May 2013
1 post
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✎ iOS subdued
If Apple redesigns iOS, think about the conditions for that design. A screen with vibrant colors, wide viewing angle, and a resolution where individual pixels disappear. That screen is laminated to the glass that sits in front of it, blending with the hardware.
It’s very likely these improved conditions would make the result different, and much more subdued, than what iOS 6 is.
I mean, have...
April 2013
1 post
4 tags
Photoshop action: Remove compositing artifacts &...
A while back, Marc Edwards tweeted:
8 bits per channel really isn’t enough colour resolution, even for fairly basic compositing (note the banding)
Only now I realized I should probably share one of my daily actions I use in Photoshop. Like Marc, I work in 8-bits/channel, which I think most designers still do. With this bit depth, you will eventually run into compositing artifacts such as...
February 2013
1 post
5 tags
Yum! This is what an iOS cookbook should be
At long last, Filibaba Meals (formerly Veggie Meals), is available on the iPhone. It’s been built from the ground up as universal app and it works great on both your iPhone and iPad. This update bring 4 new recipes, bringing the total up to 63 simple vegetarian & vegan recipes.
The original iPad only app has been available since January 2012 and has allowed us to collect essential...
January 2013
2 posts
3 tags
✎ Flat UI is not the only way forward
It’s curious how Apple’s hardware and software have taken such divergent paths. Looking at iOS hardware and software separately, one might think they were produced by different companies. The drop-shadows and textures of iOS stand in sharp contrast to the clean lines and invisible seams of Apple’s hardware. Comparing major models of either the iPhone or iPad line, Jony Ive’s industrial design...
3 tags
✎ Will Apple Make a "Phablet"?
Mockup by Lorenzo Orlandi
The past week there has been rumors about the iPhone 5S coming in an array of color and more than one screen size. This could mean just 3.5” and 4”, the sizes that have been available previously.
But more interestingly it could be a new, larger size.
This principle was proven with the iPad with Retina and the iPad mini, that the iOS interface can have...
December 2012
2 posts
5 tags
✎ If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
Clear, Rise and Solar are three examples of a trend of “gesture driven” apps with a flat UI. These are novelty apps for people lusting for the very latest in app design. Besides using a more flat UI style, which is a topic for a different discussion, all apps contain non-standard interactions. This means users don’t know how to use them beforehand, and all start with a multi-step...
2 tags
✎ iOS Icon Template
I made this template out of necessity and quickly realized it would be useful for the community. It has the following features:
• See each icon size accurately in its context and make sure it looks its best.
• The icon-small sizes are a bit tricky since they actually crop out part of the icon. If you want a perfect matching inner rounded rectangle, this template will help you.
•...
October 2012
0 posts
2 tags
September 2012
1 post
2 tags
✎ Corner Radiuses of iOS Icons at Different Sizes
I still see icons getting this wrong, and there is some misinformation about which numbers to follow. Hicksdesign has the accurate numbers, and they are as follows:
Icon512.png 512px 89.825
Icon.png 57px 10
Icon@2x.png 114px 20
Icon-72.png 72px 12.632
Icon-72@2x.png ...
August 2012
1 post
1 tag
✎ Black Status Bar in iOS 6 Gives Apps Slightly...
Jordan Borth noticed that apps such as Tweetbot running under iOS 6 b4 (Mitch Bernstein says it’s been in all betas) got a 2.5 pt corner radius added on top of it. Jordan says this only happens when the developer has chosen the black status bar style.
I’ve written about this previously:
The black status bar has become increasingly popular among app makers and designers...
July 2012
10 posts
2 tags
MacWorld.se reviews Veggie Meals ➞ →
Swedish MacWorld.se has posted a very positive review of our iPad cookbook! They enjoy the easy-to-use navigation, temperature settings, beautiful graphics and straightforward recipes. What they miss are a greater number of recipes, something we plan to remedy in the future. iPad feels like a natural companion in the kitchen. If you’re looking for some inspiring recipes, be sure to try these...
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Technical feasibility of an iPad mini ➞ →
I got reminded by Lorenzo Orlandi about this article from appadvice.com, dated march this year. Written by BY A.T. Faust III, it explains why a 7.85 inch iPad mini is technically feasible:
“If you do the math, a 7.85-inch tablet with a resolution of 1024 x 768 works out to a PPI of 163. 163!
[…]
See, when Apple was designing its first iPhone, company engineers determined through...
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Daring Fireball on iPad mini's screen ➞ →
While John Gruber is likely right about the physical size and resolution for the screen (7.85”, 1024x768 px), I think the following is just plain wrong:
” … for developers, the iPad Mini acts just like an iPad 1 or 2: same number of pixels, just a little smaller physically. It’s not a new target.”
You cannot make a touch interface that much smaller and still have it be...
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✎ Podcasts app and skeumorphism
I don’t know why people get so upset over Apple’s Podcasts app with a reel to reel deck on the new playing screen. It’s a beautiful illustrative element for a screen that otherwise would be quite dull. Watching it is almost hypnotic.
You could argue it doesn’t make sense as a metaphor for podcasts, but it’s fun. It’s that simple. Get over it and carry on.
1 tag
How app developers should manage their... →
What problem does it solve? If you can’t describe a core problem that your app solves, how do you expect a blogger to understand why it’s important enough to write about?
Some good advice on how to reach the right community with your app.
1 tag
Solve Problems. Don’t Build Ideas. ➞ →
You can toss nearly every successful company into the problem solving equation. Mark Zuckerberg is introverted and he needed a way to find more cute girls at Harvard. He built Facebook to solve his problem.
Great startup advice. Building an idea is bound to fail, solve a problem to succeed.
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The iPhone and Disruption: Five Years In ➞ →
Daring Fireball sums up iPhone’s fifth birthday very well:
The iPhone is not and never was a phone. It is a pocket-sized computer that obviates the phone. The iPhone is to cell phones what the Mac was to typewriters.
Be sure to read the whole thing.
Designing for Context: The Multiscreen Ecosystem ➞... →
This is the use case where we see Filibaba being very relevant:
When it’s time to cook, an iPad can be brought into the kitchen for a cook-friendly interface with large fonts and big buttons so the user can touch the tablet with a knuckle in case of wet or messy fingers. The tablet’s larger screen is a perfect size for the kitchen, much like a traditional cookbook resting on the counter.
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Interesting interview with Stephen Hawking ➞ →
Ars Technica:
Another frightening possibility is intelligent life is not only common, but that it destroys itself when it reaches a stage of advanced technology.
Evidence that intelligent life is very short-lived is that we don’t seem to have been visited by extra terrestrials.
June 2012
27 posts
3 tags
✎ Nostromo Wallpapers
After me and my girlfriend saw Prometheus, I had to watch the original Alien movie again. The walls of the cryochamber jumped out at me, as I used to draw similar patterns in my sketchbook. I decided to recreated the room for a wallpaper. It was made in Cinema 4D, with touchups made in Photoshop afterwards.
Head over to Max Themes to download!
1 tag
iOS 6 Beta Allows Reordering of Icons on Apple TV... →
MacRumors:
The feature is accessed by holding down the center Select button on the remote for several seconds, after which the selected icon begins to wiggle as is seen on other iOS devices when in reorder/delete mode. The wiggling icon can then be moved by using the directional buttons on the remote, with other icons automatically adjusting to make room for the icon being moved.
Now all we...
4 tags
✎ Similarities in the score to Alien, 1984...
Ridley Scott directed all of the films/commercial mentioned in the title, and all three of them use the same kind of sonar-like score. I think it’s pretty great. (I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed this, but only now did I think to mentioning it)
Have a look & listen:
Alien - Official Theatrical Trailer (1979)
1984 Apple’s Macintosh Commercial
Prometheus -...
2 tags
✎ Facebook tweaks the Messenger icon, introduces...
Facebook Messenger got updated with a revised icon, with some subtle gradients inline with the Camera app. And they are now also offering Facebook Pages on iOS for managing your Facebook page.
I hope to see the Facebook app icon updated in the same manner. It sticks out like a sore thumb.
2 tags
Retina MBP's won't be able to drive a 27" Retina... →
Marco Arment:
If a 27” Retina Display is a “2X” version of the current panel, that’s a 5120x2880 panel — running that at 60 Hz requires more bandwidth (over 21 Gbps for 24-bit color) than Thunderbolt offers today (up to two 10 Gbps channels).
Is this accurate? It would be a shame. Could Apple somehow use both Thunderbolt ports to drive a 27” Retina Display?
Update:
Marc...
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[Video] Surface vs. iPad: Microsoft's Getting... →
Pretty funny. Poor Microsoft.
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The Windows Phone 7.8 Start Screen demoed on video... →
WP 7.8 contains some of the changes coming to WP 8, but for existing hardware.
I wonder if it’s possible to create gaps in the start screen grid? Or will it rearrange to always fill those gaps?
Update: Terrence Scoville informed me of this narrated video, where it seems they are able to make a gap in the grid.
Terrance also points out another tidbit:
Says here you have always been able...
2 tags
Surface: Between a Rock and a Hardware Place ➞ →
Interesting read from John Gruber about the Surface tablet and the future of Microsoft.
Design is about making decisions, and Microsoft could not decide. ARM or Intel? Who should be on stage? Soft or hard keys on the keyboard cover? They went with “all of the above”.
The only hard decision they made was the big one: to turn against their OEM hardware partners.
3 tags
Google adapting Chrome for Retina display, the... →
To be a good citizen in Apple’s world, they should make borders 2 retina pixels to match what they had on a regular display. Those 1 px borders will look razor thin.
Update: ImagineThis points out that’s it an early canary build. Still, if they chose to highlight this design side by side with their old design, they must be happy with the result. I hope they change their mind...
2 tags
✎ Windows Phone 8's (sorta) new start screen, with...
My conclusion from this change is that there is an optimal information density, where you get an overview and don’t have to do excessive scrolling, and Microsoft was a bit off with their previous large, two column tiles. They’re correcting it with the addition of small tiles and up to four columns.
While I appreciate Microsoft’s determination to keep everything flat and...
1 tag
Live blog of Microsoft's Windows Phone Summit ➞ →
Maybe this is where Microsoft will “prime the pump” for Windows Phone 8, ie introduce their own phone?
Update: Nope, looks like they’re still committed to Nokia et al.
2 tags
Introduction of the Surface tablet ➞ →
Microsoft makes a really long point about how they have made hardware in the past. That might be, but this is their first PC/tablet. I wonder what the reaction will be from their hardware partners?
There is only so much you can do to distinguish one tablet from another. The hardware needs to be great, but it’s not so much about hardware anymore as it is about software. And if they all offer...
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Frog & Sharp's 'Feel UX' Android skin ➞ →
Video available at the link.
The widget section reminds me of KDDI’s INFOBAR UI, which in turn is reminiscent of Windows Phone.
Sharp recognized the need to address an expanding market of smartphone users. After conducting surveys in Japan and the US, the company wanted to create new Android handsets that would stand out in a crowded field and attract first-time buyers while catering to...
2 tags
Turning off layer thumbnails in Photoshop CS6... →
Turns out I’m not the only one who have been frustrated by the slow performance in Photoshop CS6 when moving layer groups.
I found this forum thread where Adobe employee Jeffrey Tranberry responds:
Can you do a test for me. From the Layers panel menu choose Panel Options and choose “None” for thumbnails. Does the performance improve?
A user by the name mcalvert confirms:
I...
2 tags
✎ How the adaptive status bar in iOS6 determines...
Wrapp iOS developer Simon Blommegård has been experimenting further with the new adaptive status bar and how it determines which color to use from the header bar. Turns out it’s quite a funky method. Rather than going on the tintColor, It uses the average color from the bottom pixel row of the header bar. This is illustrated by Simon’s yellow header bar with a blue and red bottom pixel...
3 tags
Blue status bar is distracting ➞ →
Loren Brichter is not a fan of the new “adaptive” status bar in iOS 6, which I wrote about the other day. So much that he filed a radar with Apple:
Philosophically the beauty of these devices is that because they are *a screen*, they become whatever you are doing with them. Minimizing extraneous hardware, and extraneous system interface elements should be a goal. A distracting status...
3 tags
Yes that is a retina simulator ➞ →
Photo by Bill Dudney:
This one of the main selling points of the new MBP; to see and work on iOS Retina graphics 1:1. Although there will be a few more years before you can make apps exclusively in @2x size.
2 tags
Roundup of Retina MacBook Pro Reviews ➞ →
MacRumors have a good roundup of reviews for the new MBP. Here’s what the New York Time thinks:
Superfast. Superthin. Superlight. Superlong battery life. Immense storage. Enough memory to keep lots of programs open at once. Stunning screen, comfortable keyboard, terrific sound. Fast start-up, rugged body, gorgeous looks.
And, of course, inexpensive. The new Apple laptop that went on...
3 tags
✎ Preferences for the MacBook Pro Retina display
Image from AnandTech’s MBP Retina Display Analysis. This is a nice touch, to be able to switch from the 2x multiplier and make UI elements smaller. Might come in hand if you ever need to use a palette-heavy app and need more screen real-estate.
Bonus points for the sample text in the preview.
2 tags
iOS 6 adjusts metallic button reflections as you... →
Speaking of cool details in iOS 6.
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✎ The new Dock in Mountain Lion
Screenshot by Jonas Rask:
Apple is really firing on all cylinders right now. I must say I love the new Dock in Mountain Lion. Apple got rid of the S-curve gloss, gave it rounded corners and blurred reflections. The running app indicators are much more classy as well, sitting at the bottom edge rather than the below the app.
A personal favorite is the separator line which now is in proper...
3 tags
✎ Adaptive status bar in iOS 6
The new status bar in iOS 6 is actually not blue, which you might think from looking at Apple’s keynote, but adaptive to whichever color the app uses. It uses the tintColor set on the navigation bar. Nice find by iOS developer Simon Ljungberg.
Swedish travel planer “Skånetrafiken” uses a red header and gets a red status bar:
eBay gets a gray status bar:
The black status...
3 tags
Jonathan Ive talks about the new MacBook Pro with... →
He knows how to put industrial design into words:
Air is pulled into vents and propelled through sculpted cavities by fans with asymmetrically positioned blades.
Overall the design feels much more bold, which is also reflected in the lack of name on the display bezel.
2 tags
Dual core processors not much of a benefit on... →
Android manufacturers still compete with hardware features rather than innovative software. Here in Sweden for example, the LG Optimus 2X ran under the slogan:
Dual core. ‘Nuff said.
No, please go on? What does it do for me? Not much except consume power, according to Intel:
Bell also claimed that Intel’s internal testing had shown multi-core implementations running slower...
February 2012
1 post
January 2012
2 posts
“Here’s another recipe app for iPad that has me drooling for two reasons —...”
– Beautiful Pixels
Veggie Meals – 55 easy to cook meals – Now on iPad
I’m really excited to finally write about Veggie Meals – the first app where we have done everything from content to design and release.
Veggie Meals contains 55 easy to cook vegetarian and vegan meals. They are an excellent source of proteins made from common ingredients. The app is available in English & Swedish and you can easily switch between metric or US measurements, Celsius or...
