Copy-Cat Smartphone OS Design
Cell phone makers are busy at their busiest event of the year: Mobile World Conference (MWC). We’ve already seen several big unveilings, including the new Windows Mobile OS 7 and Bada OS from Samsung. There have been plenty of other phones designed to run Android, Google’s mobile OS. It’s interesting to note the similarities and differences between these mobile operating systems. On the one hand, there are severe limitations as to how unique an OS can be on a phone. On the other hand, there is still lots of room for innovation, especially as the smartphone market continues to expand. The problem is that too many cell phone companies seem content to copy, rather than innovate.
One of the companies that is most copied in terms of design is Apple and their iPhone OS. This is partly because Apple is known for their excellent interfaces but also because Apple has lead the way toward increasing smartphone sales. The problem with this approach, however, is that Apple’s OS is designed around old fashioned principles. The main feature of their operating system is that each function of the phone is represented by an equally sized icon; each icon represents a button, and thus the OS is “native” to many users. This kind of design is simple and effective, but it represents old ways of interacting with technology (button pressing), not new. Apple then augments the button system with multi-touch interface and gesture control. They mix the old and the new for an intuitive experience.
Other handset makers frequently copy Apple’s button/app design and add touch controls with differing degrees of success. Whereas Apple’s interface is extremely responsive (so that touching the screen really feels like you are touching the graphics), other handset makers’ touch screens can be slower and less responsive. When this is the case, the phone feels like old, button-based technology. And more importantly, it means that the OS design has failed to produce a product that is easy and natural to interact with.
There are obvious limitations to Apple’s design, namely the fact that we tend not to get information in a linear fashion. I don’t want to open up a clock application to see the time, then open my calendar application to see what is on my schedule, then open up my maps application to see how to get to my upcoming meeting, and finally open my weather application to see if I need to bring a coat. Instead, I want all that information in one single space. Android solves this issue with the use of “widgets,” small applications that display one or two pieces of information and are visible right on the phone’s screen.
Widgets are an example of an innovative attempt to solve a problem combined with foolish design. In order to use the widgets most effectively, you need to move them around between different screens of widgets – something that is not intuitive. Further, the use of too many widgets means your phone’s battery life may fall. These are very practical aspects of design that are not implemented well in Android. Further, the idea of widgets themselves is reductive. It solves a problem on a smartphone with a solution from a computer. Smartphones are not computers for good reason. Their limited screen size means solving problems of information with tiny applications running on the screen wastes opportunities to be more creative.
I am tired of seeing poor design in smartphone OS, in terms of usability and non-originality. Where are interface designers with a real perspective on how to use a device in ways that blend intuition with new features? In ways that are instantly learnable and unusually deep? In ways that are visually appealing and familiar? Apple is, so far, the only company that has come close to meeting these goals, and their OS still leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t know when another innovative OS will come out, because thus far we see only copycats. I will definitely be reading more about Windows Mobile 7 and Samsung Bada as more information becomes available.
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