I’m all for smartphones encouraging creativity, but offering tons of customization options under the guise of making things more functional, attractive, or individual is a dangerous path. The new lock screen system in Apple’s iOS 16 software comes very close to that line, and in doing so threatens to destroy the beautiful simplicity of the current lock screen. At the same time, it does not address several major complaints against him.
Busy new lock screen
What does the new iOS 16 lock screen allow you to do? In the most basic sense, some of your background choices will have a layered effect added, allowing the subject to stand out against the background. In addition, Apple has added several new wallpaper styles – Astronomy, Pride and Unity and Weather – to the standard menu of options. Different lock screens can be created and changed with a swipe to suit your mood.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
That all sounds good. The depth effect watch faces on the Apple Watch work well, but require the photo to be in portrait mode, and this can be the case on the iPhone as well. The weather wallpaper sounds fun because it updates based on local conditions, and if the Astronomy wallpaper is anything like the one on the Apple TV, it should look great. Also in iOS 16 you can change the look of the clock on the lock screen, choosing between “expressive writing styles and color choices”, which is a nice addition.
This is really where the customization options should have stopped, but Apple went all out in iOS 16. Inspired by the complications of the Apple Watch, iOS 16’s lock screen can have tiny widgets added that display information gathered from the weather app, battery levels, your activity in the Fitness app, alarms and more. Expect developers to get access to this, so they can adapt existing widgets from iOS 15 for the new lock screen, meaning it could be dozens to choose from.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Live Activities will then display information from apps and Apple News across the lock screen, with sports scores and delivery information already highlighted as features. Instead of a long list, notifications will stack at the bottom of the lock screen ready to scroll. Apple says this means you’ll still have a “clear view of your personalized lock screen,” but it really sounds like it’s just making room for all the rest of the junk you can now cover your lock screen with.
What’s the problem?
Apple’s current lock screen is beautifully simple. There’s one clock design, you can change your background and — apart from a few options related to the background itself — that’s it. It’s incredibly simple, showing my choice of background without interruption. It is fantastic. There is no temptation to try this clock or that widget, add reports from an app that wants to pester me with notifications, or be constantly informed about the weather.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Apple is hiring designers. I believe that when the core layout for the home and lock screen is arrived at, it’s after a lot of experimentation by people understanding what works and what doesn’t. Obviously a few personalization options are needed, but add too many and it quickly becomes overwhelming as we give in to the temptation to activate all the options, losing any benefit in the process. Apple’s designers can also say, “There, we’re done for today, you’re good to go.”
That’s what Oppo’s designers probably said when ColorOS 12 was released. It’s packed with endless ways to change the look and feel of not just the lock screen, but every tiny aspect of the operating system. It’s very welcome to have a few options laid out by design experts alongside a carefully crafted core experience, but leaving everything up to you is quite the opposite. This approach doesn’t do ColorOS any favors, and since I’m not a designer, whatever I come up with rarely gels and I’d rather have someone else sort it all out for me.
Apple’s iOS has always benefited from a light touch when it comes to personalization, and even getting the iOS 15 home screens right requires very careful use of the existing options. It’s very easy to get carried away, and then the simplicity of iOS, which gives it speed and that recognizable visual appeal, quickly disappears. This careful, thoughtful approach will definitely be needed on the iOS 16 lock screen, otherwise it’ll become a jumble of widgets and data that confuses more than it informs—along with a design that I’m constantly tweaking because it’s never quite right. See ColorOS for more details.
It won’t matter if you don’t see it
My iPhone 13 Pro is sitting next to me right now and all I see is a black screen. Adding tons of customization options to make the phone “mine” seems a bit pointless if the only way I can see them is to pick up the phone or touch the screen. The iPhone and iOS’s lack of an always-on display, especially with this extra attention to personalization, is still puzzling. How will I see what a mess I’ve made of the lock screen if it only lights up for a few seconds when a notification arrives? The code hidden in iOS 16 apparently points to an always-on display feature, but for now, it doesn’t exist.
Simple wallpaper and lock screen in iOS 15 Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
As for the notifications coming, it’s unclear whether iOS 16 will address some of the ongoing frustrations with that particular feature. iOS is not very good at managing notifications. On the lock screen, messages you send elsewhere don’t always clear, and none of them seem to disappear at all in Notification Center, with its long list of increasingly outdated notifications that add no value. For this reason, I almost never use the Notification Center, preferring to manage them on the lock screen. Except in iOS 16, they’ll compete for space with widgets and updates, relegated to a pile I have to scroll through at the bottom of the screen.
It feels like personalization for personalization’s sake.
I’m aware that all of the iOS 16 tweaks will be optional, but the temptation to use them liberally will be considerable, and once they’re in place, it doesn’t sound like long-standing issues will be resolved. Instead, what makes the iOS 15 lock screen so appealing will be lost.
The best operating systems have a strong default style created by talented designers, with just the right amount of personalization, for a pleasant, smooth, fast and informative user experience. iOS’s slow crawl toward information overload is taking it away from its pure, hassle-free nature, and without the always-on display and notification enhancements, it feels like personalization for personalization’s sake. This is where Oppo is wrong and I don’t want iOS to follow it.
Apple will release iOS 16 later this year, and other opinions about the lock screen are available in the meantime.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn