Now you’ve had a chance to catch up on our coverage of the main new features of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, and seen our hands-on videos (iOS 8 overview, OS X Yosemite overview, iOS 8 Spotlight and iOS 8 interactive notifications), we’d like to hear your first impressions of each.
Whether you’re blown away by all the new features, disappointed by things you wanted but didn’t get, or just a bit underwhelmed, here’s your chance to let us know.
We’ve summarized the features Apple has chosen to highlight, and there are separate polls for each platform …
The iOS 8 features Apple has chosen to highlight in its microsite are:
- Photos: Every photo you take, now on all your devices, automatically – with synced edits
- Messages: Add voice, video and location to any message
- Design: Responses to notifications, shortcuts to your key contacts, time-saving features for managing mail
- Keyboard: Predictive text, context-dependent, making different suggestions in Messages and Mail
- Family sharing: Up to six people can share iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases
- iCloud Drive: Store any kind of file, accessible on all your devices
- Health: All your health & fitness apps can now talk to each other, with a dashboard summary
- Connected devices: Easier than ever to start something on one device and continue it on another
- Spotlight: Now gives you suggestions from more places, with context & location awareness
The features Apple highlights for Yosemite are:
- Notification Center: A new Today view with everything from events to stocks & weather
- Spotlight: Rich, scrollable previews of results, and includes Wikipedia, Bing, Maps and more
- Safari: Streamlined toolbar, more usable space, faster performance, greater privacy
- Mail: Send larger attachments, annotate documents, fillable forms, faster performance
- Messages: Send & receive both iMessages and text messages on your Mac
- iCloud Drive: Store any kind of file, accessible on all your devices. Add tags to find files faster
- Connected devices: Phone calls & SMS on your Mac; handoff between devices; instant hotspot
Please use the comments to let us know what least and most impresses you. We’re expecting you to have a lot to say, so may not be able to respond to many, but we will read them all.
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i love the old dock for both iOS and mac os x. it has no meaning without
You’ll get used to it
Said like a salesperson who ought lose their job. The goal of a salesperson is to sell the greatest amount of product, to the widest market possible.
To achieve this, you listen to the people you wish would part with their money. How you do that is not what you have done, it is to say ok, we will develop two or more graphic user interfaces and enable you the costumer to choose.
Actually, the “old” old dock for OS X looks more like the new Yosemite dock. I forget when they added the 3D shelf effect but I have never liked it. Glad to see it go!
Agreed!! The Aqua’s dock they showed on keynote was similar to the Yosemite one
Dear Apple,
Sun wants its circa 1990 Motif X Windows interface back. The interface gets out of the way – who dreamt up that drivel? The interface is EVERYTHING.
Oh and most people don’t want transparency – it makes people crazy that you can see through window. Does it make it better or easier to use?
How about a white on white font to make it even harder to see nstead of that stupid light gray on white background they used on iOS7. Any charm OS X had that made it visually distinctive against Windows is now gone.
Whats next, monochrome green/amber terminals?
Ives is NOT a software designer and frankly is quite over rated. He should go back to designing hardware and leave the software to the professionals.
We need more people like us with some common sense and a set of eyes… this new design direction is absolutely horrible.
Now I might be a out of work computer graphic artist, but no one has ever told me that my highly detailed designs were anything less than movie quality.
The only answer I have for apples design is a copy and past of androids direction and of bad 1970s minimalism. It is to be expected as Ive would have grown up during that period.
Totally agree with you guys .. It’s exactly like intentionally trying to use a canon to kill a mosquito. Unfortunately Apple is being run now by bunch of “employees” and a CFO!
So very true. Jony Ive must be fired and they should bring back Scott Forstall, who is a real engineer, and as it turns out – a visionary.
Totally agree. The worst thing is… Macs are not fun to use anymore (like iOS 7).
Awesome, just, awesome!
I’m just not sure about Helvetica as OS X font. But I trust they know what they’re doing.
I’m with you. I admit that after 10+ years I was just used to Lucida Grande, and it may be time for a change. However, Helvetica is such a boring, ubiquitous choice. Of all the fonts in the world, Apple’s designers had to choose the one that every other designer chooses every time?
Can we change this using the Terminal or other method? I liked Lucinda, and I don’t like Helvetica
AWESOME! i cannot wait to install and use!
I don’t like the new Yosemite design. I mean it is ok to switch to “Flat” style, but I think that it could be better.. It looks zoo ugly. I will not switch from Mavericks.. I would rather switch to xubuntu..
I think I’m still not used to Yosemite even after 6 hours with it. I’m not in love with the new icons but I can endure it. However the rest of the UI looks incredible IMO. At first I found iOS extremely ugly with it being so colorful and the massive change from the more sophisticated iOS 6. After a while I got used to it and using iOS 6 now, it looks ancient and bloated. I rolled back to Mavericks because Yosemite is not yet stable but damn just the continuity features can get me to switch. And the new menu bar along with the widgets are a major plus. I like it. Give it a try before you dismiss it.
I really like the new look, myself. I have been hoping they would do something like this.
So you’re saying you won’t be upgrading to a new OS that is technologically superior in almost every way to its predecessor and most of the competition, because it’s too flat???
SMDH
People like you drive me insane! Get over yourself, technology changes and marches on constantly. This isn’t the same monumental shift in design Microsoft forced upon it’s user base with the introduction of Windows 8. It’s a subtle change, leaving the interface almost completely the same as before, with just some lipstick and mascara changes.
Fuck you
Todd, you are my hero.
How sad for you SpoonerismGuy…
Agreed, Edison.
And three against two. Bully for you all. Bully being the operative word.
I won’t… because they shove this garbage bullshit UI down everyone’s throat. OSX does what I need to now without the kiddy cartoon design… when people buy into this shit, they keep building it.
at this point, Yosemite is just too unpleasant to use. will you use a “new technologically superior” car if it stinks like urine?
Definitely enjoying the new updates, love the clean look in Yosemite and I’m really anxious to try more of the continuity features between my air and my 5s – especially the phone calls.
As to be expected, precisely zero of my apps work. Again, not at all surprising. Once more apps get updated and the bugs are ironed out, I think we’ll see the potential really take off. Very excited about the Health Book and how apps are going to connect to it to give a full picture.
A third poll would be great: What do you think of the integration between iOS and OS X? That’s the one area where I was blown away.
While other companies seem to think the key to integration is to put phone info on smaller screens (for example, on a smart watch display), Apple is thinking more broadly. If you are on your computer with your phone in your pocket or bag, why should you look at your wrist to see who is calling? Being able to handle phone tasks on your computer, assuming it is integrated as well as the demo suggests, will change how I use my Apple products.
And, of course, this leads the way for an Apple smart wearable as well!
Completely agree!!! Continuity is a MAJOR step! And the right step in my humble opinion, of how to successfully integrate a mobile OS and a desktop OS! Peaceful and powerful way of and coexisting, where each of them do what they do best and none of them try to be it all and do wrong in that process (read: Windows 8)!!
Yosemite, whilst very impressive ‘under the hood’ looks visually like it would appeal more to young children or ‘tweens’. In terms of look-and-feel, it badly lacks elegance. Simplicity: yes, elegance and beauty: no.
Could you expand with an example?
I don’t see why transparency makes something only appealing for tweens :)
I don’t have a problem with transparency per-se, Xavier, and in my post I never actually mentioned that. But having said that, I do feel that transparency (in the case of Yosemite here) adds an unnecessary layer of visual ‘noise/clutter’ which, in my opinion, serves more as a distraction than a visual aid. But, I’m just stating my personal opinion! I don’t feel the overall design of flat areas of white on grey do anything to aid usability either. Again, ‘in my opinion’.
I see what you’re meaning now! :) Thanks for explaining!
I have not tested it myself yet, so I can’t say if I’ll find it intrusive/cluttering yet… But I can feel you there.
Although, when I think about it (again, I’ve not tested it so I can only base myself on the screenshots), it seems like the transparency stuff is a lot more opaque on OS X than it is on iOS with Notification Center, for example, don’t you think so?
I hope you’re right, Xavier! Transparency is good in life, not so much in OS X ;)
I’m confused. You say Yosemite has simplicity but then you say it’s full of visual clutter. Unlike the horrendous and inelegant materials used in previous versions (felt in the notification bar and leather in the Calendar app), the translucent material extends your content and really drives home the layering structure of the OS. The OS is now dynamic and constantly changing according to the content on your screen. Nothing about that makes it childish.
No need to be confused. Some of the UI is more simplistic in its design, yes, but I don’t feel the need to see what lies beneath a finder window (for example). My god, is it really so important? An opaque frame I feel serves a fundamental purpose – to help focus your attention. Like you, I’m not a fan of skeuomorphism, but Yosemite seems to have gone to extremes in the other direction. Nothing wrong with a more balanced approach. Some of us don’t want or need constantly changing on-screen environments – a baby staring up at a mobile might feel comforted and amused by that. Some of us just want to work in a quiet, creative, but aesthetically pleasing environment. But, again, just my opinion – I’m not stating is as objective fact.
I can tell you from playing around with it all day yesterday, you don’t even notice the translucency. It’s more opaque than it appeared on in the WWDC presentation. I think they must’ve amped up the transparency for presentation purposes. I do agree with you though in that they dedicated a lot of time to talking about colors yesterday. It was kind of amusing.
Seriously, I don’t know where end-users like you get your ideas from… The transparency and lighter window elements actuality make from a crisper, more focused UI than previously. Transparency has actually already been in OS X for some time in the Menu Bar.
To imply that the visual changes make it look less elegant and appealing to tweens is ridiculous.
“The transparency and lighter window elements actuality make from a crisper, more focused UI than previously.”
*In Your Opinion*.
Not all design is a matter of opinion, nor is it a democracy.
I do Graphic design as well as video production and dabble in app development in android and ios, although I use android phones I use apple computers.
My point is I honestly love the look of Yosemite and ios 7/8 at first I was thinking “yuck” but after using it in person it was really actually a great step forward in design. I love the Flat look personally.
Can anyone confirm if the full screen caller ID is back as shown in the picture above?
I really hope so, this little picture circle is killing me
Absolutely agree. One of the most baffling changes they made.
Sadly, no its not. I just tested it. Deleted a contact’s picture the used an another one and it’s still using that little circle. What I think is maybe it’s an earlier release than what was showed us, just like last year. When they showed iOS 7, iMessages had a new bubble effect on stage and also on Apple’s iOs 7 page, but it was the old version in beta 1 and 2… after it we got it in beta 3. I really hope they considering the full screen caller IDs. They were so beautiful and these circles are just ugly.
Until I get the ability to change the interface, Apple really doesn’t have anything new that I would use. Empower the user to have a interface they would like to see, kill the need for the users to jail break their phones and profit from the sale of user made interfaces that can be sold on the apple store.
To those who are against this, because you don’t want to see poorly made user interfaces, tough. It is not your phone, so don’t complain about what others want to see in their own phones. Stop trying to make the world a one size fits all environment.
“To those who are against this, because you don’t want to see poorly made user interfaces, tough. It is not your phone, so don’t complain about what others want to see in their own phones. Stop trying to make the world a one size fits all environment.”
Are you talking to Apple? =P
Anyone who would make the comments like “Edison Wrzosek says:
June 3, 2014 at 10:38 am
For the tweakers, there’s always Android, no go away.”
There was another who made a more personal attack against me, simply for wanting to be empowered to make the interface appealing to my texture heavy desires.
For the tweakers, there’s always Android, no go away.
What exactly do you think is involved with giving you “the ability to change the interface”?
Great features on both sides. Awesome how they have made both operating systems work together so all of our devices can do most anything. Love the fact that Airdrop now works with Macs too. I also like the fact that they are going to let the public beta test. I think this will help Apple squash a lot more bugs a lot faster and make for the final release a much better experience for those that don’t want to beta test.
Doesn’t the iOS 8 Continuity feature just eliminate the need for anyone to buy a iPad with Cellular?
Huh? Not sure what logic takes you to that conclusion. Your comment implies all tasks performed on an iPad with cellular must be continued somewhere else. Think about that for a sec.
No, It doesn’t eliminate the need. Some people who would buy the iPad with Cellular are people who don’t have a tethering package on their current phone plan, or don’t want to have to use their data from their phones on their iPad. I would, but a lot of people feel uncomfortable paying overages so they are using less data on their devices, With iPad with Cellular you don’t have to pay overages. When you meet your limit thats it.
I want to add to the possible reasons this one:
I have an iPad w/ Cellular because I want to be able to take out my iPad, and start using it directly with my stuff, see my new emails, etc. without having necessarily to check my iPhone.
Continuity, if it works like I hope (during the demos, they never put the iPhone on idle or closed the MacBook Pro lid when they switched to another device, and I hope it’ll work when closing the lid too), will be awesome with my iPad.
If I’m working on a document, a letter, writing an email, checking up my news in the morning during breakfast, I just close my MBP and walk away with my iPad, ready to go.
I can continue to read the news on my iPhone, and once I’m sitting down a little bit I can bring up the comfort of the iPad display.
TL;DR It doesn’t eliminate the need in my opinion. If you really feel it does, please explain why. :)
Well, no. The Continuity feature as I understand it does not automatically port everything from your iPhone to your iPad over Bluetooth. It will use Bluetooth for the Hand-Off feature, but not to send all of your emails to your iPad. Same with Photos – all of your photos on all of your devices – it will use data and iCloud to transport photos. You could however, use the Instant Hotspot feature to share your phones data with your iPad.
functions are great. but UI is suxx… :(
You can enable Dark Mode, or be like the other whiners in here and stay with an older, technologically inferior OS until the end of time. Or join the smart group and upgrade.
i love osx. but i hate ios8. they are still ages behind android in terms of features and ease of use. But OSX is the most amazing os platform and i love my macbook. my iPad air is just a piece of expensive shit.
Just being curious and not judging you, what are you missing from iOS 8 and is on Android?
I can only think about sessions (I think it’s an Android feature, though not certain), but I wonder if it’ll ever make it…
With iOS 8, Apple pretty much brings the platform up to feature parity with Android, and now crushes them in many usability areas.
As for your iPad being a POS, funny, because mine get’s used ALL the time and kicks Android to the curb. That comment just makes you sound like a freaking Fandroid.
I really hate the name, I mean it sounds fine when an american says it… but seems so awkward from any Englishmen.
I’ve waiting for the OSX to update the look and feel for a long time now and I was so happy about the announcement! I can’t wait to get this. I am a designer and I freakin’ love the new look. I think it is slick, stylish and clean like iOS7. Oh and the fact that everything can now work in harmony is absolutely AMAZING!
I know! I’ve signed up for the Public Beta, and have a spare Mid-2011 MBP on standby to install and test this puppy! Can’t wait to see this in action!
Seems to be moving towards Unified Messaging, finally. Glad to see it. Regret that iWatch wasn’t “released”, but there seemed to be several hints about it, during the Keynote.
I don’t think apple is gonna be releasing a smart watch any time soon. they just don’t have the features to make people say “man i really need that”. apple just dose not bring things out, they make things that people need to use. when the smart watch gets to that point then thats when we will see it.
I haven’t upgraded to Mavericks because I wasn’t in a rush to have the latest and greatest. However, Yosemite looks like a keeper.
apple please bring a file system to iOS. it is useless to use without a proper file system
Isn’t that what the new iCloud Drive feature is in iOS 8?
^ I second that guys comment?
||
you must have a special need other people don’t have. Maybe you are using a wrong tool for the job.
Documents by Readdle seems to give me a “filesystem”, and the new iCloud Drive seems to give you a second one… If you need more, suggest you go with Android, and all the crap that comes with it.
Well.. it already has a filesystem (HFSX).
You probably mean a file browser, I hear this a lot from people, however, hiding it is the best thing Apple could have done to improve security and usability.
It encourages sandboxing and control (access to the filesystem or just your photos) and eliminates the need to search files), especially with the new sharing API’s.
“useless”
good for trolling, though.
but overall, I liked the new features and design of it. (although some of the icons ported from ios ( bookmarks/share etc I still can not get used to, no as intuitive as they should be)
The phone call features are great, there’s no doubt whether I would be upgrading or not, however its free, and feels like the kind of update that should be free. I couldn’t see myself paying to upgrade in any case.
Wow, they should put this in the dictionary as an example next to the word “jaded”. Or “greedy”.
Man i don’t know where to begin. It’s so awesome! Mail for example, i was so happy to hear about the larger files you can send! That was about time! also the connectivity with iPhone and your Macs truly impressed me. That you can take a phone call on your Mac, you can choose to answer right there from where you are working. This is so great. I did also like that you can now stock things in the notification center and also that you can change to a dark theme it’s so cool! I love it! :-)
What got my attention is Craig’s quip about “going back to basics” with Mail on OS X, does this mean a complete re-write of the code to fix the debacle that was Mavericks Mail? Will they finally include support for Exchange ActiveSync and Exchange Shared Mailboxes?
I think iOS 8 as a beta isn’t that interesting, but when the developers start to create widgets and all the other cool stuff Apple presented Apple wasn’t exaggerating that this is the biggest update since the introduction of the App Store.
I really enjoyed the “take a phone call on your Mac” segment.
For those who don’t remember, Microsoft spent many years and many millions of dollars trying to make telephony on a PC a “thing,” but it never took off.
Here we are years later and Apple is making it work in a useful way. A template that gets repeated endlessly nowadays.
Yesterday was a masterclass in “Design”. The function and look of iOS and Mac OS improvements are outstanding. They’ve taken the new design language and moved it forward with some giant improvements along with some very subtle tweaks. I’m looking forward to iOS 8, and Apple has inched me ever so closer to switching to a mac book.
iOS 8
Most impresses: All the developer features! These improvements may take a little while to trickle down to the end user, but opening iOS up with Extensions may just revolutionise some parts of iOS we all use on a daily basis. Swift was also the ‘wow’ moment of the Keynote.
Least impresses: Health. I think this is mainly targeted at fitness buffs or people who have a pre-existing medical condition. If you’re neither, buying extra hardware just to see your heart rate isn’t very exciting. Just another app to stick in the ‘Junk’ folder.
Yosemite
Most impresses: During the Keynote, I have to say that making phone calls and texts from the Mac looked very, very exciting but after using Yosemite I have the say the design is just beautiful. Continuity will surely be absolutely great once all the bugs are flattened, but the design is something you’ll notice everyday. iCloud Drive will also be very practical, if a bit unexciting.
Least impresses: I absolutely love Yosemite and don’t have any major gripes with it, but the addition of a Photos app seems completely unnecessary – surely iPhoto serves the same purpose? Bundle iLife preinstalled with OS X and be done with it.
Overall though, these updates are really great. Yosemite has to be one of the biggest OS X updates for a long time, and iOS 8’s back end improvements should wield absolutely great software in the near future. Of course, they also serve to lock you that bit tighter into Apple’s ecosystem, but really what’s wrong with that if it all ‘just works’?
I think the Health app is aimed at the older generation. God I hate saying this, but I guess that includes me (I’m 47). My doctor just asked me to start monitoring my blood pressure daily. How cool that a couple days later, Apple includes an app for that. ;-)
I’m assuming Photos will replace iPhoto. Which could be a good thing they are making the app from the ground up, iPhoto is over-bloated and sluggish in my opinion.
HealthKit is a long play. It’s not “for” any specific group. It’s an umbrella API and UI for all the disparate hardware manufacturers to report data to a centralized location.
They’re also tying in to healthcare centers (like the Mayo clinic).
This is something that has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, epidemiology and preventative medicine in the long term, with the advent of anonymized crowdsourcing of medical data.
Hopefully at the level of data reporting, there will be a common standard for the data so that all players’ data can be exchanged.
I watched to the keynote address last light, and the thing that I like most is that Apple is getting back to the “it just works” aspect of things. I felt the Continuity and Hand Off features will mean the most to me. That is what I’ve been wanting to do for a while but it hasn’t been done in seamless manner, in the past, at least that I have been able to find. I’ve been reading stuff from the “experts”, saying that they were underwhelmed by the news yesterday; and I’m wondering what Apple needs to do to impress these people? I felt that Apple is going in right direction to keep an iPhone in my pocket, a Mac mini in my computer room, and an iPad in the TV room.
Not a zealot, but I really like Apple!!!
This was one of those amazing foundation years. Apple laid out the foundations for some possible big things.
For instance, while so much has been made of the ability to run the emulator in custom sizes as seemingly pointing to new sizes of iPhones, it also lays the foundation for developing apps for split screen functionality and the ability to develop apps for HD TV resolutions, along with a smaller screen on a possible Apple wearable and iOS in the car screens. Apple is preparing to break iOS out of the small world of smartphones and tablets.
Along with this is the consequences of Swift, Playground, Metal, enhanced SpriteKit, and SceneKit is that Apple has made big strides in laying a foundation for improved gaming on iOS. This will help on the iPhone and iPad, but it will be huge if they were to open up an AppleTV store. They have taken a big step in positioning themselves to take on Sony and Microsoft.
The other big consequence that I see was the shot across Google’s bow. While they didn’t say it they take some further steps in changing the way that people look for information. Virtually every search field will now reference maps, Wikipedia, Yelp, or some other web service and provide information and links straight from the search field. This means that a certain percentage of Google’s ad profits have just been lost. Much the way that Siri searches take away from Google’s search profits the same is being done here.
This WWDC didn’t reveal any huge WOW moments, but Apple did a lot of catching up in areas that they were lagging (widgets, third-party keyboards, cloud drive, etc.), they did a lot of addressing issues where they were weak or not filling a demand (ease of moving data between OSX and iOS devices, family iTunes accounts, etc.), and they did a lot of laying the groundwork for future expansions in hardware (better gaming programming, different device resolutions, modern programming language, vast improvements in device communication/integration, heatlthkit for upcoming health monitoring hardware, homekit for upcoming home automation, etc.). All of these will make introducing and using things like an improved and expanded AppleTV, iWatch (or other Apple wearable), home automation, smart cars, etc.
This was definitely one of those years that the general public won’t find all that exciting, but will make a huge difference down the road because of the foundations they are laying for the developers and themselves.
Absolutely. Yesterday was HUGE. Most exciting Keynote in a loooooong time. I think this will help them get some of their swagger back.
And they did all of those things you label as “catching up” in ways that have a secure foundation at the OS level.
Sandboxing of apps is still intact, even though there are now app extensions. XPC was brought over from the Mac, so that a keyboard extension, for example, is not permitted by the OS to ever access the network.
Great improvements in OS X with messages/calls, iCloud drive (and the boost in space), connected devices!
I really have a hard time with the Dock, It’s a bitter pill to swallow for me. I think they could of designed it alot better. Like others have said, it’s a bit like looking at a 3rd party dock for Windows 7.
Spotlight enhancements are great, however I think there are going to be more then a few who complain about Spotlight popping up in the center of their work all of the time.
Some…surprise about not having Siri embedded in the OS, but considering the new stuff in iOS 8 for Siri, I guess it was a matter of priorities for them.
Wifi Calling, great,a little late but great. Late…because most people have unlimited talk and text now. In those bad reception areas, awesome! Let’s see how long it takes Verizon and AT&T to pony up.
3rd Party keyboards!
There is so much iOS goodness this year it’s had to nail down opinions on all it right now, Swift,that was the best news of all for me,
Keep in mind that it was a developer conference: any OS features that do NOT have a developer API — for example, Siri in OS X, could be saved for announcing it when OS X finally ships.
Some “about time” features but this push to flat design is killing the look for me personally.
iOS 8 / Yosemite
The Good:
Message improvements. For the average consumer (especially with a large family who likes to group message), the Message features are the greatest improvement to be brought to iOS 8! Being able to leave a group conversation is a long-awaited feature, but the ability to Do Not Disturb a single group thread is genius! The ability to text audio clips is cool, though it has existed on other platforms/apps before. Add in that we can now except regular SMS messages on the Mac! The iMessage platform has really matured with iOS 8 / Yosemite.
Continuity features are the coolest part. I have no doubt that this will be the most used feature for me. I find myself frequently going between my devices. It will be nice to be able to pickup right where I left off before I even leave the room! Not to mention being able to take phone calls!
One of the less emphasized features that excites me is the Safari enhancement that allows one to watch Netflix without having to install Microsoft Silverlight. Also, the Safari speed improvements look pretty great.
Also excited about 3rd party keyboards. I am pretty good with the current keyboard, but I’ve always wanted to try Swype!
The Bad:
Healthkit. This is not necessarily bad. This is just the area where Apple seemed to really leave us hanging in terms of how it’s going to work. It will clearly be up to developers to make Healthkit successful. Though I’ve stated how I feel about this before in another post, I will repeat it. Health kit is not a game changer, but rather the platform on which the game will be changed.
Safari Favorites Bar. Let me start by saying that I know that we can enable the Favorites Bar in preferences. However, the idea behind removing the bar was that I could access the Favorites Bar by clicking in the search bar. However, the search bar Favorites won’t display the folders from your Favorites Bar, making it useless for me.
The Ugly:
The only thing ugly here is the pool of tasteless individuals who cannot embrace the latest design trends. Yosemite is BEAUTIFUL! So happy to feel the design continuity as well as the software continuity.
EXTRAS:
The most exciting announcement for me was the announcement of Swift! A new programming language! I am already excited to start learning this one!
Re: healthkit. it’s all that Apple can possibly do at the OS level, short of killing off all health-related hardware by 3rd parties. It’s not “Bad”, it’s very very good. It’s a long play by Apple to enable developers to focus on what makes them great and not have to do the mundane stuff. It makes for a better experience for individual users to collect all the health data in one place.
Overally impressed though one little thing bother me: full background of dock. I would prefer to have it as a shelf as is in previous versions. Same in iOS 7 where it is blocking quite decent space of display. Anyway I can’t wait for download!
Continuity is DA BOMB!!!
Continuity, Metal, iCloud Drive, Markup
The visual design is f**king ugly. Enough said. Some of the new features are cool, but I really do NOT understand the simplification of design all companies are moving towards. We have beautiful new highDPI IPS screens readily available now, and what do designers do… reduce the detail and level of complexity in design? Moronic.
Not to mention… and maybe this is a good thing; but these new phone OSes and OSX Yosemite will actually make me want to use the computer less. Whoever thought that bright crisp white, on white… with more white was good design is without a doubt, out of their mind. Who are these morons in charge of design at Apple now? 13 year old kids with 0 experience… that would explain the basic UI and the garbage icon design. It has to…
ha i think u better get used to it real quick, because no matter windows, mac , android and iOS , all of these are following such trend of being more simpler.
Tend to agree with you and others on here.
As we get better and better devices and device displays, for some unknown reason they’re giving us acres of plain white glare and blobs of jelly bean colours. People claim it stops the interface ‘getting in the way’ of work but it would be interesting to see some of these changes subjected to some independent ergonomic testing. Can people really work better with white glare, blobs with no definition and ill defined translucent backgrounds ?
Most of all it’s the childishness of a lot of it – particularly in IOS.
Get used to it? That’s the great thing about global competition, I don’t have to get used to anything I don’t like.
Thus far, I have thoroughly enjoyed most of the things that you didn’t care for (the blurs, translucency, and white space). Most of these things are based on visual design principals and contribute to a very user-friendly interface. Apple definitely does usability testing as part of their development, but that is also why they have these developer releases and Beta releases. If there are features that the majority do not like, Apple will probably revisit those decisions.
And you are certainly correct that you don’t have to get used to anything that you don’t like, but Jasper’s point is valid. If you want to use any of the major brands (Apple, Google, Android, Windows, etc.), you are going to be forced into modern design trends, as they are all adopting them. So, unless you want to use some obscure brand… Yeah. Get used to it. =)
Jesse Supaman
I’d be interested to see the results of any objective, and preferably independent testing. We do know that apple had to backtrack with settings under ‘accessibility’ to turn down the white glare and translucency in IOS7 – those changes being in response to user dissatisfaction rather than pro-actively during their own testing.
We’ll have to see if I will be ‘forced’ by apple to pay good money for something I don’t like. Previously I had a lot of brand loyalty to apple (in total I’ve had 3 iPhones, 2 iPads & 2 MacBooks) but that loyalty has gone. My most recent tablet purchase was samsung – yes, some white but not nearly so childish in appearance. Next phone purchase probably going same way. Might be staying with OSX for my laptop, but let’s see if I’m willing to pay (£1000 more than is needed to get a perfectly functional laptop) to buy another apple. I don’t think it’s worth that much any more. I recall apple referring to it as ‘delight’ and unfortunately it’s been replaced by the ‘yuk.’ I want premium product not child’s toy.
Personal opinion, personal choice. Of course. But that’s what previously caused me to pay a premium for apple products and it doesn’t any more.
It’s funny how some of the one’s complaining about the UI looking “childish” do so in a “childish” way. Design conventions are always evolving. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make it wrong. I think the new design looks beautiful. I haven’t decided if I like it better or worse than the previous iteration, but I appreciate it for what it is. Change can be scary, but perhaps you could provide more thoughtful comments in the future and we could have an intelligent discussion about the elements that you dislike.
Well, nothing quite so “childish” (or indeed “ugly”) than attempting to illustrate how stupid and simple-minded other folk are for expressing an opinion that contradicts your own, whilst simultaneously raising yourself up on a pedestal of ‘absolute perfect balance’. And you talk about intelligent discussion. *Sigh.*
Oh SpoonerismGuy… You seem to misunderstand my point. I was commenting on the senseless nature of calling world renowned designers morons/garbage/etc (this being the “childish” behavior that I was referring to). After my first sentence, I responded to the opinions he expressed with my own opinions and concluded with constructive criticism to promote a more productive conversation going forward. If you reread my post, you will see that not only did you misinterpret my post, but that you needlessly attempted to exacerbate a situation based on your own misconstruction. How embarrassing for you! Lol.
Someone expresses an opinion you dislike and your first reaction is to correct them and offer a more “balanced” and cogent way to discuss moving forward, under your own terms of course, in the interest that others ‘may listen and learn’. How incredibly arrogant.
“…I responded to the opinions he expressed with my own opinions”.
Yes, you responded with judgement and criticism. There’s nothing intelligent about that. Calling people childish and implying that they’re thoughtless for disliking what you deem to be beautiful is akin to name-calling. Playground bullying, plain-and-simple. You dish that out, and you will receive the same discourtesy. You can’t fail to, Supaman. But you craft your words so carefully that your sense of superiority would almost go unnoticed. Almost.
The design of a product is not right or wrong, unless it does not function. Aesthetics are subjective. Change in public opinion of a design convention often takes time and I am not so arrogant (despite your claim to the contrary) to believe that I can make a true comparison between the two OS interfaces at this point in time. This is the reason for my “balanced” opinion.
To address your other points, I just want to make sure that we’re on the same page SpoonerismGuy. You think that it is not childish for one to call the designers of a product “morons” because one does not like it. I would bet the original poster would probably agree that his post was a little hostile. That is the only criticism that I offered to the original poster. I am quite sure that he is intelligent enough to understand this. I am sorry that you do not feel him capable of such simple reading comprehension. People are smarter than you give them credit for SpoonerismGuy.
I am not certain whether it is your inability to separate the criticism of the original poster’s “name-calling” from the rest of the post or whether it is your lack of faith in the original poster’s intelligence that has led us into this pointless conversation. Either way, perhaps your time would be better spent commenting on another post with constructive comments that are on topic. Cheers. =)
Bud… just because I have design taste, common sense and like to express the truth of the matter with stronger language than you, does not make me childish.
Design conventions don’t always follow a logical path through evolution; they follow trends and most companies fall prey to the idea that they “don’t want to be left behind”. Apple traditionally carved their own path… now all I see are visually bland copies of other designs with “awesome, spectacular” and other god-awful marketing bullshit thrown in for god measure to push the concept of extreme simplification in design onto the masses (i.e morons…). Most people have a less than minimal understanding of design principals, and in general have shit taste in design. Look at all the folks who swear Samsung phones are amazing… clearly they can’t tell between a cheaply designed hunk of plastic and a high quality device. Sadly, Apple is crumbling to the pressure.
I am really looking forward to os x 10 now, the brand new design is just good looking ( hehe a lot better than i first saw in a photo that capture the screen on the stage) the part about continuity is so handful that i think i will love my apple device more than ever before :)
OS X will consume more graphic card since it uses “Glass” style!
Yosemite looks dreadful on non-retina displays, hope Apple will have a retina MBA ready alongside release. Don’t mind a design refresh, but feels like they didn’t go all the way here, some design elements like the icons don’t feel cohesive. Make them all round or square, don’t do both. It’s still months away from official release, a lot will surely change. Btw, can’t get Airdrop to communicate with iOS 8, it’s not enabled yet?
The only thing that is going to force me to upgrade is continuity. System wide tagging was the main reason for me to migrate to Maverick. It is one thing that made a difference in how I organize the files. Continuity and Airdrop, specially receiving the call while working on the mac, is useful unless Airdrop consumes too much battery life of the phone. Other than continuity, interface changes were not that important. Some of the changes looked ugly. My iPad Air is happy with iOS 7.1. So unless continuity works as good as the demo, I am not upgrading.
I like most everything in Yosemite and iOS 8. My one major gripe with Yosemite is the Dock. It looks terrible. I liked the 3-D look; now it looks like OS X Tiger way back when. Other than that, great job!
I really think iOS 8 is nothing too much… but people has spoken, and the majority says it is impressed.. I think the big picture is the Continuity, and so far I just have iOS 8 alone. I think when I have Yosemite I will be more enthusiastic.
The liberal use of transparency and transparent overlays in 10.10 is a bit worrying.
The overlays are arguably the worst part of iOS and exist more because of design dogma than because they have any real utility. For instance they are primarily used in the photos app and the media player where they cover up large parts of the image or movie you are trying to see requiring an extra tap just to see the picture, on each and every picture. In many case, the only reason they were implemented was to get rid of a 3D effect (linen, etc.), that was ruled out by the new dogma, but they are themselves a 3D effect.
Sensible? No. Improvement? Not really.
I’m starting to think that transparency is the new aqua scroll bar.
Those shiny blue bubbles looked really cool the first time you saw them, then you quickly wondered when they were going to go away.
Installed both iOS8 and OS10Yosemite. You should know that I’m more of a digital lifestyle enthusiast who is also in the media and software business. I think I expected 8 to look radically different like 7… I remember installing 7 and thinking WOW. First impression of iOS8 in a sentence: 7 looked radically different, 8 is radically better. 2 things I noticed immediately: Predictive Type and Notifications. Predictive Type works amazingly well… and I don’t know how I feel about it yet, it’s like when a person is completing your sentences… you’re either in love or annoyed. :) The notifications are awesome inside apps, exploring how to tweet them now.
Hate the new Dock in Yosemite otherwise also, it was so-so..
I’m using OS X 10.10 right now and it’s great.. except for Safari. I understand that Apple wants to merge the two OSes as much as they can but Safari on OS X shouldn’t look like Safari on iOS. Also… I can’t seem to find the “fullscreen” button on the side. Sure, I can always use hotkeys but still.
Edit: Nevermind, I found the fullscreen button. It’s been repositioned. Safari still needs work though.
At least they get back with full screen picture call.
And off course, a lot of “new” stuffs that should already exist, and another ones that are really cool like instant reply and voice messages. And the update for the notification center on OS X
For OSX – Not as bad as I thought it might be.
Not all white glare.
Some option for customising the appearance (if only by showing background via translucence) – needs more. Improved and customisable notification area sounds good.
SMS in message app – great move. If they can deal with the childish IOS7 jelly bean colour scheme in the messaging app. it won’t be too bad.
Now they need to move on from the appearance and test, test, test to try and shake off the reputation for things not working on first release.
Like to see some of the more adult/professional image copied to IOS, but won’t hold my breath. OSX could well keep me loyal to apple for my laptop, but IOS7 already has me moving on (just bought my first samsung tablet, likely to be moving over for my phone by autumn). Sorry, just can’t see IOS as a product for adults or professional settings any more.
That’s like saying you wouldn’t touch something pink because you’re too “manly”.
of course iOS is a product for adults. Gimme a break.
godofbiscuits
Is iOS still a product for adults?
A few years back I used to see iPhones in the hands of high level adults. Now I see them with little kids.
As I walk around retail stores I see the iPads besieged by pre-school children entranced by the games, not executives checking out the outlook connectivity.
The iPad/iPhone app store is now predominantly children’s games not business tools.
Now apple buys up a headphone and music streaming business. Is that intended to further cement their penetration of the board room?
Whether they are publicly acknowledging it or not, apple has shifted their target demographic for iOS. If you are targeting children, you add a childish image.
Fortunately OSX not moving so heavily that way – presumably apple not seeing that as a viable route with £1300 laptops or £10,000 mac pros.
I am an android fan and a apple computer user, I love both platforms they have their pros and cons.
I must say though I was very impressed with both OSX and ios 8. Making ios 8 and OSX more unified was smart move by Apple, it now gives people like me who use apple for my computer but android for everything else a stronger reason and incentive to use all apple products.
With apple finally adding things that have been in android forever I might consider giving the iphone 6 a shot this Fall.
I’m most excited by the death of Photostream, iCloud drive, 99 cents a month for 20 GB, and the connectivity between devices. As someone who owns a Mac Mini, MacBook Air, iPad and iPhone, these new features are going to improve my productivity tenfold. I have been really worried about the visual UI changes to OS X, but I must say that I’m really impressed. I’m not so sure about the dock, but as one commenter says below, I’m sure I’ll get use to it.
I’ve installed the developer preview and ios8 and I can tell you now, Apple has a SHIT TON of work to do before they release this thing to the public. Handoff, Video Messaging nor Voice Messaging is working at all. Markup freezes my entire system. Siri’s Shazaam adaptation has issues: couldn’t recognize some very recent, very popular songs. Re-downloading previous apps is a no-go, they start to download then just go away. Numbers, Keynote, ItunesU and Pages completely crashed after trying to update them and now just sit on the home screen with the developer thumbnail as it’s icon. Restoring my device from eariler backup was a no-go, had to set up my phone as a new device. I’m using an iPhone5s, 64 gb, and a macbook pro midsummer 2012(200 GB of free storage, working with 2-8 GB Sticks). I’m assuming there will be massive updates coming over the summer, because as of right now, they are not even close to being ready to make good on their WWDC promises.
Um, wake up man, of corse it needs a lot of work. It’s a beta…
I don’t understand why I need to wake up though? You just repeated exactly what I already acknowledged in my post. LOL. IDK, maybe you’re a troll looking for attention. Who knows… Anyway, have a great day.
Hey, genius, it’s not even a beta. It’s a Developer Preview.
Do you even know what that means?
I’ve liked almost everything I’ve seen in both iOS and OS X. There are small things like the word ‘Back’ at the top left of everything, coupled with a back symbol. It’s redundant and clutters the top bar. The point of the symbol is that is replaces the need for the word. Didn’t Apple make Swipe to the Right the default for going back in all of the built in apps, anyways? Same issue with the new ‘Details’ button in Messages, just make this a ‘More’ button; an ellipsis in a box or circle. (This symbol is used to replace ‘More’ elsewhere in iOS 8) Unfortunately, Apple makes the same mistake in other parts of the OS. In the Share Sheet, they have symbols and words for the actions like Print, Copy, Slideshow; as well as services like, Twitter, Facebook and Messages. It’s the same thing with apps on the Home Screen. We understand what these icons mean! Please let us turn off this unnecessary text!
One thing that I have wanted for a long time is improved pre-installed apps. I don’t want to have to have two Maps apps, two Calendar apps, two Reminders apps. I want Apple to beef up there offerings with more features, more functionality and more inter-communication. Your only allowed three calendars in the calendar app – and you can’t turn off pre-set holidays. Well, Apple got a few holiday dates wrong this year, and I couldn’t change or remove them.
I also want more artificial intelligence. If I get an email confirmation, for concert tickets I bought then I want not only for the Calendar app to make an appointment, but for the Maps app to know that I use public transport directions (I know, currently not a feature) and to give me public transport directions. Though, I also want maps to know that I live on an island, and to know that the concert is on the mainland. So, I also want Spotlight to give me a link purchase ferry tickets. However, it should also search for a service which can pick me up at or near my home, take me over to the mainland on the ferry and drop me off at or near the venue/hotel. I want Maps to know that based on the PDF ticket I received which includes the concert start time – that I will not be able to catch a ferry or return shuttle the same day, so it’ll automatically search for hotels in the area and provide the results to me.
I guess I’ll have to wait for these features.
Little disappointed that there is no ‘tap to launch’ feature like LG offer as i have found this very useful
I’m quite pleased with the look and feel of Yosemite, as well as the new features. The bright colors and contrast will take some getting used to, but I think that it’s a step forward with reducing skeuomorphism and making designs fit in well. (for example, the current Safari icon and Maps icon don’t even seem to be part of the same OS, they’re so different in design).
There is just one thing – I hope that older, less capable Macs (like my mid-2011 Macbook Air) won’t get bogged by the translucency as much as the iPhone 4 and 4s (slightly) did with iOS 7. If it does… well… I’m staying with Mavericks.
Apple and crew have got it RIGHT. CONTINUITY IS THE ANSWER. A seamless transition from one apple product to another with Siri as the true Virtual Assistant to help you and guide you along the way! Looking forward to the product pipeline that’s now in the pipeline..
plase full screen caller id
i really didn’t notice how nice it must be to scroll thru the tabs until i saw it on OS X Yosemite then i tried it on my macbook. I want it and need it. the simple things make life better.
I sure hope to hell they incorporate ActiveSync so that the Mail app can come out of the periodic-fetch dark ages. They have had it on iOS forever. Why not put it in the “real” desktop OS? If they want to make inroads with larger companies, where Exchange is ubiquitous, why not put the tech they already have in iOS into OSX? I don’t get it
ActiveSync is meant for mobile devices. Use a real Exchange server for desktop. ActiveSync was only added to Outlook in 2013 for Outlook.com compatibility without a plugin.
Oh, and also would be nice to change the Calendar notification alarm sound…..just like you can already do this for Mail and Messages. They just forgot to provide this menu setting in Calendar in the current OS. Let’s maybe get that one on the punch list Apple….
I’m a big fan of skeuomorphism. That was the one of the main reasons I chose Mac. Although I love the features provided by the new version of OS X, it feels like they are stealing my highlighter on pdfs in my preview app. Why not allowing users to select design themes between skeuomorphism and simple-flat any time? Is it really difficult to implement? I just want functionalities of Yosemite but no linux-looking flat designs !!!
It doesn’t look like Linux.
Looking through Yosemite, and having spent a few days with it. I have noticed the same design inconsistencies, as are present in iOS7. The attention to detail is lacking, as is the same with iOS7. It feels and looks childish to say the least. The colour of folders in Finder is horrendous, along with the straight line design of the folders. If you use Graphite as the Highlight colour then, the Finder folder triangles disappear. The Back & Forward buttons are inconsistent across the OS. Safari is a bloody mess… The icon-age again uses bold and thin line design, adding to it’s amateurish finish. The Tab button does not fit the grid design of the bar. The address bar only shows domain and not the full URL, unless highlighted. Preview no longer carries the signature setting. The Dock looks awful and if you use Magnification it looks odd when the icons bounce above the flat Dock base board. I know these are Beta’s and that things will be refined (I hope). However, in it’s current format and if released with these oversights still in place. I am staying put with Mavericks or may even roll back to ML, which comes in at second best, when compared to SL (which I would if pushed roll back to, but understand that it’s age will grate on me over time). Sadly, I feel Apple has lost it’s way and that Jobs would be turning in his grave if he could see where his creations were headed.
Just tested out the Yosemite, everything else is awesome (especially the new spotlight) but I am quite disappointed with the new GUI…. WHY DID YOU CHANGE THE FONT APPLE! Combining with the font the new GUI reminds me of Ubuntu, even the login screen looks similar. I hope the final version wouldn’t look like that. And I like Lucida Grande a lot more.
Ever since I upgraded my 16GB ipad to ios8 all background apps lose context and start from scratch… and that pretty much makes my ipad useless! This is particularly irritating because my main use for my ipad was performing research while writing!!! Unless this problem is fixed I will be looking for an alternative tablet that does not have this problem. p.s. I have over 8GB free so if it is a memory problem then it is really bad. :(
I don’t like the flat 2D GUI…. one of the reasons why I left Microsoft… and got a Mac… but this soon was a put off, since Apple is contaminated by the 2D infection as well, so I made sure I bought a new Mac before Yosemite is preinstalled as factory default.
Visually boring. The interface, typeface, and icons are dumbed down versions. I prefer a little art and creativity with my OS. Not as jazzed about Mac as I used to be.
Thank you. I spent all but about an hour of time considering the percs of this system, and have come to the conclusion that Apple needs to grab a hold of IOS without destroying structure, so after a whole lot of work exhausted from IOS the team took a breath of relief by designing supplication, but had to make it appear that the system was an advancement in appearance. Nice try I’ll wait for the next phase. Your are correct.
whats up with this FUGLY GREY DOCKBAR????? Seriously!!! Why not have an option with translucent bar???
The rest is Ok, but the Dock is driving me crazy….
The dock colour is linked to the background colour of the desktop
Abolutely hate the folder colour & that’s something you just can’t get away from – more like an in-your-face blooper Microsoft would commit – definitely a big spoiler … other than that it’s great.
I personally don’t consider the new look better, I’m a little unsure… I don’t like the flat style in general, and I prefer the old font (probably better on retina?). Also, I consider the old dock better than this new one. And come on… no one at Apple had a better alternative for the buttons for controlling the window on the top-left corner…? But at least now the notification bar has a reason to live… :-) I’ll live with the new design anyway…
Apple has managed to make my $2,000 computer look like a “Speak and Spell.” Perhaps the developers were inspired by this iPhone cover.
http://www.bitrebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Speak-and-Spell-iPhone-4-Decal-2.jpg
The visuals are too pale and hard to see. The light gray text is ridiculous and there are NO options that are viable even for accessibility options. The font change is stupid. iTunes is worse. I use this as a play back option for testing recordings. The slider is now a thin line and useless. You have made it too complicated and decreased ease of use. The text boxes are a good idea, if they were not so pale a gray as to be almost invisible! I do understand compatibility of devices, but the processor needs are ridiculous and the results poor. I am, frankly, horrified!
I absolutely HATE yosemite & safari 8.0. Way too many issues with yosemite and safari 8.0 must crash at least 15 times/day. Wish I had never installed yosemite! Apple is quickly loosing me as a loyal customer.
The 3D icon graphics were fantastic, sadly, Apple have employed South Park to design their Yosemite ‘look’.
I absolutely hate the one dimensional icon designs. They make the mac look like a cheap child’s toy, rather than the luxurious, quality machine that it is. I bought my lovely retina macbook among many other reasons for the beautiful crisp display, so having horrid flat, overly simplistic icons with no shadowing completely defeats the purpose of this. I will not upgrade to Yosemite unless they change it back or make it better, and when people stop reporting that the update has completely bricked their relatively new macs!
I am disgusted by the buggieness. Alternate keyboard? Often I have to shut down or reboot to get any keyboard. 8.01 was inexcusable. Why would I ever trust apple pay when I know the OS has this many problems?
Still better than android is damping with faint praise. Best in class maybe a summer school class.
Some of the features are nice , but the look is awful! It looks cheap and tacky! And it sticky as hell!
This isn’t about the dock, the fonts, or the overall feel that seems a little 1993 to me. My big problem with Yosemite is that Apple’s proprietary browser crashes more than a deaf blind drunk on the 405 during rush hour.
After installing Yosemite on a mid 2011 iMa with 16Gig of ram, it looks like I am running windows Vista on a 8086 processor. Long youtube videos don’t even come up anymore and VLC movies shock and halt and blah! Terrible. Steve is turning himself in his grave. He would never have approved this and whoever released this would have been fired instantly. I’m pretty sure.
I am not a tech geek or someone with a very great knowledge about design, and technology. I personally do not really love the new UI of iOS 8 and Yosemite. I think it’s so grey-ish and somehow, grey is not an outstanding color.
But anyway, I really love the integration between iOS and OSX. Everything happens in my iPhone and iPad also happens in my mac and vice versa. It makes me possible to check everything at once just with one gadget.
Am I a preschooler? Did I go back in time or something? These icons look like a kid designed them, and they are so flat.
I think it really stinks. Mavericks was a downgrade in itself, but Yosemite has really made me want to leave mac behind. I first did an install just from the app store. Really big mistake, as my mac went to a crawling speed. Next I did a clean install using a USB drive, and migration assistant. It was a touch faster, but still much slower. Last I tried a clean install, w/o using migration assistant at all. I planned on bringing my apps, user settings, and documents back using time machine. Guess what, it didn’t even have my hard drive locatable anywhere in my mac, and also absolutely no way to access my time machine.W/O being able to access that, their is absolutely no way to reinstall any of my backups. Well, I suppose I could just do it the hard way, by entering my backup drive, but thats isn’t why I spent over a grand on my Mac, in the first place.
The icon graphics are really cheesy, and I really hate how their forcing me into the cloud. Yes I like how my IOS, and OS integrate using the cloud, but shouldn’t that be optional. I also like how Safari’s bookmarks now operate, but why has everything else suddenly failed?
I HATE THIS FLAT LOOK AND CANDY COLORS!!!! where do I sign up to be a graphic designer this flat look is cake! IDIOTS