The Mobile Spoon

Let's talk about  App Clips  for a minute, and forgive me Android readers, I know you had  Instant Apps  since 2018, but as product experts, entrepreneurs, or designers, surely you have to agree that Apple simply does it better with marketing, technology, developers, and users - all fall into the right part of the story. So watching iOS14 keynotes (and App Clips) got me thinking about the future of mobile apps. It also reminded me of the early days of our startup  Missbeez , and how we used to describe our product as a simple " magic button ". Whenever people asked us what does the product do, we used to say: "It's just a button. You click on it, and someone comes in and gives you a massage".  Unfortunately, the reality was not that simple: users had to download our button from the App Store (or Google Play),  go through a long onboarding process, provide their name, email, address, enter their credit card, and only then could they click...

iOS 13 is just around the corner and expected to be released in less than a month (mid-September). I decided it’s time for me to take a closer look and see what usability enhancements can be found in the new version of my favorite OS. Here’s what I found after playing with iOS 13 all evening: 1. Pads vs. Phones The biggest change in iOS 13 is the separation between iOS and iPadOS. For years I’ve been dealing with the challenge of developing software that runs on multiple devices: phones at different sizes, tablets, laptops, desktops - it can work (cal it: responsive, progressive, passive, aggressive...), but there’s a high cost for sharing the exact same software binaries across so many devices with so many differences: usability . The software runs but the users pay the price and many compromises are made, not to mention development complexities and shipping speed . Think about the following iPad needs: a desktop-style home-screen, better multi-tas...

Hey iPhone users, how many times have you used 3D Touch this week? I use it every now and then, but most users I talk to rarely use it (or "never knew it existed” to quote some of them).  It has been a few years since Apple introduced ForceTouch with the Apple Watch (later called: 3D Touch for iPhones) and it seems like it has not been successfully adopted. With iPhone XR missing this capability, there are now solid rumors that Apple is going to phase it out soon. It’s easy to tell when a new OS feature is a big hit: - It quickly becomes popular  - Apps developers embrace it and implement incredible features with it - All other players copy it None of those things happened with 3D Touch.     Here’s why I think it failed:  It doesn’t feel natural The original iPhones were all about making things simple, elegant and delightful.  3D touch is e...

It’s been almost 2 years since Apple introduced the all mighty nothing-but-screen (and notch…) iPhone X. One year later, with 3 new X-style iPhones, and given that most companies design and showcase their apps on iPhone first - I’m asking myself a few questions: 1. Which iPhone model (and size) should we optimize our UI  for?  I know the theoretical answer is “all of them”, but assuming I need to select only one - which one should it be?   2. Should we start small and scale-up or maybe the other way around?  Assuming the answer to Q1 is iPhone X/XS - should the design process start small and scale up to fit the more important models or maybe it’s time to change this design practice and start big?  3. In the case of a conflict - who wins? The big guys or the small ones?  When a UI design cannot scale up/down naturally, who gets the priority: the big phones or the smaller ones?    4. Now that iPhones ...

WhatsApp's new popup menu is a good example of how a mobile popup menu should look and behave. Let's tear it down to see why it's so much better than the default iOS popup menu: In one of its' latest updates, WhatsApp introduced a new popup menu that replaced the regular horizontal iOS-style menu with a vertical one. It’s noticeably different and much more convenient, and although it’s a small UI component I believe that the change was made because users actually used the popup menu a lot and it was not comfortable enough. So why do I get all excited about it? Moving away from standard UI components to custom UI components is interesting The new popup menu is quite better than the iOS default one Using the new one made me realize how much I hate  using the standard iOS popup menu Yep, the new popup menu is much better. Here are the advantages: The verticalized list is easier to scan Each menu item includes an icon and a text which is great...

There are some differences between the screen resolutions defined by Apple and the resolutions presented in Google Analytics .  When trying to analyze the different devices used to run your mobile apps you need to map each device to its' screen resolution as seen by GA.  With the additions of the iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR - you are probably asking yourself: "W hat's the screen resolution of the iPhone XR compared to iPhone XS Max?" Well, things are definitely getting more complicated to follow so here’s a short table that maps the different iPhone models next to their screen resolution as presented in Google Analytics:  Google Analytics Screen Resolutions per each iPhone Model: Here are all the new iPhone models (including XR and XS  Max) with their screen resolutions as seen by Google Analytics    Device Screen resolution PPI Multiply Google Analytics Resolution iPhone 5/SE 320 x 568 326 ppi ...

What's the difference between Apple Watch Series 4 (44mm) and Series 3 (42mm)? I was not sure, so I decided to spend £399 to check it. Apple products tend to provoke criticism at first sight and then, after a while, you buy them. A smartphone with no 3G? a tablet without a camera? Silly looking airpods? A notch? Let’s get them all. And now there’s the new Apple Watch. While the 3rd generation added some cool new sensors - the 4th generation adds… well, 2mm and a slightly modified design. Apple tries to convince us that it’s a "redesigned/reimagined" product, but looking at the reviews, I wasn’t quite sure there are significant differences between the models. So after a lot of hesitations, I decided to walk into the Apple store during my recent travel to London. I knew it might end up with me buying something I don’t need, but I just couldn’t resist it. The new Apple Watch was there. It was staring at me as I anticipated... So beautiful, so...

I'm an apps addict.  As a strategy - I select my working tools only after making sure they have a solid mobile version so I can  be on top of everything 24/7, regardless to where I am.  This gives me the option to control almost 100% of my work and personal activities straight from my smartphone, whenever or wherever I am.  Many of these apps are not new. Some have millions of users, and yet many people I talk to are not familiar with many of them, so I decided to create a list of all the important apps I use.  You won’t find Facebook, Twitter, Uber or Waze in this list as those are too basic.  You will find however, a nice collection of apps that will increase your productivity and make you forget about your computer...  Tier 1: Must Have Apps      1.  Pocket :  My all time favorite mobile app.  In short - Pocket lets you s...