Inconsistencies in macOS Design
Apple We have a Big (Sur & more) Problem.
Sonoma Update: Unfortunately even in Sonoma most of these exists. Lot of these are really simple to fix. Not sure why no one is looking into these.
Take icon sizes in catalyist apps or adding search box in the same place as rest of apps. They can easily be fixed. Renaming Folder to Sidebar in Notes is another comical example.
- TV+ has been updated so the tabs are now gone. All icons are now in the sidebar.
- In Photos clicking on the header now expands the app.
Ventura Update: Almost all of these exists in Ventura too. Only thing i found are
- Font Book has been rewritten and hence has fixed most of its problems.
- Catalyst apps like Voice Memo, Stocks, Maps now supports transparency in sidebar though for Map the sidebar is above the map/globe so shows the globe/map when transparent.
I recently updated to Big Sur. I know I am 1 year late but this is my primary laptop and we are in lockdown mode, did not want to take any risk. Once I did, I noticed a lot of inconsistencies in UI/UX/Design.
It all began with me noticing the Hide Sidebar button in some apps but not in others and the position of search bar changed based on the app. For a company as detail oriented as Apple these lapses are huge. Thus this blog post listing all the issues i found. Hopefully some of these are fixed in Monterey and hopefully the rest will be fixed by the time its final version is released, if this post reaches their designer team.
Where to Search
Apple has no idea where the search box has to be. Some apps have it at the top right, Some have it in the Sidebar, and some have it in the Middle pane/column.
The Search box is at the top right in Notes, Finder. Search is in the Third pane/column.
The Search box is in the Sidebar in Maps, Stocks. Search is in the first pane.
The Search box is in the Middle Pane like in Contacts, Voice Memo. Did someone not tell them of the other two options 🤷♂
How to Hide Sidebar
Big Sur has many ways to hide the Sidebar, though not all work everywhere 😖.
Icon to hide/show Sidebar in Voice Memo, Safari, Maps. Other apps don’t have this option, but they should.
Most apps allow you to drag the Sidebar, open/close it. Few allow you to resize the Sidebar. Based on whether you can resize, the icon changes.
Mail allows you to resize. Map only allows you to hide.
You can also hide/show it from the menu bar View option. Like in Stocks, Safari
But not all apps know what the Sidebar is called. Most call it the Sidebar but Notes prefers to call it as Folders. Both Mail and Notes have the same kind of sidebar, but one calls it Folders.
6 inches is long enough
One cool accessibility feature is that you can increase the font size of the Sidebar text from System Preferences > General. Look at Finder, Mail.
But others refuse to grow when asked by System Preference like Map, Reminder.
What’s the Right Font size
Most app’s Sidebar text is readable but open System Information or Fonts you will have to squint. Look at Notes on left and System Information on right. The Second one’s sidebar text has a smaller font.
Font Book has smaller font in Middle Pane but other columns are fine. In System Information’s case, all columns have small font sizes.
Transparency is the key to any relationship
Transparency is the key feature of macOS. Most Sidebar and Header/Title Bar are transparent.
Notice the Stock app shining through Finder, Messages.
But somehow Map lost the way. The Stock app is behind this but it does not shine through.
I am a Tab, I am also a Tab
Mac does not have a consistent way to show tabs/pivots. These are not user-created Tabs like in Finder or Safari but built-in Pivots or Tabs.
Some like Dictionary Keychain show it below in a separate row in smaller font.
Others like TV, Activity Monitor, Calendar show it Header/Title Bar but the design isn’t consistent in all of these.
Aren’t we all the same size
The menu item/icons size across all apps in the Header/Title bar are not the same. The one on the left of the white marker is bigger than the one on the right. Apps like Voice memo, Maps have smaller icon size as compared to other Apps.
What does this do
Another quality of life improvement in macOS is that if you don't know what any of the icons in the Header/Title bar mean you can right-click on the bar and select “Icon and Text”. This will show text along with the icon. But it’s not in all apps.
Apps like Mail, Finder, Grapher all support this
But several other apps like Notes, Safari don’t. Right-click and you just get “Customise Toolbar…”.
And then there are our usual offenders like Maps, Voice Memo. Right Click and nothing happens.
Out of Control
The new Control centre is great. Yes, it is designed as though it’s designed for a touch os but i like the fact that it reduces the clutter (of icons ) in the menu bar. Third-party apps are not supported in the Control centre, hope Apple allows that in future. Surprising thing is that even some first-party apps weren't invited to the party 🍾.
I am referring to the option to change the keyboard layout. I agree very few would do that but that’s not the point. There is no way to show it control centre.
If it walks and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck
This has been talked about already many times. Mac icons have to be Squircle to match their iOS counterparts of these apps. One exception is that some things may pop out of the Squircle a bit, just a bit, for the 3D effect.
Look at Dictionary, the bookmark is visible or Text Edit, the pen is over the paper or Chess, the horse over the board. But two icons stand out
The Migration Assistant. Didn’t they know icons have to follow a design? It’s squircle in a way but isn’t like others.
The Stickies its squircle but with a different 3D effect. It looks different, not part of the same design language.
Click me to expand
One feature of macOS I like is that you click on the Header/Title bar and the app expands to the whole screen. This is different from the full screen where there is only one app on screen but here the app simply expands. But not all apps support it and even if they do it isn’t consistent.
On Mail, Maps and others it works beautifully. Either click on the Sidebar header or any other header area the app grows.
But in apps like Contacts and Music, nothing happens anywhere you tap
In Finder, the click works but it just increases in height. like it does not want to increase its waist size.
In Safari it expands but only to a fixed size. Like they only support the square size.
On Photos the app expands but only when you click on the Sidebar header.
There are plenty more like App name in Header/Titlebar, the options in this bar stretching all the way or only in third pane and so on. Attention to detail is the least of my abilities. If i can find all these in a few hours I am sure the designers at a detail focused company like Apple can find a lot more.
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