What is in UI may be More Than Meets The Eye: Top Android Apps Meet a New Challenge
Back in the day, the idea of a computer in your pocket, or your wrist like Dick Tracy, was the pinnacle of technology? Of note, I think communications was the focus of that gizmo, but not necessarily computing.
There is a bit of irony in the fact that today, in an age where a 27-inch computer screen is considered normal and a 40-inch HDTV is on the small side, we still spend hours ogling our itty-bitty Android or iPhone displays – which poses some of the following issues for designers:
- Doing more with less: User Interface designers striving to create the top Android apps or best iPhone apps now have to stuff everything back into a screen with the resolution of the original Mac or PC, but is one-fifth the size. Yes, the display has finer resolution, but if you’re ‘of a certain age’ like me, all that resolution can be less useful on a credit card sized screen!
- Nested Menus and Modality: One solution to the small screen design challenge has been to design the interface elements as cascading or nested menus, with each selection putting the app into a different ‘mode’ of behavior. One consequence of this is you can get ‘lost’ in a sequence of navigation (try the DropBox app for accessing online storage), or forget how to get back to another ‘mode’ of operation you were in earlier.
- Promotes less wordiness in textual elements (thank goodness)!
-Icon design is forced into territory it probably doesn’t belong.
Adding a fascinating new dimension to this trend are the Remote Access apps: now you can really use an entire PC inside your smartphone. Examples of Remote Access software include GoToMyPC, LogMeIn, and TeamViewer.
There’s a new iPhone application called AlwaysOnPC that offers users a PC in the Cloud. Brimming with power, this AlwaysOnPC gives customers use of over forty software applications including word processing, presentations, spreadsheets (OpenOffice continually updates their compatibility with Microsoft Office), an Outlook-like email program, photo editing, and more!
The remote access and Virtual PC service both give you access to a computer that is separate from your phone. A powerful effect of the remote access type solutions (particularly AlwaysOnPC since it is most reliable) is you get to access to a PC-class processor and RAM right from your iPhone, which makes it one of the best iPhone apps and top Android apps we’ve seen.
I believe these new applications will push hardware to new levels. I think Steve Jobs is on the right track with the concept of the “Hybrid UI” that uses ‘local’ UI elements that manipulate processing power that resides in the cloud. AlwaysOnPC seems to fit that model well.
What’s the verdict, then: is the art of user experience being advanced, or set back? The jury is still out in my view, but that’s not going to stop the flow of new devices coming to market.
Other Apple iPad Stuff:
Twitter
Facebook
Title…
I came across this really good Apple iPad site today….