What should be the iPhone lock screen?

Apple has a serious problem: in the era of ubiquitous integration of social and other Web services of their products simply do not implement such integration. Something like Marco Arment spoke about the current situation with the availability of some of iOS features to developers. And although many see Jony Ive as the savior of the apple mobile OSes, some things could be further developed now.

There are many ways in which Apple could reveal the hidden potential of your mobile system to thousands and tens of thousands of applications that currently are working on it. This includes the inability to Sitri work inside third-party applications, and the lack of third-party applications, widgets in the notification area. Even if we take a simple calendar, it becomes clear that in addition to the native application to display the icon the current day is not nobody else.

Lockscreen

About undiscovered opportunities in various elements of iOS, you can talk for hours. Let us dwell on the lock screen. Now it looks like this:

When an incoming call, listen to music and other "native" action elements lokskrina appropriately changing the contents and functions. In case this does not occur with third-party applications.

Some developers have gone to desperate measures to solve the problem. For example, an application for jogging by Nike even offers its own lock screen within the application. Of course, this approach is not output from the situation, but this example clearly demonstrates how much needed access to lokskrinu developers to implement their applications to the full least.

What can you do now? Here are some suggestions:

Lokskrin widgets

Why not add to lokskrin widgets (you can call them in another way, the main thing that was clear to the point: the selected area with the information and optional access to some action by the user, not to find fault with the title), which would display some information from applications. We already have the date and time. Imagine that with a simple swipe left or right to switch between the widget and, for example, the weather (same as we switch between home screens).

It is possible to implement additional (advanced) functions for each widget. For example, if the user needs more detailed weather forecast, he presses the button twice Home for the selected weather widget, the widget then "expanded" by providing additional information.

A very large percentage of people are using iPhone as a player. Why not add playback controls with enhanced widget date and time?

It is obvious that access to time and music - most requested feature, so when the screen is turned off, regardless of the selected widget in the next the screen is turned on again before the user is the widget date and time in a compressed (standard) form, that is, lock screen widgets, and rolled back to the original mind.

Users will want to establish their order of widgets for each other. This can be realized by holding a finger on the widget, then the list of widgets appears entire movable relative to each other. Once the order of widgets installed, saving Home fixed by pressing a button. Pressing Home can also be used for a single return to the credit default (date and time) to the widget.

It is clear that when displaying any of the widgets, the user will still need access to information about the date and time. This problem is solved by moving the time information in the choice of the status bar of any widget in addition to the default.

camera button

Quick access to the camera - a perfect solution, which appeared in iOS in mid-2011. This idea is quite possible to develop. Why not make the button assigned to users? In other words, this button should allow not only to pull the camera, but also any other application. Also, do not need to be limited to a simple run the application because we use only a few basic functions (send messages to the Facebook, location elevation in Foursquare, Instagram photos in and etc.).

How lokskrin should exhibit the desired user button?

One of the options - those widgets. Depending on the active widget button takes on one of the most relevant actions for this application. Imagine that when you receive a call Skype-slider allows you to take a call in the normal mode, and the button opens the advanced settings (activation of video chat, etc.).

Total

All types of information available on lokskrin can be divided into 3 categories:

• important notifications (calls, etc.)
• secondary notification (someone there layknul your status VKontakte)
• time notification (reminder, geoservices)

It is obvious that applications like Skype and Google+ needs access to the same functions lokskrina as the native dialer iPhone. It is unlikely that such a move would lead to confusion for the user. On the contrary, it is an explicit representation of the incoming information at the moment will lead to an easier perception of it.

Of course, any proposal for modification of the existing iOS interface - a very subjective thing, and everyone can offer something closest to his own conception of the user-friendly system. Perhaps you also have sound ideas for improving the system of mobile elements from Apple? Feel free to share them in the comments.

[via brent Caswell]