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Polls find users prefer iOS 7 design to iOS 6, fingerprint scanner to replace passwords

polls

An online poll conducted by Polar compares key user-interface elements from iOS 7 to the iOS 6 counterparts. Despite the outpour of criticism from some of iOS 7, these results show that an overwhelming amount of poll responders prefer the design of iOS 7 to iOS 6 and other previous iOS versions…

polar

Provided to <em>9to5Mac</em> by Polar

The polls compared critical interface elements such as: the on/off switches, date picker, alerts, status bar, sliders, keyboard, icon set, sharing, the Lock screen, and Notification Center.

Results in favor of iOS 7 were present for each comparison in the poll. Above is a chart detailing the results. The left side of the chart shows how many votes each version of the interface element received. The right side shows a percentage breakdown. In total, iOS 7 received 72% preference compared to 28% for iOS 6.

Some “landslide” preference for iOS 7 interface elements include Notification Center, the Lock Screen, and Tab bars. The iOS 6 interface elements that seem to still be preferred the most (albeit less than iOS 7 – according to this poll) are switches, the status bar, and tool bar.

iOS 7 launches this fall with a completely new design that focuses on user-content, rather than on heavy, flashy user-interface elements. Polar previously conducted a poll of iOS Home screen icon set, and even though the iOS 7 icons have been highly criticized by many, many of the iOS 7 icons were preferred over their iOS 6 counterparts.

Screen Shot 2013-08-07 at 9.17.08 AM

Polar also has started a poll in light of recent evidence and reports regarding a fingerprint sensor coming to the next iPhone. While it seems likely that Apple is planning to implement a biometric sensor in the new smartphone, the use-cases are so far unclear. We have heard that the purpose will focus on unlocking the device, rather on a payment system (as some have claimed), and this new poll put overall “added security” head-to-head with using the sensor in place of a passcode and a login.

While this poll is still new, it seems that users would prefer such a sensor due to added login/passsword convenience (170 votes thus far), rather than for just tightening security and authentication in general (68 votes thus far).

Of course, these unscientific, online polls are just the opinion of a minuscule slice of the hundreds of millions of iOS users. However, the user base of hundreds of people who participated in the poll is potentially a fair indicator of the overall market’s opinion.

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Comments

  1. nolanhicks - 11 years ago

    awesome!

  2. PMZanetti - 11 years ago

    Well No kidding. iOS 7 is stunning beautiful and well designed. If your first real impression of using it was beta 5 (and not beta 1 & done) then anyone would be blown away by just how good it really is.

    Because of the lack of extraneous design elements, it follows the path Apple has taken with design for years: Putting content front & center and removing the UI from the equation as much as possible. This has been their “motto” for a while, but never more true as with iOS 7.

    iOS 7 is truly going to wow people when it goes public and quickly gets installed on hundreds of millions of devices.

  3. Eric Davis (@ericperisho) - 11 years ago

    I like the “elements” of IOS7 including the font, clean and streamline look – and added features. WHAT I DON’T like is the overwhelming eye-straining use of WHITE. If they were to simply change the background to black with the white font I would be more than happy. I use my phone in low light situations such as lobbies at night, living room at night, restaurants, etc. The SMS/messaging window, Calendar, Photo Album sections are too white – there is no need to make it so bright.

    • PMZanetti - 11 years ago

      If you haven’t seen more recent betas, they’ve dimmed it down quite a bit, added some different hues to create distinction between backgrounds and menus, and have perfected the typeface on top of these hues.

      It is really good now, and much easier on the eyes.

    • wrongheaded - 11 years ago

      I hear this often about white. But how do you use any computer if white hurts your eyes so much? This website — totally white. Gmail? White. Facebook? Google? Microsoft Word? If it’s a brightness issue, that’s easy to adjust in control center.

  4. PMZanetti - 11 years ago

    My thoughts on Fingerprint security are this: It has to work quickly, and flawlessly, or it is useless.

    The exact implementation (through the Home Button), must translate to this user experience exclusively:

    1. User Picks up Locked Phone.
    2. User Wakes Phone with Thumb Pressing Home Button.
    3. Unlock Sound is heard and Phone loads to Home Screen.

    Anything besides that exact user experience is a failure. I don’t want to see anything on the screen (let’s face it, if its not in the Home Button, it is already a total failure), I don’t want to see any spiny dervish while it talks to Apple to unlock your phone (looking at you, Siri).

  5. Well I would disagree! I tried iOS7 for a few weeks and downgraded back to iOS6.
    I don’t see how the removal of anything that looks like a button is going to make this more intuitive. There’s too much white, too much neon green and it gave me eyestrain. Simple things like using text instead of buttons – like in the SMS app – it becomes a confusing mess, and won’t translate well into different languages.

    I predict that a lot of very young and very old iOS users are going to not like this update one bit. Sekumorphism got a kicking, but when it’s gone you know what you’re missing. It works for a reason – hence why they’re rolling back some of the changes – like in the settings app in beta 5. Your brain needs to be able to distinguish elements.

    I would be very surprised if there is not going to be massive blowback when this ships.

    • PMZanetti - 11 years ago

      Again, another person who has no idea what they’re talking about, because they use 1 day with beta 1 to determine, ‘Well that’s iOS 7 and waaaaaaaa its no good!”

      Things change. Try to keep up.

    • Steve Grenier - 11 years ago

      iOS 7 takes some getting used to. Is it perfect? Not even close, but it’s much better than iOS 6. I think by the time iOS 8 rolls around we’ll have a lot of the problems fixed. Then iOS 9 and 10 will continue to perfect it. It’s a step in the right direction and people will embrace it. Even if they hate it initially.

    • Shantanu - 11 years ago

      I have been using iOS 7 since the day it’s beta 1 was available. Just a day (or two) ago, I reverted to iOS 6 on one of my iPhone 4S; and, believe me. it looked ugly. Once you get used to iOS 7, iOS 6 makes you think of a stone age.

  6. It was 2 weeks with beta 4.

    I’ve been using iPhone since 1g back in 2007 and have never owned another phone. I have had every iPhone. I couldn’t – despite wanting to like it – get a handle on it. And it was giving me a headache from all the bright whites on every screen. So, I can only comment as myself really!

    What I do know, is that my parents in their 60’s won’t have a hope of using it on their iPad’s and two iPhones. The new slide to unlock thing is the first interaction with the device and they even had to add a > to that in beta 5 because it wasn’t clear how to unlock it.

  7. I have to admit I really didn’t like the new look at first, but after having used it consistently for the last month or so it has really grown on me. I agree the white needs toning down. But in general the overall design and more importantly the functionality of that design are great.

  8. ageramash - 11 years ago

    I understand that some people and mainly people that aren’t technology literate, will see it as a huge change and some will not like it. Me personally, i love it. There are things that can be much better but this is the beginning of a new way of interface with apple.. And perfection doesn’t happen right away. I also think that this is a small change to what i think is going to come after.

    • I love supposedly “technology literate” people who talk down to the rest of us. If you are some huge tech nerd, guess what, no one cares what you think about Apple products. The iPhone is a device for the masses. The iPhone is the Polaroid camera that everyone is capable of using. iPhone customers have come to expect a product that “just works.” Aside from the Apple Maps debacle, this has been largely true, with customers being spoiled by each new device or software release. The iPhone is for the user without a Computer Science degree. If I want to dig into the guts of my phone, I’ll by an Android. All Apple has to do is continue to be innovative without “jumping the shark.” It’s a balancing act. People will eventually get used to iOS7, and it will continue to get better. I just think I will give it a week or two before committing to “the land of no return.”

  9. The UI is really stunning. I love iOS7! Every time I look at a friends phone running iOS6 I cringe.

  10. Hmm, does the poll tell anything about if the users have just seen screenshots of the things they vote about, or if they actually use it??

    To me, iOS7 is 99 steps back, and 10 steps forward.. Some is better, but damn, a lot is also baaaaaad!

    And don’t get me started on the design, it’s so minimalistic that you get afraid to touch it!

  11. Bryant Anthony Irawan - 11 years ago

    Anyone else notice that the top right comparison has a “make epic shit” button for ios6. I never knew my iPhone could help me with my bowels…

  12. Jim Phong - 11 years ago

    Fake polls paid by Tim Cook and Jony Ive. They need to be fired from Apple.

  13. Not surprised by the results. iOS 7 does look a lot better than iOS 6 without a doubt.