critique

A Lament For Aperture, The App We’ll Never Get Over Losing

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Daniel Kennett reminisces about Apple's discontinued Aperture software, emphasizing its unique features that revolutionized photo editing by integrating controls smoothly into the workflow. Reflecting on past tech nostalgia, he contrasts Aperture's user-friendly design with modern apps like Photos, which interrupt the editing flow. Despite technological advancements, he laments the loss of Aperture's efficiency and expresses frustration with the inadequacies of current alternatives, underscoring its lasting significance to user experience.

https://ikennd.ac/blog/2026/01/old-man-yells-at-modern-software-design/

Why It Is Difficult to Resize Windows on MacOS 26 Dyehoe

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MacOS 26 Tahoe complicates window resizing due to a poorly designed hit target area, primarily outside the window due to large corner radii, making resizing harder. The absence of a visible resize indicator, removed since Mac OS X 10.7, led to confusion about window resizability. Apple prioritized aesthetics over usability, resulting in a frustrating experience. The recommendation is to avoid upgrading to Tahoe or downgrade if already upgraded.

https://daringfireball.net/2026/01/resizing_windows_macos_26

My Beef With the iOS 26 Tab Bar

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iOS 26's search tab resembles a button rather than a tab, causing confusion for developers. This design choice leads to predictable UI principles being violated, as developers treat it as a primary action button instead of a navigational tab. Apple hasn't provided adequate solutions for integrating reachable primary actions alongside tab navigation, forcing developers to work around the limitations, resulting in inconsistency across apps. Users are confused by this design change, which blurs the line between navigation and action, undermining the expected coherence of the iOS platform.

https://ryanashcraft.com/ios-26-tab-bar-beef/

It’s Hard to Justify Tahoe Icons

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Apple's macOS Tahoe introduces confusing, cluttered icons that hinder user experience, contradicting the basic principles of icon design. Icons should differentiate functions, maintain consistency, and avoid overwhelming users. Tahoe fails in these areas—overflowing with icons that lack distinction, clarity, and metaphor relevance. The article critiques Apple's icon choices, asserting that design principles dating back to 1992 still apply, highlighting the design's adverse impact on usability in contrast to historical guidelines. Overall, Tahoe represents a poor execution of icon integration in user interfaces.

https://tonsky.me/blog/tahoe-icons/

Last Year on My Mac: Look Back in Disbelief

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Summary: Author reflects on visual interface changes in macOS Tahoe, expressing disappointment with unaddressed issues post-release, including excessively rounded corners that hinder content display, unclear controls, indistinguishable app icons, poor contrast in light and dark modes, and confusing transparency effects. The critique emphasizes that these design choices complicate usability and reduce accessibility, calling back to previous superior interface experiences.

https://eclecticlight.co/2025/12/28/last-year-on-my-mac-look-back-in-disbelief/

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