I just installed the new version of IOS and I immediately noticed that when I go to the “Location Services” menu, they have changed the way it looks.
It used to be that there is a list of all applications that want to use location services, and each has a “switch” allowing you to turn it on or off. When you turn it on, it shows a bright orange color. That bright orange allows you to quickly see which apps are using location services when you scroll down the list and you can easily switch the ones you want to change
Now, there is no switch with a bright orange indicator. Instead, it is an arrow, leading to another menu.
I want my orange back! I routinely change the status of location services for apps like Facebook—keeping them turned off unless I want it on for a particular purpose. Now it’s harder to keep track of which ones are on and it’s harder to quickly change them.
Really? The arrows are there but there are three variants - purple, grey, and outlined arrow. It now also has the text verbiage such as ‘Always’, ‘Never’, and ‘While Using’ which to me if FAR more informative than the way it used to be.
I would honestly hate being the maker of any popular mass market item. Your customers demand improvements and shiny-new versions constantly and if you fail to continually change things they’ll leave you in a heart beat. So you continually innovate and release shiny-new versions and the same customers obsess over the smallest changes and whine constantly.
Untrue. When iOS7 updated to iOS8, one of the first setup screens was asking you if you wanted to setup Location Services. You must have said yes during this step.
Another good point. It is right there when the update completes.
One thing I did find annoying about the new IO8 set-up process is that it did re-enable a ton of apps for notifications. I dislike notifications and I change almost all of my notification settings for apps to off. This time almost all of my apps had it re-enabled after the upgrade and I had to go back and change everything again. Not exactly a major inconvenience but still annoying.
There’s a distinct and important difference between turning on “Location Services” during setup and making “Share My Location” (with family and friends) the default. They are not the same thing.
It’s done in a very subtle design. it’s not more informative to me if I have to stop and read the words when before all I would have to do is spin down the list to look for bright orange.
They didn’t take away the arrows, they’re still there. I’m looking at my Location Services right now and see lots of little purple arrow icons next to various apps. It is just in a different color scheme. Or maybe I’m just not grasping some fine nuance here that you’re pointing out.
The text has nothing to do with the arrows. They added the text verbiage so you can also see on the same screen as the arrows what your location setting is for that app (Always, Never, While Using).
The arrows don’t give the same information that the orange switch used to give. the Orange switch told me whether location sharing was on or off for that app. The arrows tell you if an app has recently used your location. Those are not the same thing. The text verbiage replaced a bright orange “on” indicator. It is something different from the arrows.
The arrows are not sufficiently visually prominent to let me do what I was doing before.
The upshot is that when I scroll through that list, I have to do it much more slowly and it is much easier for me to miss an “on” setting.
Yes, the color scheme is a factor. The current color scheme is too subtle compared to the highly contrasting orange from before.
These things make a difference. Back in 2000 or so, a change in the OS of my laptop made it much more difficult for me to realize that my power cord had slipped out. As a result, I didn’t know I was using battery power. That fucked me up repeatedly.
It might be bright green instead of orange. Those colors look the same to me on the iPhone screen. Regardless, it’s the same switch style that still exists at the top of the Location Services option window.
I don’t really want to debate this much further because it is rather silly. I get you don’t like the change and that is an entirely personal thing and there isn’t a right or wrong.
But you’re wrong. IOS 7 also used purple arrows. And per the same Apple site, it looks like going all the way back to IOS4 it was purple or grey arrows.
BUT… I also think your clarification of “orange” to “green” helps me better understand what you’re talking about. It isn’t the arrows and their color, which specifically tells you if location services are currently being used, were used in the last 24 hours, etc. that I think you’re actually talking about. It is how before IOS8 there was a on/off switch next to the app that has been replaced with text. The on/off switch, when turned on, showed a green background that WAS easier to tell if the service was on or off than the current text “Always, Never, While Using” method.
See… once we started talking the same language, we agreed after all. It’s not the arrows, it is the removal of the on/off switch.
Oh, and last thing… I agree the previous on/off switch was easier to tell at glance if location services were enabled for that app. However, now IOS supports more than a binary choose of on/off. Depending upon the app, it can be:
On - Always use location services.
Off - Never use location services.
On - Only use location services while using the app which I think means only when the app is in the foreground and won’t use location services when the app is in the background.
So I can see why the binary on/off switch went away but maybe there was/is a better way to convey current status than the harder to read text.
I do see the reason for the confusion on my part as I interpreted your reference to an arrow to be the indicator arrow. My sincere apologies for the mistake!
