Why iOS 7 Is Making Some Users Feel 'Sick' 261
dryriver sends this story from The Guardian:
"The introduction of fake zooms, parallax, sliding and other changes in Apple's new iPhone and iPad software has a very real effect on people with vestibular disorders. ... It makes frequent use of zoom and slide animations; the home screen boasts parallax, with icons apparently floating above subtly animating wallpaper. And it's making people sick. Triggers and symptoms vary, but TidePool mobile app developer Jenni Leder's experience is not uncommon. A self-professed power-user, she frequently switches apps; but on iOS 7, this has caused headaches and feelings associated with motion sickness. 'I now have to close my eyes or cover the screen during transitions, which is ridiculous,' she told The Guardian, adding that there's nowhere to hide: 'It's not apps that affect me, but accessing them. Tap a folder and the view zooms in. Tap an app and it's like flying through the icon and landing in that app's micro world — and I'm getting dizzy on the journey there.' Reactions to screen-based systems — especially those utilizing 3D effects — aren't new. Cynthia Ryan, executive director of the Vestibular Disorders Association, says 3D effects can cause 'intense nausea, dizziness and vertigo,' sometimes from general vision problems, but also from visual-vestibular conflict. She added symptoms 'manifest more severely if a viewer already has a disorder of the vestibular system.'"
Re:And it's of course Apple's fault (Score:2, Interesting)
Okey, this might not have any relevance at all, but I thought that it was quite funny, so I decided to post a little anecdote. Quakeworld - a quake 1 'mod' - tends to give me motion sickness if I'm not used to it. It takes approximately 3 weeks to accustom to its effects. Watching demos, though. Playing takes about 1 week. Quake 3 on the other hand gave me another kind of motion sickness, but only the Quake3 final. Quake3 test 1.08 was simply fine and impressive. None of the above stated effects. To pick a winner, Wolfenstein gave me perhaps the worst motion sickness from all the games I played/watched. I could go on but this rant is ridiculous enough as it is, later. :>
Re:On the plus side... (Score:2, Interesting)
I think you misunderstood his point - whether or not the hardware was updated, it was the same interface. The interface was the problem, not the phone.
I'm starting to think that my $125 waterproof Android phone is superior to an $800 iBling in a whole lot of ways (my daughter has an iPhone, she wants one like mine now).
Re:And it's of course Apple's fault (Score:4, Interesting)
Okey, this might not have any relevance at all, but I thought that it was quite funny, so I decided to post a little anecdote. Quakeworld - a quake 1 'mod' - tends to give me motion sickness if I'm not used to it.
These guys need to get accounts or I need to get mod points. Apple should have known better, considering that this effect was known fifteen years or more ago; I had a fairly popular Quake site back then (1998-2003) and got quite a few emails from readers talking about this in Quake II, and bigger sites than mine were covering it as well.
Research fail on Apple's part. Hubris or stupidity? Both?
Re:Can't you turn the effects off? (Score:2, Interesting)
Jobs' "don't hold it that way" response to antennagate notwithstanding, Apple is one of the few companies that actually listens to user feedback and usually responds by acknowledging their mistakes and fixing them, or at least quietly fixing them.
My experience servicing Apple products (desktops, laptops, handhelds) has been quite different from your assertion:
1. Chronic problem reveals itself on new machines (wavy screens in CRT days, laptops DOA, other manufacturing/reliability issues)
2. Contact Apple under service contract.
3. Reply comes back from Apple that no one else is experiencing this issue so it must be one of:
- damage in transit: contact shipper, warranty does not cover
- AC power issues at site
- user does not understand how to use: educate
- meant to be that way
- users are abusing laptop batteries
- IT is creating install problems
4. Back and forth with Apple akin to the 'dead parrot' skit in MPython
5. Eventually get replacements/upgrades but only after poop hits the news wire.
6. Apple users get working replacements/upgrades/fixes and extol virtues of Apple.
Apple just acts like a profit-oriented manufacturer which is trying to reduce expenses. It's just a business policy. I think the front line is purposely kept in the dark about chronic issues, just my opinion. We always ended up getting the repairs covered but always a struggle.
I've come to expect that this sort of behaviour from a number of vendors (not everyone . . ) so I'm not saying Apple is the worst. In fact I would put them somewhere in the middle of the pack. It just bothers me that so many people talk about how in touch Apple is with users and is responsive to feedback when in fact they are rather mediocre.