Safari for Windows did as well, complete with confirmation dialogs that came out of the top toolbar like a receipt from an ATM and bubbly blue Ok buttons like OS X of its day.

As a PC user who aspired to buy a Mac at the time, I happened to like it. But I'd also wager it was one of the many reasons Safari for Windows didn't really take off.

But man was it fun to feel like you had some of the Mac's lickable UI on a PC.

> But man was it fun to feel like you had some of the Mac's lickable UI on a PC.

Well played sir, now nobody who knows you from HN will ever touch your Macbook

The author addresses this in the article: “Good Mac apps should feel like Mac apps, and good Windows apps should do likewise. If iTunes for Windows feels like a Mac app, Apple’s doing it wrong. (One could argue Apple’s doing it wrong with iTunes everywhere, of course…)”

That's not addressing it. That's making a hollow, unqualified claim, using authoritative tone to make it sound like a proper, true absolute.

iTunes on Windows is mentioned in the article. Does it help that Steve Jobs hated the whole idea?

Personally I'd say it was mild in comparison to the usability hell that Microsoft inflicted on Mac OS and later OS X users with its office programs.

An Steve Jobs was an idiot in this regard. iPod sales went no where until iTunes as released on Windows.

To be fair, iTunes on Mac is also a buggy, confusing, slow and generally terrible application.

I actually think it's a pretty okay marketing strategy. If you truly believe your own interface is a selling point,then you need to show it off to people who aren't familiar with it.

If iTunes truly has a superior user experience (ha!) people will think, hey wouldn't it be nice if all my apps were like that.

But superior user experience comes in no small part from familiarity within the ecosystem. Material design on iOS is alien mainly because most iOS application behave in the same way.

This is the same for Office on OSX. Since most of the OSX apps have the same look & feel, having an application that is even slightly different is jarring.

On Windows though, it seems to me that most of the applications have gone the way of re-implementing their UI. This does not make iTunes on Windows any less horrible though, but it seems like a case of broken windows theory.

"If iTunes truly has a superior user experience "

It has not

I thought the parenthesis made that quite clear.

Anyway, in the early days of iTunes on Windows, the design and looks was a big selling point.

They do and the authors point stands regardless.

Apple generally doesn't try porting their software, iTunes being a notable exception. Google Maps however is rage inducing on iOS.

Well, Apple Music for Android is also a good example of what the author criticizes from Google. It doesn't follow material design and the position of the menus is the iOS one, not the Android one.

So, if all the apps they port doesn't follow the guidelines, can we conclude that Apple is also the Microsoft of the 2010s?

>Google Maps however is rage inducing on iOS.

Can you clarify how it bothers you? I've found it to be not much different with my new 6S vs. my previous Sony Z3C. I feel like it has become less user-friendly on both platforms, but I don't recall significant differences between them.

Apple Maps, however, I cannot put up with.

Apple Maps wouldn't be able to find itself on the homescreen of your phone. Google maps on iOS any day!

I noticed that when I was visiting NYC, there was so much more available on Apple Maps. Returning home to the Netherlands showed me again how much it sucks and is devoid of information, especially with the lack of biking directions!

Opposite!

It's behavior is unpredictable and entirely different from all other apps on iOS. Especially hidden functions are aggravating.

Google's data is superior for points of interest but the app is less integrated with the platform (e.g. lock screen, watchOS)

Ah, OK. I don't have an apple watch and I don't use it from the lock screen. I agree that finding some features can be a pain but I definitely also noticed that on the Android version. For a while there they hid (eliminated?) local map storage and the "reverse route" option seems to only recently have reappeared.

Major gripes I still have is the inability to create a multi-destination route or to modify the plotted route. As far as I can tell it's only possible from the desktop site.

You should read the article, he did call out Apple for pushing the Mac look to Windows with iTunes.

> Large companies have large egos.

So true:) Apart from what's best for user experience,they tend to enforce their tech and design everywhere. But in this case, i feel material design shouldn't be an issues since it's now increasingly used on the web.