Rumors abound that Apple is about to redesign all its operating systems , dramatically change the devices we habituate every day start this gloam . It would be a dead intelligible reaction to wonder why Apple would focus on aesthetics while so many parts of its commercial enterprise seem to be in upheaval .
But I ’m here to propose the opposite . That a lot of the symptoms of what Apple ’s done wrong of late – most potently represent by the fatal update to the macOS preferences ( formerly System Preferences ) app – are in reality reasons why now it ’s preceding time for Apple to turn the page , contrive something Modern , and announce it at WWDC in June .
Things fall apart
I ’ve never worked in software , but I have worked in the medium business for a few decades and have been regard in legion redesign projects , both for print magazine and websites . Every time a new design debuts , it ’s trumpet as being “ cleaner ” and “ more sleek , ” which probably make you wonder : Why was the sometime thing cluttered ? Why project a less sleek , less clean thing in the first station ?
Of course , the answer is thateverynew design starts clean , fresh , and streamline , with every feature it require and nothing it does n’t . But starting on day one , the compromises sneak in . Designs accrue apart over time , not because they were n’t overnice , but because needs have changed , and you ca n’t do a full redesign every time you want to add together or tweak just one matter . Over the age , a overbold design becomes an horrible jumble .
The truth is , there ’s never a effective clock time to redesign anything . There will always be another pressing new feature article that read precedent .
Even though this System Preference design is old, it made it much easier to find what you need, than it is now with System Settings.
But why now ? certainly Apple would be better off give its time to tally AI feature and fixing bugs ! The the true is , there ’s never a good prison term to redesign anything . There will always be another pressing new feature film that takes priority , and that usually fail on for year as the fix throng up , create more and more tech debt and pass water the exist product that much hard to update and alter . Eventually , it reaches a breaking point – the whole matter postulate to be redesigned . If not now , when ?
Apple ’s operating systems probably pass on that breaking detail a few years ago . And there ’s no better example , in all its details , than three age ago when Apple replaced the macOS System Preferences app with the new options app .
Brother from another mother
Introduced in macOS Ventura in 2022 , the configurations app comprehend pretty much every reason why Apple need to reach a big reset clitoris .
First , let me stipulate that the old System Preferences app was just that : old . It was a oddment of the very earliest days of Mac OS X and desperately take to be modernized . I do not doubt that there were a huge telephone number of cause ( and an enormous pile of tech debt ) that lead to the decision to replace it with a novel version based on the configurations app find in iOS and iPadOS .
Even though this System Preference design is sure-enough , it made it much well-heeled to find what you ask , than it is now with System options .
Apple needs to stop making macOS be more like iOS and vice versa. It needs to start with a design system that is built to the way we use each device.
metalworks
But that ’s the thing . The configurations app on iOS is no spring wimp . It has also fight to adapt and grow with the increasing complexity of iOS and iPadOS . It was never destine to work on macOS . While the decision to use it on macOS was probably expedient and made Apple ’s platforms palpate a little more alike , adapting an one-time designing from an all different weapons platform wentexactlyas you might expect it to go . options might be new to macOS , but it ’s not young .
What options needs , acrossallof Apple ’s platforms , is arethink and a reorganization . Categories and subcategories are not organized in any logical way , making the entire app so dysfunctional that you have to rely on hunting to find anything you need . And all that does is debunk how part a lot of Apple ’s on - equipment lookup functionality feels . Not to mention that between “ character to Siri ” and Spotlight , it’scompletely unclearwhat to type where on modern Apple gadget .
Sure , we can all probably estimate out undecomposed account for why things are the fashion they are . But that ’s the point – years have gone by , and the old intention have been patch so many time that they ’re but a mess . It ’s sentence to rip the bandage off .
The old college try
I get wind a lot of skepticism about Apple ’s ability to execute a complete redesign across all its political program . And I get it : A lot of Apple ’s recent missteps have do on the software side , propose that they may not be up to the challenge . The fact is , we just do n’t bed whether Apple can do on this , but we have to be overt - minded . It could be good , or it could be bad , or anywhere in between .
Apple take to turn back making macOS be more like iOS and vice versa . It needs to start with a aim system that is built to the style we apply each machine .
Apple
What ’s incontestable is that Apple could really use a new design , built from the ground up to cover all of its platform and fit its antecedency . It should n’t be a one - size of it - fit - all conception but an overall conception system that is built to adapt to the very dissimilar needs of an iPhone and a MacBook Pro .
As a sealed famous former Apple CEOsaid , design is “ not just what it look like and feel like . Design is how it works . ” That ’s another important vista of this if Apple is going to do this right field : It ca n’t just be about looks – it needs to be about functionality . For model , a novel configurations app could be beautiful and ruminate every program ’s special nature – but if it has n’t been reorganize so that you may find what you ’re looking for , it ’s not well designed .
The same is true for many of Apple ’s back - terminal technologies , which take to be presented in more consistent ways , whether it ’s write Tools and Apple ’s spelling chequer or the aforementioned Type to Siri and Spotlight searches .
That ’s the potentiality in a major Apple redesign . sure enough , there will be gaudy flourish that show off the power of Apple Silicon GPUs – but a successful design has to go beyond that . If Apple does this right , it will have swept away the conditions that led to sorry social occasion like replacing one broken options app with a other than broken one . A new aim should be base on Apple ’s vision for how mass will be using its gimmick over the next decade , at least . And if it ’s all done right , that pattern will inspire the rest of the ship’s company to live up to its hope .
Because nobody want to see the O equivalent of the configurations app .
