An iPhone UI And UX Analysis

Posted on May 14th, 2012 by Ian G. Clifton

The battle of smartphone platforms frequently brings out impassioned fans of each side, and the arguments often repeat. This seems to be particularly true between Android and iOS, the two largest smartphone operating systems by market share. There are concrete differences between the two, such as the hardware differences and feature differences, but one of the most common arguments for the iPhone side seems to be “It’s a better user experience.” When pressed for more details, the responses veer away from useful, concrete details. “The UI is more consistent.” “It’s easier to use.” Well, I decided to put it to the test. The following is an analysis of the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of an iPhone from an Android user’s perspective. Continue reading →

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Path For Android: Minor UI Analysis

Posted on February 14th, 2012 by Ian G. Clifton

While developing a mobile application, it’s very common to discuss how other apps solve problems that your app has or will encounter. Recently, one of the example apps that was discussed was Path. You’ve probably heard of it since it has recently seen a lot of press for uploading users’ address books on iOS without permission, but if you’ve somehow managed to not hear of it, you can think of it as a simple, social journal. Since I wasn’t familiar with the app, I downloaded it on my Galaxy Nexus and gave it a try.

I was surprised at how unintuitive I found the UI to be. Continue reading →

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4.65 Inches

Posted on February 9th, 2012 by Ian G. Clifton

I’ll have to admit, when I ordered my Galaxy Nexus, I was a bit worried that it would be too big. When the Evo first came out, it felt right at the edge of comfortable for me, partly because I was so used to my Nexus One (4.3″ screen compared to 3.7″). I knew I’d still love the Galaxy Nexus because it was a huge step up in both hardware and software unlike the Nexus S, but was I going to have to tolerate the extra size? Continue reading →

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Working Conditions In Chinese Factories

Posted on February 2nd, 2012 by Ian G. Clifton

The average user never really sees the internals of a phone; those of us who care a little more might look through the latest photos from an ifixit teardown. But how often do we really think about the process that goes into making our devices?

I made the assumption that the chips were designed by very smart people with the aid of computers, the construction of each component was done by sophisticated machines, and the human workers along the process were largely limited to final assembly and testing. I was quite wrong. Continue reading →

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An Android Lover’s Take On The iPhone 4S

Posted on December 18th, 2011 by Ian G. Clifton

So what about the iPhone 4S?

First and foremost, the iPhone is way too small. The 3.5 inch screen is nice when I’m holding it 8 inches from my eye, but out and about it feels like my hands belong to Andre the Giant. I try to touch the screen and my thumb covers at least 10% of the surface area. How can you have accurate touches like that? I guess I should file down my thumbs and fingers. It’s so tiny that it killed all two-handed operations for me (especially since you can barely fit two thumbs side by side). I’ll admit that for some pockets, having a tiny screen is nice, but 4.3 inches might be better. This is just too small. Continue reading →

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