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What UXs do you like and dislike and why?
What UIs / UXs do you like and dislike and why?
I think it is useful to talk about both the look of an app and its workflow. For example I can think of some apps that look beautiful but don’t have very good implementation on the knobs so it can be hard to dial in an accurate value quickly, which is an extremely important thing for some parameters, like ones related to frequencies for example.
As I have always said, Bleass UI/UX appeal to me. Like the colors. No need to dive into settings menus. Everything is upfront and easy to access. There are sometimes missing features (eg in Fusion I don’t really understand why LFO 1 can’t be assigned to modulate LFO 2). Why does Megalit have no ability to import your own Wavetables?
Big fan of Bram’s Uis in general but when it comes to accurate and fast dialing in of knobs I prefer BeepStreet Combustor and Dagger - also love the aesthetics of those apps.
The preset system in Igor’s apps is not something I’m a fan of. Usually don’t much like the 4Pockets interfaces. Just a matter of personal taste in terms of looks, but I also often feel that the workflow has some jarring elements.
I could go on, but I’ll stop there for now!
Question was prompted by this interesting article on UI/UX and color:
https://uxdesign.cc/the-power-of-colour-in-ux-1748c16491f3
Might be worth reading that before commenting.
Comments
Top 2 contenders for least favorite UI for me is Beatcutter and Synthmaster 2. Also agree for about half of the 4Pockets apps I own. And as much as I love their apps, I’m not a fan of most Apesoft UIs outside of Electric and Accordion but that’s purely out of simplicity.
Bleass is easily my favorite but I really like Numerical Audios style. Bram and Beepstreet are amazing as well, totally agree. AudioKit would probably round out my top 5.
Yeah, really hate the Apesoft apps’ preset system. But in terms of the look of the UIs, colors etc, some I quite like. Mood, for example.
I love Art Kerns use of color in his apps
Maybe good to post some pics for ppl unfamiliar actually
Art Kerns midiLFOs
Erik Sigth apps I love the Ui but I would really like proper manuals
Please don’t make this thread a witch hunt towards some developers. Especially those working alone and doing everything. 😳
Wotja UI, sorry to say, is one of my least faves. Looks very dated, the menus etc.
Making music on an interface like this is just really not my idea of a good time, as great as the app is, and as much as it can do without need for menu diving
Not a witch hunt, but it’s important also for devs to be aware of the importance of UI and UX in whether people buy their apps and whether they continue to use them and recommend them
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Best UI in my opinion - fabfilter (works better on PC though, not optimized enough for ios) and drambo. Most important for me = clear/straightforward, visible values, possibility to make small adjustments, minimum taps to perform an action (no menus). Outside of ios I loved reason 5 interface, much more inspiring than ableton, but far less possibilities. Incomprehensible / geek stuff like above = nah.
Those are all important, too many taps to do things drives me crazy. I also like ability to type in exact values (eg auGENx has a great implementation for this). Also ability to quickly double and halve things like delay times. Or ability to drag a slider and it only assumes its new value when released (again, can be very useful for things like live, musical adjustment or delay times)
Big text that doesn’t strain the eyes is important to me, and to many others here, from what I see from people’s comments
For those developers is about to make an app or not, I like them more to make that app.
You can focus this thread to be about specific UI elements without even mentioning any of the authors. What is good for the platform and what is not. What is missing and would be good to have. Etc.
Fair point, let’s leave it up to individuals to make their own decisions on how specific they get though. Either people get feedback here or they get it in negative comments on the AppStore.
I mean, this entire forum, almost every thread, is about people expressing their opinions on things they like and dislike about apps, usually being specific and in a thread that has the app and dev’s name at the top. Any devs here need a thick enough skin to be able to take constructive criticism, if they can’t they’re really in the wrong business. So I don’t think we need to see this thread as cruel or so,e kind of witch hunt. Of course people should be respectful and try to avoid being needlessly hurtful, normal forum etiquette.
I’m certain that you have good intentions, but knowing this forum…
let’s just hope for the best!
Yea, I understand your concern!
I know this is not of much help but I like functional UIs that do not cause excessive eye-strain and are primarily designed with touch in mind.
I tend to enjoy cleaner UIs that at least partially follow the iOS design language when it comes to UI elements that don't look like 'slapped on puzzle-piece stickers'. Even though apps like my beloved SunVox get some slack every now and then the UI is very functional when it finally 'clicks' (UI Scaling and colors can be changed in the settings and some sections can be hidden so they don't use up the screen when not used).
Drambo is another app that I regard highly when it comes to both functionality and form, it's a difficult task to slap on as much functionality as it has and while retaining a somewhat clean UI but I do wish it had an option to 'scale' the UI to make things a bit larger (like 100%, 125% & 150%).
I might be one of the few who actually enjoy using Logic Pro for iPad's 're-designed' instruments (and the rest of the app) for me it works and doesn't cause any eye-strain and the quick jumps to different sections are quite handy.
Mela 4 is another app that is quite well thought out for being as complex as it is.
As for managing parameter changes the touch implementation varies between apps.
One thing that I feel should almost should be de-facto standard for touch value knobs is up/down for coarse adjustment left/right for fine adjustment.
For numerical entry both the Logic Pro for iPad 'input floater panel' and auGEN X devs numerical entry pads could also do well as standard implementations for numerical entry in most apps when numerical precision is needed.
And yes, then there are the classic WTFs when it comes to LFO implementations in MANY apps.
For me some 'basics' that any LFO should have are a uni/bi-polar output switch and control over the LFOs start-phase in key-sync mode with a legato option(ie. don't reset LFO phase on legato-play), for frequency a 'free' and 'sync'(to division) modes are handy and the range of the LFO speed should have no artificial limits (ie. have a range from 0.01hz to 100Hz for starters, preferably higher up to audio-rate with optional keyboard tracking making it an additional oscillator for FM etc.).
Mela 4's LFO is a good example of how a somewhat fully featured LFO should could be like.
For me a 'Good UI' is one I enjoy using and that doesn't cause excessive eye-strain which can be a result of too bright and colorful UI and highish-contrast. I can't for example use the by some beloved Loopy Pro without getting a bad head-ache, I've tried really hard but it just won't work...(I even get a head-ache when watching videos streams featuring it so I mostly stay away from those streams).
Oh well, thankfully we have quite a lot to choose from when it comes to apps
Cheers!
dislike:
Logic on iPad.
Probably worst DAW/Musicmaking app UI on iPad. Why ? You need all the time vertically resize some window (piano roll, sequencer view, plugin view, mixer) to get it big enough work with.. it doesn’t remember always last set view size so sometimes it just resets back to default size .. 99% of time i am just fighting with resizing of widows which is super annoying.
Stock plugin are just mess of knobs, extremely cluttered, almost unusable for any serious sound design.
It’s just horribly bad. Tried to use it multiple times, always ended with deleting app in rage.
like:
Nanostudio, Beatmaker 3, Zen Beats (with few exceptions), Grooverider GR16, Butter Synth, Dagger, Zeeon, Pure Acid, miRack, all @brambos plugins, all @FredAntonCorvest plugins - both thise devs make absolutely fantastic UI. Also Klevgrand plugins have pretty good UI, that kind of UI which inspires you musically, if you know what i mean.
All above mentioned are really greatly optimised for touch screen, utilising the sreen in straightforward way, if there is need for more controls than can fit on one screen, instead of annoying animations and resizing part of active view they just switch using some button to other view instantly OR they scroll whole view (fac plugs on iphone).
They all ar examples of super fluid intuitive UI where you can use muscle memory to navigate through parts of app without too much thinking.
Best design, Logic, period.
The quantity of options and features that developers put in a iPad app is AMAZING. Feels like home. And the shortcuts and navigation is excellent.
I'll preface this by saying that I otherwise like most of the examples I'm providing and use them regularly, these are just my pet peeves:
I honestly like many approaches, from the old gear tribute (Model 15, iVCS3, although I'd love to see a Synthi AKS reskin to fit everything in a single horizontal screen) to the whimsical (Rymdigare), and including the whacky (BeatCutter) and I believe they have their place.
I really like the design of most of Korg Gadget. It was really designed for touch, with easy navigation. Looks gorgeous, too. A shame they stopped innovating with it, but even as it is, it’s impressive.
What is important for me when it comes to UI design:
To sum it up, I like iPad / touchscreen optimised UIs, and I have difficulties with most UIs that try to mimic the appearance of actual hardware.
For example miRack tries to emulate the appearance of Eurorack, while Drambos UI is designed for mobile devices. From the musical side I do love both, but Drambo will always be the program of choice for live setups.
Or SugarBytes Drumcomputer and Thesys are both fantastic apps when it comes to functionality, but I wish their UIs could be switched from the for me almost unusable overloaded 3D design to something with more contrast, better visibility and less overwhelm effect.
Other positive examples:
Apps from Bleass, Imaginando, Cem Olcay, Beepstreet.
With Zeeon and Dagger they have actually gone down the “looks like hardware” route and made a great UI. I am only missing a dark version without the blinding front panel.
So much great stuff here. I hope devs are reading and taking notes
Myself and others have said it before, but Different Drummer is so in need of an overhaul of its cluttered and confusing UI. It’s a fantastic concept, but so hard to get inspired by in its current format.
About Cem apps one thing that annoys me is needing to go into settings to change an important performance control like key and scale.
While we're talking about scales, many apps have huge lists of them in often, apparently, no meaningful order.
Every app with scale quantize features would benefit from ability to make your own custom scales, ideally with an option to make separate up and down scales, like Geoshred.
Apps with long lists of anything should have a search function (See Scales above)
AUM file player BADLY needs a search function
Love the look of Xequence AU Keys, but it needs a Latch function.
The skeumorphic UI of the moogerfooger apps is ugly to me. The knobs are too shiny to the point of distracting from the tiny dot that shows knob position on the small knobs in the cv section. Audiothing do far more tasteful skeumorphic interfaces imo - see the knobs in Valves, for example. Similar but much more tastefully done.
Tooltips that need you to press on things for ages before the tip appears - Toneboosters are heavily guilty here.
I like to see visual feedback for all or most knobs. And I don't like it when I can't see that because it is obscured by finger placement. Put it somewhere else, like the top right, the way K-Devices do. Oh K-Devices. No user preset system whatsoever? No no no, not acceptable.
I love Pianoteq but don't like the images for the various instruments. There's something very Mr Ripley about them - trying hard to look expensive but actually looking a bit tacky. One of my few criticisms about that app.
Decent Sampler - navigating the list of installed libraries can be a nightmare. The only reliable way is to try to grab the little scroll bar. Lists like that where it's hard to reliably do something as simple as drag and select are touch UI fails.
Lack of drag and drop in apps that would clearly benefit from it is problematic - many desktop ports are problematic in this regard because the framework they use might not allow for things like this to be implemented in the iOS port.
Yeah, lots of good reading! 🤩
Another app that I would love getting some UI overhaul is Geoshred. It could be a great controller / live instrument for me - if they would only remove those ugly stripes that are probably meant to look like strings, but that go straight across the letters on the pads. This makes the whole thing difficult to read (for me), and it looks like one of those electro mechanic flip displays found at train stations and airports in the 70s.
But most important for me, and many devs might not know this: Striped patterns can trigger migraines and in extreme cases seizures. I do have migraines quite often, and had them triggered by stripes. Geoshred is not that extreme, but my eyes are already getting irritated when have to look at this UI for a longer time.
I love the UI of Sunrizer and thor.
Why?
Because I'm old-school 😁
Yes !
YesYesYes !! Especially Thor, fantastic !! What huge wasted potential that they did not applied same approach to porting whole Reason :-(((