Little things like this are often overlooked but they are important. In fact, the only other blog who has paid any attention this change is Rendernaut.com, headed by Andrew James, who is undeserved of his low follower count on Twitter; @rendernaut.
Personally, the new switch control (or, in terms of actual UIKit technical development, the UISwitch) represents two things, in my mind.
Firstly, it's the actual change in usability and design itself. Before, the switch was squared off, and interactions occurred by either sliding the square nub, or tapping to alternate the state of the control. Now, the nub is rounded, and follows the rest of iOS UI, becoming circular - finger-sized. In the new design, the background colour of the switch is easier seen, as the nub size has become smaller. This is important in non-English languages (determined the device's locale settings), where the control isn't labelled with "On" or "Off", but rather "O" or "I", like a power switch. By being able to see the highlight colour easier, less mental parsing is required as to the current state of the switch.
Secondly, to my memory, this change of the UISwitch is the first major change of a UI element in iOS. Gradients and backgrounds have changed slightly around the system, but the change in switch design is much less subtle. And I think this is good. It shows Apple is prepared to change things, even in a device population dominated by "newbies", rather than the geek - who can take on change much easier, as seen in the regular revisions in Mac interface. I had been concerned that Apple was resistant to large change in iOS to maintain simplicity, but this sets my mind at ease.
~~~
Whilst the onscreen size of the nub has become smaller, it is important to note that the 'invisible" touch targets have not been reduced. Additionally, users can still just tap the control to alternate states.
Hi there. I run this blog for fun, have coded some Google Wave robots, and maintain an 
Comments 0 Comments