WWDC24 is why we don’t let Apple to design our products.

From https://reinhart1010.id/blog/2024/10/11/wwdc24-is-why-we-dont-let-apple-to-design-our-products. Scan the QR Code to view the article on your device or web browser.

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Apple has been the Qibla of product for decades. With the Apple Park as the Mecca, and people flocking to WWDC as its annual pilgrimage for world-class product designers and marketers. The Human Interface Guidelines became their Holy Scripture to define their product, which we don’t.

But really. Today, if you want to build a physical product, an app, or even redesign your own website, you may still consult Apple for that. And everyone in the industry just follow the cult that’s full with iMessage and Memojis and the love of the Apple typeface since 2015 as well as its well-known open-source counterfeit.

Who knows that great apps like Linear and Arc, which neither made by Apple, Inc., are initially, exclusively, made for the Mac?

These, and other tools marketed as the de facto of “modern, intuitive, and practical apps for desktop and mobile,” put their product screenshots front and center, that based on nothing more than the macOS or iOS version of their apps.

We tend to forget that a handful of “productivity” tools that we may use today: 1Password, Any.do, Notion, Zoom, yet the lesser-known ones like Spark Mail and Shortwave, still presents those iPhone, iPad, or Mac-based screenshots even though you’re not browsing on one (these screenshots are taken from Firefox on Android):

So, is this a coincidence? No, it has been a public secret. Most designers behind your apps already expect you to have a Mac, iPhone, or an iPad for the best experience. In most cases, it’s not because the companies are lazy enough to adjust the screenshots to match people’s current operating systems. No, it’s just styled that way to look aesthetically beautiful… on a Mac or iPhone.

But Windows is a Recycle Bin.


Beyond apps, there’s also real products that are either modeled like Apple, or presented in a way that has ever popularized by the company. For example, this rabbit r1 thing looks familiar…

Oh, right! It’s the iPhone 7!

Or how about these colorful assortments of Analogue Pocket?

There’s a bit reference to the famous iMac G3 commercial featuring colors arranged in a circle.

2024: The ugliest year of Apple?

Now, this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC24) annual event pilgrimage was met with disappointments because of some questionable things the company has done with iOS and iPadOS 18.

Take iOS 18. The new Control Center with slightly inconsistent choice of button shapes and weird navigations?

A screenshot of iOS 18’s new Control Center, as officially published on Apple Newsroom.

The dark mode app icons that brings out those early Jailbreak nostalgia? The new customizable app icon colors that works just bad for most colors (compare that with Samsung’s One UI)? The useless new layout of the Photos app?

An official press image by Apple highlighting a new feature in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, allowing users to select custom colors for their app icons in the Home Screen. The illustrated image shows a Home Screen wallpaper of black woman dressed in red, displayed on the back of an array of app icons that are tinted to become red foreground behind a back background. Note that these colors do not meet the global digital accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), requiring a minimum color contrast ratio to be considered legible for people with visual impairment.
Like, how would you really like this, vampire-worthy theme?

A decade before, I can still sense the disappointment people had when Apple announced iOS 7. It was a major visual design change than iOS 6 that angered almost everybody.

But this time, those new app icon colors are just minor; you can still disable the ugly thing. I believe the redesigned Mail app makes it awesome to combat the numbness of Gmail, who previously pioneered the distinct email folders to filter out important and unimportant stuff. Some negative things I do agree include the Photos app, making it feel more alien than those other Android phone makers’ version of Gallery app.


Despite all of this, I just love the fact that some fanboys became disappointed by what Apple products has become. It reminds me to stop following trends just because they have a significant wealth and market share in the international community. These kinds of people took the Human Interface Guidelines as their way of life without thinking that one day their own apps would have been Sherlocked.