More and more features are getting added, so the UI has to get reorganized to accomodate for them. A lot of the changes for Android 16 are to accommodate wearables and folding phones and etc while keeping the controls more consistent between them.
Re:Android 16 Is Here
by FirmwareBurner on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @04:10PM
(#44240938)
Cars have also gained new features, but the steering wheel, shifter, pedals, mirrors are still in the same places since >50 years. You don't need to get a new license and re-learn how to drive every time a new model comes out because they moved the steering wheel on the ceiling to install a 32 inch LCD screen.
And my android phone still has "back", "home", and "recents" buttons in the exact same place they've been since they were literal hardware buttons. Core navigation (aka, "steering") is unchanged, no new drivers license required
Originally there was a 4th button, "menu". Android had a standard grid-shaped menu that apps could implement, that would pop up from the bottom of the screen.
Also "recents" wasn't its own button, it was reached by long-pressing "home". The other button was "search".
This hasn't been the case for literally decade though.
Last I checked you had to flip a switch in settings to have all those buttons back like that; it hasn't been a default in stock Android for some time now.
Re:Android 16 Is Here
by throw10920 on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @11:53PM
(#44244048)
> Bad faith argument.
Citation needed, and you're violating the HN guidelines besides.
> Assume good faith.
Re:Android 16 Is Here
by FirmwareBurner on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @01:54AM
(#44244578)
>Citation needed, and you're violating the HN guidelines besides.
You want a citation for my own opinion? Are you OK?
I explained my reasoning for the bad faith argument in the comment. Did you read it? Because there's no violation of HN guidelines to provide an argumented option.
> Assume good faith.
I assumed good faith, but then I used critical thinking and decided it's in bad faith then explained why. You don't need to agree with me on this.
Similar to Windows 11. The opposite isn't going back all the way to Windows 3.1, but Windows 7 or so was kinda peak.
So please, justify me the progress, or more exactly, have UI designers justify it, because I'm not seeing it. I've mostly seen change for the sake of change, wrapped in fluffy artsy BS jargon, making it sound like each UI change is the second coming of Christ and fixes world hunger.
Because I can justify you how for example KDE 3 and similar apps of that era including on Windows XP-7, were visually easier and more intuitive to use, than those flat modern looks of KDE 5/Windows 11 today.