These are some interesting observations I made in the bottom bar of different iPhone apps and my personal interpretations of them. This is supposed to be a fun post so do not treat it too seriously!
For this post, I am assuming that the function displayed at the centre of the bar would be the most important. It may be totally opposite than that. As people find it easier to reach the edges of the screen, it is perfectly sensible for the more important functions to be concentrated near the sides of the screen. Still, it is interesting to analyse what goes into the centre of attention.
This is the clock app for iPhone. At the bottom is a display of its functions. Right at the centre of it is "Bedtime". Could it be that tracking your sleep is considered the most important feature of this app? Nevertheless, sleep is very important, so get lots of it!
This is the call app. "Contacts" are displayed right at the centre. It is interestingly ironic that this app was supposed to make calls but the keypad was not in the centre! Instead, the most important thing you would want for this app was to find someone from your contacts to call to.
For Safari, what is right at the centre is the "Share" icon. Though this is a browser, it seemed like it wanted us to do some social networking by emphasising that we share the sites we found interesting/useful to others!
I have removed the screenshot of my Instagram app because it contains some sensitive information.
Anyway, the "Add" icon (or whatever you call the icon with the addition sign and a box around it) is situated at the centre of the bar at the bottom of the screen. Instagram is a social platform known for being supported by its user-generated content. Could this placement of functions be a reiteration of its philosophy?
Hmm... WhatsApp's one is even more interesting. The Camera is situated right in the centre. So the focus might be on the content we generate! What does it want from us? o_O
Well, Instagram and WhatsApp had similar things in the centre, but these were all bought by Facebook. So, let us look at Facebook now. At the bottom, right in the centre, was an icon that leads us to our personal profiles. It could mean that Facebook was focusing on making everyone's user experience unique, personalised and identifiable. It was all about me, me and me. This could mean so many things that I might not be able to write them out here in simple words. But, I have read that some employers and schools search up one's Facebook profile before considering whether to take in the person. Looks like it is important for us to maintain our profiles so that we do not give a wrong or bad impression to others!
The above may look like simple observations and imaginative thought, but for us to understand more about how we interact with these devices, it is important for us to wrap our heads around how they are designed. In an age where everyone is competing for attention, many apps are designed with psychological tactics in mind to keep us hooked on them. Yuck! These sound like drugs now. All the more we should pay attention to these details and be careful online.
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