iOS 15

Maybe just a new design concept has been developed? Or maybe the icon is not finalized, which, among other things, is strange for Apple.

Playing around with the beta and because of the way that Safari now puts the search bar at the bottom, if you access Gmail through it you can’t access the controls at the bottom of the screen to delete/archive etc :confounded:

2 Likes

If you tap the home indicator to minimise the address bar, does it then cover up the controls or do they push up?

1 Like

I didn’t actually know this was a thing – it’s amazing! How many times I wrestled with the address bar, trying to get it into place by scrolling up and down the page…

1 Like

It covers it up:

Unless Gmail change it, it’s impossible to do this on iOS 15. You can swipe on individual emails but nothing in bulk.

2 Likes

Urgh, that’s grim. Hopefully Apple reconsider a bunch of these changes. They can’t rely on web developers to have to fanny about with workarounds - I’m having flashbacks to Internet Explorer 6.

1 Like

It’s tricky right. Because we can’t exactly blame Google since 99.999999% of browsers don’t have anything at the bottom there.

1 Like

I have no experience in coding but it should be as simple as making the edge of the address bar thingy the edge of the ‘screen’ that the page has to fit on…

Then when it’s floating the screen goes all the way down to the edge of the actual display

Can’t explain it better

1 Like

Simple.

Can you tell apple? Cheeeers.

Also I’m trying to get on board with the changes in Safari but I just can’t see any issue with the old ways so :man_shrugging:t2:

1 Like

I suppose we can submit feedback, but I suspect it’s one of those things they need to work out; I’d hope the final version won’t work like this

I like Safari on the iPad, not on iPhone though. But then I hate the new iPad Home Screen. Don’t understand why anyone would want widgets floating all over the place when they had a nice neat little place to sit in

3 Likes

This is how it’s supposed to work. The new design hasn’t changed this behaviour, though it is a little buggy. One of our web apps has a rather unique navigation system that’s designed around the reachable zone of the screen for thumbs. Just like in the previous version of safari, bringing up the UI elements simply shifts it up the page on the dev iPhone 11 I’ve been testing on.

Use the feedback app and file this as a bug. Provide screenshots and videos documenting it. It’ll be investigated.

1 Like

I’ll do this but is it a bug? It’s more an issue for Google; rather than a bug necessarily.

It’s more for tracking. Apple’s engineers will be able to determine if it’s a bug they’ve introduced or something Google will need to address. Quite a few sites that put functionality at the bottom aren’t playing too nicely either though. It feels buggy, I’m just not certain if it’s related to Safari, or the way some websites have their’s coded that it isn’t responding correctly to viewport changes caused by the browser UI elements.

Our webapps are working as expected so it’s hard to say. It’s possible others have been finnicky with these things, just that having the address bar there now is emphasising those issues, in which case it’s something for the respective web developers to fix.

I’d still log it as a bug with Apple, it’s what the betas are for. Bug with safari or not, it’s a usability problem that someone somewhere needs to address. Google, and other developers won’t care yet, and will use the it’s a beta cop out.

1 Like

Whilst they cant rely on developers to cater for it, they do make it incredibly easy for developers to cater for it. In theory it’s as simple as adding env(safe-area-inset-bottom) into their css where they anchor the element to the bottom, so for example if they have it as ‘bottom: 0’, all they need to do is make it bottom: calc(0 + env(safe-area-inset-bottom)).

I haven’t tested this in theory with gmail as I don’t use it but given how many people do I’d fully expect Google to resolve it soon, i’d say the same for any website or web app ran by a decent size company.

People forget that their was a similar issue with the notch when it was first released and the solution for developers is basically the same.

Given the steps they’ve taken to inform developers on how to resolve issues, it’s definitely not a bug

Edit, heres a quick example, if you open it in safari, you’ll see the left button hides behind the bar whereas the right moves above it. Literally all I did for the second button was change
bottom: 0px to bottom: calc(0px + env(safe-area-inset-bottom))

This is interesting, there’s a number of factors that I’d have thought would make this pretty impossible to get right, you may make it perfect for you or your testers but not the greater audience. If I just look between me and my fiancee, our reachable zones are quite different, and we’re both right handed, if you look at catering to left handed people as well then it would be different again. I’d be interested to know how you thought to sole those sorts of issues

1 Like

I wasn’t sure how i’d feel about the safari changes, I haven’t used safari in a long time but have now moved back to it after trialing it and am really liking it so far.

I think the issue for most os just the fact it’s different, but once you get past the muscle memory issues and get use to it, the reachability aspects of it are really great. I really like swiping left and right on the bar to go between tabs quickly too

1 Like

For iOS 14 we obviously tested this on every device that could run it, and it works. The same will be true for iOS 15 once it launches. We do user testing on a range of thumbs too, and whilst it’s impossible to make it perfect for very one, there is a small Goldilocks zone where it’s the most comfortable to interact with for most people.

Something we accounted for, and tested, as part of our accessibility guidelines. Whilst there is a small overlapping area that would be comfortable for both thumbs, we didn’t do that. By default it’s optimised for the right hand, but we have both a toggle and a gesture to toggle it for left handed users. A lot of thought and effort went into getting it right. Took us about three years before we shipped an app that used it since the inception of an idea.

Interesting. I’ve not seen those steps myself, but this adds weight to the assumption that it’s related to how the websites have been coded. If that’s the case, these bug bears will have always existed, probably since iOS 7, and it’s just being made more obvious now the address bar is at the bottom.

2 Likes

I’ve given up on Safari. The tabs on iPad and the bottom bar covering up content in iPhone just kill it for me.

Fingers crossed they see sense but I get the feeling they’re going to stick with it. Feels very Apple to me to expect every website to adapt to them rather than the other way around.

1 Like

Just joined the iOS 15 public beta and I’m really struggling to enjoy it. I feel like Apple has gone in the opposite direction. My main issues are:

Safari: Looks horrible. Simple as

Notifications: I hate the new notifications. With a passion. They are all different sizes which annoys me and the text seems smaller

Time Sensitive: this is just silly. Just display the reminder or calendar notification as normal

Focus:
Personal focus is the wrong way round. Instead of choosing what you want to hear from you should be able to block out work apps.

Work focus:
Very silly again. Over complicating the operating system. Takes to long to choose all the people you want contact from during work time

Spotlight on Lock Screen is very frustrating when scrolling through notifications before unlocking the device

I can’t continue.
Does anyone else feel the same way as me?

1 Like

Definitely agree with this, doesn’t make any sense.

1 Like