All these threads about iOS 26 reminded me about something long forgotten like... the release of iOS
I suggest to check the comments in this 12 years old thread [1], replace version number 7 with 26 there and realise that some things never change
I suggest to check the comments in this 12 years old thread [1], replace version number 7 with 26 there and realise that some things never change
Some subset of users like re-learning how to do the same basic things in a new way, such as switching browser tabs, but most people want to spend ~0 time on that stuff and get justified annoyed when it's pushed on them.
Of course over time people will get used to the new design, but even if the new one is materially worse what are people going to do? It's not like Apple cares that much about random user opinion and the joy of a monopoly or duopoly is that the companies controlling one don't have all that much incentive to keep people happy.
It's just that people get used to bad software.
Or that it improves silently between several versions. Or that it just keeps getting worse, and people are justified every time.
I don't know a lot about Apple. Android seems to be partially at each of those camps.
What's really bad about this is that we (as in the software industry) have managed to teach people to hate updates, and a significant part of that is all the gratuitous changes to established UI flows. Many casual users dread updates now because they just want their shit to keep working like it always did. And this is how you end up with unpatched security issues.
I don’t understand why usability experts’ website has worse experience than 90% of the web?
Plus, I’m ten years older (ten years more experienced) now, and I’m very sceptical that is being some vision. That is rather being a great failure, but since the company basically in the same position as Microsoft with their Windows, they don’t feel they’ll lose their customers, as most of them are willing to give Apple this benefit of the doubt. Then they’ll have at least a couple of years to do something about it.