If there is one thing Android users and Apple users can agree, it is that Steve Jobs and the entire Apple team pays an exorbitant amount of attention to the details. From the material and size of the iPhone boxes, to the font and shades of the individual icons, the iPhone is one of the most well-designed smartphones on the market.
So, while most of us know this, there still are a few things that the designers put into iOS that may get overlooked by folks unfamiliar with the Apple pedigree. Check out some of those tiny details that you may not have noticed on your iPhone.
9 Tiny Details You May Not Have Noticed on Your iPhone
#1. World Clock Display
If you use the World you might notice that not all clock faces are the same. If you using the analog clock version, you may notice that some faces are white while others or black. This is a design cue to signify which location is currently daytime (white) or nighttime (black).
#2. Lock Screen
This little detail is one every iPhone owner should be aware of. Whenever you are on the lock screen you’ll see the text “slide to unlock”. There is a guiding light that flashes from left to right giving a nice visual hint at which way you should slide to unlock your phone. I know many of you think that obvious, but for folks new to iPhones or hard of sight, the visual cue is a nice addition.
#3. Apple Maps – World Times
Apple Maps may not be the most accurate mapping app you can find, but it does look good. There is a great visual tool that allows you to see when nighttime moves across the globe in real-time. It’s really cool. When you use the satellite view function, you can zoom out to the globe and see where it is nighttime and daytime. If you look closely, you can see it creep across the globe.
#4. Control Center Flashlight
This may be my favorite iOS detail to date. I have been using my iPhone for years and only noticed this detail after a friend pointed it out to me. When you pull up the control center and enable the flashlight, the tiny power switch on the icon will move up to the ON position. When you turn off the flashlight, the switch will move back down to the OFF position. A tiny, tiny be very smart detail.
#5. Animated Clock
It’s a clock that’s actually a clock. For years, iPhone owners begged Apple to make the clock on their home screen an actual, working clock. For years, Apple ignored the suggested until finally relenting. The stock clock app displays the current time and has a working seconds hand that moves on your home screen.
#6. Touch ID
Touch ID remembers which finger belongs to a particular assignment. Go to Settings –> Touch ID & passcode. Now, you will notice the list of fingerprints you have already created under Fingerprints. If you place an assigned finger on the Home Button the respective Fingerprint will turn gray. This makes it easy for you to see which finger is assigned to its particular name.
#7. Keyboard Caps Lock
As an avid iPhone text user, one of the first things I noticed in iOS 9 was that tapping the shift key placed all the letters on the keyboard in upper case. Before iOS 9, when you hit the shift key a capital letter, the letters on the keyboard did not become capitalized, making it confusing visually. iOS 9 makes it much easier to know when you are using upper case and when you are not.
#8. Apple Maps Icon
If you ever wondered why the Apple Maps icon has Interstate 280, you’ll be happy to know that the folks on the design team put it there to signify the nearest freeway. The current and future headquarters are next to the 280 so new releases of iOS should showcase the same icon.
#9. Phone Call
There are two different interfaces for when you need to pick up a phone call. These options appear on the lock screen and when your phone is unlocked. If you receive a call while on the lock screen, the “slide to unlock” option transforms into “slide to answer” which keeps with the visual setup of the lock screen. It also makes it so that you don’t accidentally decline a call while the phone is in your pocket. When you phone is already unlocked you’ll receive another screen that has two buttons, Decline and Accept.
It will be interesting if Apple engineers will add any more cool details like these in iOS 10.
Let us know which tiny detail you liked the best in the comments section.
Hat tip: TechInsider
