Apple’s Inconsistent Ellipsis Icons
In this example, the ellipsis button is akin to choosing File > Get Info on the Mac to open the Get Info window, which displays metadata about the selected file. Interestingly, Wallet only recently switched to using the ellipsis button; before that, it relied on a button that looked like the lowercase letter i. Perhaps the i was awkward when localizing the interface into other languages and script systems, but it is an ISO standard symbol.
Let’s say you then switch to the Music app to play some tunes. While playing a song, you see yet another ellipsis button. You might assume that tapping it would display more information about the song, perhaps like what you can see in iTunes when you choose Edit > Song Info. But no, the ellipsis button in the iOS Music app brings up a list of track-specific actions, like adding it to your library, adding it to a playlist, creating an Apple Music station based on it, and so on.
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These interface confusions extend to the Files app in iOS 13 as well. Much like with Wallet, Apple replaced a perfectly understandable Edit link with an ellipsis button. […] No, this time it offers commands for scanning documents, connecting to servers, and the options to edit locations, favorites, and tags.
Reminds me of how the Mac gear icon has been used for so many different purposes.
2 Comments RSS · Twitter
Ironic, isn''t it.
Ellipsis is spelled wrong in the title.
Feel free to delete this comment.
I love your site; it''s my go-to site for Apple news.
If something is important you'll post it. If you don't post something, it would have been a waste of time anyway.