Apple recently posted an iPhone update which, among other things, adds an “iTunes” icon to the iPhone home screen.
I love where they put it. They didn’t put it where consistency tells you to put it. That would be on the left side. They put it where context tells you to put it. On the right side right above the iPod icon. Even the icon’s arrow points right down to the iPod.
A few other observations… This is currently the only button on the screen (perhaps besides the SMS button) that makes Apple any incremental money. Setting it off by lining it up on the side really makes it stick out. I think that had something to do with the decision. It’s also the only icon in purple. It really stands out. I think that was intentional too.
Anyway, I love that Apple favored context over consistency in this design decision. Consistency is the easy choice. Context is the thinking choice.
Steve
on 01 Oct 07it drives me insane that the ‘settings’ item isn’t on the bottom in some way. Even with context, the iTunes logo is in an awkward place. It’s as if they were too lazy to re-organize the entire menu to accomodate the new icon. Why not wrap the settings to the bottom left, and move up the iTunes icon? Completely sloppy, IMO.
AaronS
on 01 Oct 07What? No comments about how your fancy haxxor iPhone screen is all boring and “just the way Apple wants it” now? No complaints that Apple is a dictatorship forcing users to adhere to their own set of standard applications? No cries of “boycott Apple” or “sue Apple”? No “Apple took away my 3rd party apps and now I’m going to cry like a baby” complaints.
Thank you. And I like the observations as well.
Mike
on 01 Oct 07@ Steve
I disagree. I think it’s clever to put the icon where they did. It’s a small visual cue to the user that the songs they find on the iTunes store will be downloaded to the phone and can be found in the iPod app.
It says so much without have to say anything.
SickOfItAll
on 01 Oct 07Ooooooooooooooh, wow. Button. Context. Apple. Jobs…
...jack, jack, jack…
Chad Burt
on 01 Oct 07The icon gained some distinction by using purple. At the same time, they lost easy recognition of the standard cd+note icon found in the doc. I’m not sure that is a net gain, of course, I don’t have an iPhone so maybe it works better in person.
Robert 'Groby' Blum
on 01 Oct 07I’d love to believe that everything at Apple has deep design thoughts behind it, but I don’t think that’s true for the iTunes icon.
If the iPhone UI were indeed modelled based on context, wouldn’t SMS be next to the phone? Or mail, maybe? Why isn’t YouTube closer to the camera, or the web?
No, sorry – I think this one’s not motivated by well thought out design. (I’d even go further and say that this looks quite awkward. Neither position nor palette fit with the rest of the icons)
It’s a moot point, though – we don’t get to move it ;)
peter
on 01 Oct 07I actually don’t own an iPhone (Europe…) but if you ask me, this looks just right. My point being, it LOOKS right.
Do you ever think that maybe we think too much about function, consistency, context… and don’t look enough at things? I mean, it aligns, feels more to the right, is the right color… Isn’t that a good reason enough and shouldn’t design be done like that, at least in some part?
JF
on 01 Oct 07Do you ever think that maybe we think too much about function, consistency, context… and don’t look enough at things? I mean, it aligns, feels more to the right, is the right color… Isn’t that a good reason enough and shouldn’t design be done like that, at least in some part?
Yes, I think you’re right. I also think that decisions made for the benefit of consistency often aren’t decisions at all—they are just things that are done because something needs to be done. Decisions based on context require you to think about what you’re doing to see if it makes sense.
But in general I agree with you—just looking at something and seeing if it “feels” right is a great strategy as well.
Anonymous Coward
on 01 Oct 07If the iPhone UI were indeed modelled based on context, wouldn’t SMS be next to the phone?
SMS is all over inside the Phone app itself. You can SMS people from the recent calls list, you can find someone in the address book and SMS them, you can SMS them from almost anywhere you see their name.
Rachel
on 01 Oct 07I actually can’t stand it. I’m constantly going to the bottom right to click on settings because they already trained me that way and the bottom right is a great place (in my mind) for a settings button. I do get the reasons why they may have done it that way, but it’s driving me crazy.
AD
on 01 Oct 07I’ll throw in another idea: handedness. It’s the first icon placed by Apple to begin a new row on the springboard and if Apple is going to right-align new icons it makes sense to do it right-side-first for the benefit of right-handed (majority) users. Shorter distance = easier target to acquire.
Although I’m a lefty I tend to hold the iPhone in my right and do one-handed operations with my right hand because it feels more natural. But, as with many left vs right-handed things, it’s usually a matter of what “feels” right.
Alejandro Moreno
on 01 Oct 07You guys pointing out small details like these is exactly why I read Signal vs. Noise.
One could easily argue that you’re reading too much into it, but the main point is: small details matter. Loud and clear.
Anonymous Coward
on 01 Oct 07I’m constantly going to the bottom right to click on settings because they already trained me…
Get over yourself. Do you really expect anyone to believe you can’t relearn where a button is?
Zach Holman
on 01 Oct 07It’s the first icon placed by Apple to begin a new row on the springboard
Not quite true. Before the YouTube app was released, the iPhone was left-aligned, and if you want to use the Touch as an example, just head over to apple.com and take a look- again, three icons aligned towards the left.
Raj
on 01 Oct 07Do you really think Apple doesn’t make sort of money off having YouTube and (Google) Maps on the home screen, too? Come on.
Raj
on 01 Oct 07...and by “make sort of money,” I, of course, mean “make SOME sort of money.” Double-espresso must be wearing off…
Marc
on 01 Oct 07Call me crazy, but I think using the well-recognized iTunes logo for the button would have made a hell of a lot more sense. The “context” and the arrow require the user to think about what Apple’s trying to tell you or require the user to read the text below the icon, whereas the ubiquitous iTunes icon would have been instantly recognized by the user and would easily have stood out.
Chad Brandt
on 01 Oct 07I think all decisions have been scrutinized with the iPhone and the iPod touch. I purchased the iPhone knowing that Apple would continue to evolve the interface and provide numerous software updates. Not just patches, but software updates, user experience tweaks and potentially some brand new applications.
Recently, I received a number of cool feature enhancements and a great mobile version of iTunes. When I see the placement of the new iTunes logo, I focus more on the 3 blank spaces to the left. I see opportunity for Apple to innovate. I have no intention of hacking the phone, so I’ll wait patiently (and probably not very long) for Apple to release more cool stuff.
Also, I have a feeling developers will get their chance to run apps natively on the iPhone (or at the very least, the iPod Touch). Just have patience.
The iPhone is a blank slate and we have yet to see its full potential.
Andy Reitz
on 01 Oct 07I would argume that Apple makes a decent amount of money off of a third iPhone application: Safari. My understanding is that everytime you use the Google search bar in MobileSafari, Apple gets paid.
David Ely
on 01 Oct 07The naming still doesn’t match up in my head. To me, an “iPod” is a physical device you hold in your hand that plays music, but on the iPhone it’s a program mode that plays music, which is what iTunes is on a Mac. Then on the iPhone the button that lets you buy music-and only buy music-is called iTunes, yet on the Mac its primary function is to play music.
Allan White
on 01 Oct 07I would be surprised to hear if this is the reason why they put the icon in that position – it almost seems like it just happens to be above the iPod button. The other buttons aren’t placed with a rhyme or reason; why would this one be so? This is especially true if this is a space for future buttons/features. When the next button gets added, we’ll know the pattern then.
I would love to see a menu where I could decide which buttons get to live on the main screen. I have no use for stocks or YouTubery.
OT- Speaking of consistency: why is it that when scrolling a page/list in Mobile Safari, I can tap the top bar to scroll to the top, but one cannot do so in other apps that require scrolling (iTMS, YouTube, et. al.)? Yet another area where enforcing consistency would be helpful.
Jeremy
on 01 Oct 07The positioning seems reasonable to me, every mac I’ve used has icons right aligned on the desktop.
piminnowcheez
on 01 Oct 07Not only is the iTunes icon purple and right above the iPod icon, its purple is the approximate complement to the iPod’s orange-yellow so that the juxtaposition of the two enhances their salience on the screen.
James
on 01 Oct 07But shouldn’t good design anticipate a person’s need and put the button they’re looking for under their pointer (finger or cursor), instead of making them hunt for it? Settings is a special module on any platform, so while I’m not an iPhone-owner, like Rachel I would look for it in a special spot.
Luigi Montanez
on 01 Oct 07@David: I too had to think about the iPod vs. iTunes distinction when I first saw it. You have to remember though that the iPod app also plays movies (which are of course different from the movies available from the YouTube button).
I would have called the iTunes button “Store”, but then that brings in some confusion as to which store we’re talking about. The complete name, “iTunes Store”, is too long for the iPhone icon style (it would take two lines). But of course, the iTunes Store just doesn’t sell music, but it also sells TV shows, movies, and games. So maybe it should be called the Apple Store, but that’s what we already call the place where we buy Apple products… Ah!
Tristan Louis
on 01 Oct 07I don’t think it was solely placed there on the basis of context (or if it was, it was different from the goals of the rest of the keyboard) but rather on the basis of having it in an unexpected position.
If context were what really matters then, the YouTube icon would be over it (creating a media column); stocks, maps, weather and clock would be on the same line (informational content) or stocks, maps and weather would be on the same column as safari (internet content); camera, notes and SMS would be on the same column as mail (ways to enter content)... etc…
There’s a number of places where the icon could be but the truth of the matter is that the goal on this new one is more to ensure that it calls attention to itself to increase monetization.
Timoni
on 01 Oct 07It’s a measure of how visually jarring the design choice was that it needs explanation/justification. “Context” aside, Apple loses this round.
(It looks to me like the kind of choice that was decided at the last minute by higher-ups who decided the arrow needed to point at the iPod icon, while the designers in the room cried inside.)
JF
on 01 Oct 07It’s a measure of how visually jarring the design choice was that it needs explanation/justification.
It doesn’t need explanation or justification. We’re just discussing and dissecting it cause that’s what we do here sometimes.
I do agree that it feels like a last minute decision—one that wasn’t perfect because of some other choices that had already been made. But, like Theodore Roosevelt said, you have to do the best you can with what you have where you are.
akatsuki
on 01 Oct 07I think it was put there so that your right thumb could hit it. The rest of the icons aren’t arranged at all by context…
Ron
on 01 Oct 07So, the Weather button above your iPod indicates that the temperature of your iPod is currently 73 F?
And why isn’t the Clock button aligned with the Calendar button? There is no logic in the arrangement!
The only reason for putting the iTunes button where it is now, is that when you fail to press the iPod button correctly, you will hit the iTunes button…
Bob Bobmore
on 01 Oct 07Sorry, Ron, the Clock and Calendar are only related in your mind. (You must not have an iPhone, the Clock functions are quite distinct.) The iTunes WiFi Store and the iPod function are completely related; it’s very logical.
eH
on 01 Oct 07I get what you are saying about context. I don’t think it was dumb luck that Apple placed the icon there; Apple spends tons of money to understand their users psyche. I’m sure it was very intentional.
Perhaps it was intentional more for function, though. The universe tells us there are more right handed people than left handed people. Having the iTunes icon there makes it easy pickin’s for the rightie-iPhone user’s thumb. Just a thought.
I certainly appreciate the function more than the context (but, both are cool).
daGUY
on 01 Oct 07In my opinion, the icon is not in the “correct” spot for two reasons.
One is the obvious fact that it’s inconsistent – if you look at the iPod Touch (or the iPhone itself before YouTube was added), the icons are left-aligned. Of course, Jason is saying that this is a good thing, but what happens when even more apps are added? Will they all be right-aligned, or will they start over at the far left of the line?
Two – and the more important problem in my mind – is that the placement of the iTunes icon causes the Settings icon to get “mixed in” with the other apps, which I think is totally wrong. “Settings” is not a “normal” app – it just feels wrong to me to have it between two other apps instead of “on its own.”
If I had it my way, I would design the layout like this:
- Move Safari out of the dock and into the main area
- Move Settings into the dock
- Add a new icon for Video to the main area (Photos gets its own icon, so why do you have to go to iPod to get videos?)
- Rename “iPod” to “Music” and “iTunes” to “Store”
- Put the dock icons in the order of Phone, Mail, Music, Settings
Short of that, I’d at least like some way to reorganize the icons. Maybe one person uses Phone, SMS, Maps, and Notes a lot – they should be able to put those icons in the dock for fast access.
New User
on 01 Oct 07Does anyone recall the iPod touch presentation, and how some of the icons were blanked? This iTunes button just shows me that there are 3 spots to the left of it that are begging to be filled in the next (or next next) update.
David Andersen
on 01 Oct 07How many normal phone users – not geeks – have any idea what SMS means? Why would you ever put SMS on an icon? And if SMS is so clear, why the need to put “Text” below it (which itself isn’t clear about the function)? I’d say this is a significant design flaw.
daGUY
on 01 Oct 07How many normal phone users – not geeks – have any idea what SMS means? Why would you ever put SMS on an icon? And if SMS is so clear, why the need to put “Text” below it (which itself isn’t clear about the function)? I’d say this is a significant design flaw.
Just an idea, but perhaps they added the “SMS” to the chat bubble icon to make it clear that it’s text messaging and not IM.
Also, I would assume that anyone in the market for a $400 phone knows what SMS is.
To me, the most serious naming flaws are with iPod and iTunes. “iPod” is odd because it’s not an iPod at all – it’s just a UI for content that you would keep on an iPod. It’s also made confusing by the fact that it has an icon of an iPod with a click wheel, even though that’s not the interface that you’re working with. And iTunes is strange because on the iPhone, it’s JUST the store, whereas on the computer, it’s also the player…which is “iPod” on the phone.
I get that they want to reinforce the brand names, but it would have made much more sense to me to just label them Music and Store. No confusion there.
David Andersen
on 01 Oct 07“Just an idea, but perhaps they added the “SMS” to the chat bubble icon to make it clear that it’s text messaging and not IM.”
I suppose any arbitrary letters would do then, as long as they aren’t “IM”. Seriously though, why not put “Text Msg”?
Also, I would assume that anyone in the market for a $400 phone knows what SMS is.
I think that’s a bad assumption. I didn’t, yet I text message on my phone all the time and I design databases for a living. I’d bet many more people know what “Text Messaging” is and that most of them have no idea the technical acronym for it is SMS. Using technical acronyms that aren’t ubiquitous is poor design.
Rob Marquardt
on 01 Oct 07Sadly, the ugly calculator icon cross-pollinating from the Touch was only a matter of time.
I look forward to 1.1.1 being reopened to once again have the opportunity to change the appearance and order of these stock app icons (and to take advantage of third-party apps too).
Carter Rosenberg
on 01 Oct 07I’m with David Ely on this.. why call it iTunes? With a title like iTunes, it could just as easily be describing any number of other tasks that I use iTunes for (perhaps options for what should sync with my iPhone when I connect to iTunes on my Mac). It seems like it should have been implemented as part of the iPod section of the phone, and that the iPod section should be called iTunes because like iTunes on my computer, it would be for both purchasing and playing media.
From a design standpoint adding the 13th icon was a bad move – the black space served an important purpose in that it grouped the functionality of the various parts of the phone very nicely. It was one of my personal reasons against hacking and installing 3rd party apps on my phone. Perhaps there is some other application that they could have added where the trade-off would have felt more worthwhile, but as someone who doesn’t really use the iTunes music store, I’m kind of peeved about this, when the new store functionality clearly could have been rolled into the iPod section of the phone, but instead they went with profits over design.
Jon
on 01 Oct 07Why there isn’t a Contacts icon on the home screen is a mystery to me.
Shaun
on 01 Oct 07If the argument is context here, that the purple icon has to be above the badly named iPod icon, then this says a few things.
1) Apple isn’t going to let us re-order the dock or the icons on screen.
2) There’s never going to be more than 16 applications on the main screen.
I’ll stand back and let the Apple apologists harp on about simplicity and design now while I sigh to myself about the lack of software and features that Apple is seemingly mandating with their interface for the terminally stupid.
Jack Shedd
on 01 Oct 07It’s not a great design decision. But it works. It’s the least offensive option, with just a hint of cleverness. A left placement would have been unbalanced and senseless. The right placement causes other issues.
In my opinion, the best designs account for both “context” and “consistency”. That’s the promise land.
Nick
on 01 Oct 07The various viewpoints in the comment thread could be adequately silenced if the end user could simply rearrange the icons according to his personal preference.
Being a lefty, I would want my commonly-used apps on the left, and I’d probably want my Settings app separated from the others (if possible) by white-er, black-space.
Hopefully when I finally roll around and get one of these things, certain icons can be hidden outright; there are certain things (like stocks, SMS, and camera) that I would never use and just add visual clutter.
Simon
on 01 Oct 07maybe iTunes on OS X will revert to a purple note….
possibly the Music Store icon within iTunes will also align itself with the new icon….?
Paul
on 02 Oct 07The thing is, It’s not context over consistency to anyone who hasn’t either watched the introduction of the iPhone, or used an iPod Touch. It’s just aligned to the right. Context, & consistency.
@David Anderson
Try and fit that in the icon. The only other viable (readable) choice they could have made was txt, (or at a stretch, text) – or a larger string of unreadable text to signify a conversation.
The label is text. The icon is a speech bubble. You don’t need to know what SMS is, and the iPhone shows you (without forcing you to learn)
(Also, to keep the labels parallel (as in, all one word nouns), they couldn’t label it ‘Text Messaging’ (which also wouldn’t fit) – I’d have used ‘Messages’, because, on its own, text implies something like the notes app.)
Josh
on 02 Oct 07eH noted that the iTunes icon is located exactly where my right thumb sits when holding my iPhone. I’ve accidentally clicked it multiple times. One of these days I might accidentally click it and end up buying something. Context over Consistency? Good but not good enough. Try Performance over all else.
Kudos Apple!
John
on 02 Oct 07I don’t see why the ipod icon isn’t called itunes, and the store is just integrated into the current ‘ipod’ application. In iTunes, you play and shop in one place, why not just make it the same way on the phone?
peter huesken
on 02 Oct 07...concent over consistency ehh ? http://developer.apple.com/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneHIG/iPhoneDesignPrinciples/chapter_4_section_5.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006596-CH8-SW9
peter huesken
on 02 Oct 07“concent” = context
Brian
on 02 Oct 07Jason, I couldn’t be more with you on this. It’s all about the user experience. This is a core value here at LOUD! Creative, although we’re always learning as students ourselves. There’s not a doubt in my mind that Apple chose the placement and color with great deliberation and intentionality. At the end of the day… it’s all about the revenue. Better user experience and ergonomic interface equals better revenue. Great post man.
Brian
Jake
on 02 Oct 07For sure! and @John, I agree that the iTWMS should be in the iPod app, but that would probably have a significant impact on sales…
Ryan Gray
on 02 Oct 07I think it was for two reasons: to place it above the iPod icon for context, and to make it get noticed after the update for people who missed the fact that there was a new app. If it had been on the left, there would seriously be people who would not have noticed it precisely because that is an expected consistent place for the icons to be.
I’m wondering why no one is speculating about the continuation of this trend for the bottom row. I’m betting on a VOIP or iChat icon coming in above the Phone icon. So, what would go above Mail and Safari?
Anonymous Coward
on 02 Oct 07tt
Sebhelyesfarku
on 02 Oct 07That’s what I like about Mactards. They can create an ideology about even how Jobs takes a dump.
Manuel Martensen
on 02 Oct 07If that “psycho stuff” should work, then the iPhone should ask you “are you right or left handed” when you set it up for the first time.
CCTV Camera Pro
on 02 Oct 07I really hope that there is eventually a web browser solution for the iPhone that supports active X. We have been looking for a solution to allow live video from our security cameras to be viewed via the iPhone. Unfortunately, most camera system manufacturers rely on active X for browser based delivery instead of Java.
Jeff Self
on 02 Oct 07Sorry CCTV Camera Pro,
You’ll never see the iPhone support Active X. Its a Microsoft proprietary technology that only runs on Windows.
Chris
on 02 Oct 07It’s also the only button above the dock that’s actually a button
Anonymous Coward
on 02 Oct 07I bet that in their internal trunk builds there are 3 other programs on the bottom row taking up space. iTunes was released before the other ones (maybe they complement leopard?) so the other spots are empty placeholders for forthcoming apps. That way when they come out itunes wont move around…
Todd Sieling
on 02 Oct 07Interesting analysis. I’d be curious to hear how it jives with the decisions on icon placement on the Touch. Does one achieve a better conceptual arrangement on one layout vs the other?
Matt
on 02 Oct 07It’s also the only button above the dock that’s actually a button
How is that?
Tom
on 02 Oct 07This reminds me of an interview with a rock star. When asked about the significance of some sublime lyrics that nobody understood but everyone theorized about, he just said he wrote it when he was stoned and couldn’t find the right words. He never got around to improving the lyrics and just left it that way. It meant nothing.
Who knows – maybe a lot of thought went into it and maybe not.
The real point is Apple puts it where they want and the rest of us just like it. Perhaps Ford will go back to offering only black, I’m sure there are financial and quality advantages to that approach.
Shawn Oster
on 03 Oct 07Looks right to me, but then again I read from right to left so I suppose if you’re in another part of the world that may feel like the “wrong” spot.
Roy Watts
on 04 Oct 07Regarding using the acronym SMS instead of txt in the text messaging widget. I think the rest of the world refers to txting as SMS, just as nearly everyone else is also using GSM. Frankly I think the lack of ubiquity of the acronym in the US is deliberate considering how the cellular networks make us pay through the nose for txting.
Jon
on 04 Oct 07Personally, I think the layout is fine and done very well in true Apple’esque fashion. The design is near perfect, however some functionality seems missing. For instance, the lack of an instant messaging fuction baffles me.
(Though I don’t keep up on Apples’ development decisions. There might be one in process, I don’t know.)
This discussion is closed.