -- Stéphane at ...

Apple wins comprehensive patent for iPhone, bares teeth at Palm

by Robert Palmer (Jan 27th, 2009)

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple patent number 7,479,949 covering key aspects of the iPhone's multi-touch user interface. The filing, with 358 pages of drawings and Steve Jobs as its first author, comprehensively describes the iPhone operating system's interface, and how ...

Should Apple have used Cover Flow in iPhoto '08?

by David Chartier (Aug 15th, 2007)

TUAW reader o!ivier has posted a mockup to his Flickr account of how he believes the iPhoto '08 Events UI should have been designed. Seeing it as a more natural evolution of what Apple is doing with Mac OS X and their apps (iTunes, Finder in Leopard, etc.), o!ivier believes Apple should have ...

iPhone Experience: The keyboard

by Dave Caolo (Jun 30th, 2007)

We've got our iPhones. Now it's time to see what these puppies can do. This is the first in a series of posts intended to explore the iPhone's features. This time, it's about the keyboard. With the iPhone, Apple eschewes the "real" keyboard of some other smart phones, and offers virtual ...

Why you won't be buying an iPhone-like iPod anytime soon

by David Chartier (May 28th, 2007)

Since the iPhone's introduction in January, the requests and baiting rumors for a touch-screen iPod that looks and acts like an iPhone - sans the actual phone - have sounded from every corner of the web. The world is inarguably intrigued by this new UI Apple developed for their highly anticipated ...

Aqua is dead, long live Aqua!

by Dan Lurie (Sep 12th, 2006)

Apple seems to use iTunes as a test-bed for new user interface design styles, and iTunes 7 brings with it an almost complete overhaul the Aqua look we have all grown to love/hate/tolerate. While on the surface, the iTunes 7 interface may seem very similar to that of previous versions, there are a ...