{"id":26744,"date":"2019-09-30T17:03:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T21:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=26744"},"modified":"2019-10-11T11:34:59","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T15:34:59","slug":"decreasing-ios-information-density","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/30\/decreasing-ios-information-density\/","title":{"rendered":"Decreasing iOS Information Density"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyle Howells<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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iOS 13 and the iPhone 11’s continue the trend of making phones bigger while making the UI even bigger, to get less information density than the small devices used to have.<\/p>\n

iOS 13 Photos app for example has gone 3 photos wide, instead of 4.<\/p>\n

So now the photos are giant, the app feels like Duplo, and I can see hardly any photos at once.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

scott<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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The original music app on the 3.5\" iPhone had more information density than Apple Music does today, and it did so while also having a persistent tool\/navigation bar.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Marco Barrios<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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This is so true. I have the iPhone XR that is uncomfortable to hold because it is too large but I can only see 3 messages at a time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Kyle Howells<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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The worst thing iOS 7’s redesign did was kill information density.<\/p>\n

When you remove all visual affordances except white space and color UI’s balloon and bloat massively.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Kyle Howells<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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This is an anti pattern I’d really like to see the industry outgrow.<\/p>\n

It became fashionable with Metro & iOS 7 to get rid of borders and all UI affordances in favour of just adding more white space, but it’s less usable, balloons UI sizes and massively reduces information density<\/p>\n

Again, the bottom one looks more fashionable but is much harder to use.<\/p>\n

Keep the new colors but reintroduce the borders, tighten the spacing slightly (now you can as you have borders) and it’s much nicer to use.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n