Katie Marsal
The CEO of BlackBerry has criticized Apple for failing to overhaul the user interface of the iPhone to keep up with competing smartphone platforms.
Since the iPhone launched in 2007, it's had largely the same interface with a grid of icons making users' applications accessible. While that was adequate with the first-generation iPhone, BlackBerry's Thorsten Heins believes it's now antiquated, he said in an interview with Australian Financial Review (via AllThingsD).
Apple's first-generation iPhone was revealed in 2007.
"History repeats itself again, I guess," the BlackBerry CEO said. "The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don't innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old."
Heins admitted that he must "respect" the iPhone, a device that helped make BlackBerry largely irrelevant in the smartphone market after holding a dominant position for years. His company hopes to mount a comeback off of its new BlackBerry 10 interface and new handsets.
"The point is that you can never stand still," he said. "It is true for us as well. Launching BB10 just put us on the starting grid of the wider mobile computing grand prix, and now we need to win it."
Apple's future direction with iOS and its user interface are now a point of interest for the company, as it parted ways with its previous iOS software chief, Scott Forstall, late last year. That role, along with control of the design of OS X, has been handed to Jonathan Ive, who has overseen development of the company's iconic hardware for years.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
291 Comments
I tend to agree that the UI of iOS is outdated. Not much as changed since the original iOS. I'd like to see some differences. Maybe Jony Ive can make this happen in iOS 7. No sweeping changes so it makes it harder to use, but just changes to refresh the interface. I'd like to see some new features as well. Except for Siri [I](which isn't a big deal to me)[/I], there really hasn't been anything earth shattering coming out of Apple these days. You can only sit and watch yourself on top for so long before people start to catch up. If you wait until they catch up, its already too late...Its only a matter of time before someone does just this if Apple doesn't do anything to stay ahead. ***Waits to get lambasted for this post***
I think that it's visually outdated, but it works.
I'd love to be able to glance at weather info on the lockscreen without having to unlock the phone. Something like that just seems like a no-brainer.
Looking at their succes, I'd say: "I like their strategy, I like it a lot" A quote from another CEO, who in my opinion could use some overhauling himself. [quote]"History repeats itself again, I guess," the BlackBerry CEO said. "The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don't innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly."[/quote] Well, looks like he does understand [I]something[/I] in life.
Why mess with a good thing?
Like the former RIM CEO's, once you start criticizing Apple, your future ain't looking so bright.
I hear this from the Microsoft drones and fandroids a lot. it has become a mainstain of their talking points. But specifically, they never mention what is outdated about it? what does not work? While not perfect, iOS has a highly intuitive, easy to use interface. It is far better than the horrid Windows Phone OS with is busy flashing squares, text scrolling off the right side of the screen everywhere, primitive block colors, etc... Or androids, iOS copy, with slow motion scrolling, inconsistent experience, unintuitive navigation, etc... Apple is not Microsoft who reskins their OS every year as a means to justify its outrageous upgrade cost, or Googles copying of everything Apple does.