This is presented as a an objective take, yet it is entirely subjective subject matter. While I do take issue with the inconsistency of the new iOS icon design (gradients going each direction, residual depths and multi-generational design philosophies mixed together), in this case the proposed "better" icons simply aren't better...in my opinion....because it's subjective.
And then there's this-
Just like you don’t want to use pure black, you also never want to use “straight from the tube” colors. They come off as tacky and cheap.
(followed by some thing about bros and neon)
All colors are "straight from the tube" in this medium. There is no additional complexity or uniqueness with any variation of reds, greens and blues. Applying what can only be considered colour hipsterism diminishes the message enormously.
Maybe the colors simply aren't right among their peers, or for the purpose, but the notion that they're simply too easy or "bro-ish" is silly.
I think you're misunderstanding the part about pure colors. I am not a designer, but I think it's that you won't really find pure colors around in the real world. Greys will always have some tint, blueish or yellowish perhaps. People will consider one colder and the other warm. If you use pure grey, the design will look dull, the same is true with other colours. The same thing in music, if you only use simple non-embelished chords, your music will sound amateurish, dull and un-inspired.
Their example replaced gray with pure white, and I'd guess that the former is far more prevalent in the world than the latter. They also complain about colors being too saturated (even though the colors they talk about range from 60 - 80% saturated, and are in no way "pure", ignoring that such a notion is an artificial one to begin with).
But I'm not sure why prevalence in the real world is relevant at all. We're not talking about some Samsung claim of being inspired by nature, and skeudomorphs are not the goal. I don't think natural prevalence is relevant at all.
So white is "better" than gray. Less saturated is "better" than more saturated. At least in the author's opinion. Narrative beyond that (such as the notion that some colors are too easy) is just trying to build some structural justification for those notions.
Yes, replaced with white because it enhances contrast, to liven it up a bit (also the white portion is somewhat an inversion of the orange buttons). The overly saturated colors look too bright and intensive, they overpower everything else.
It's just not pleasant to the eye.
I think you're confused about what objective and subjective mean. It doesn't mean that you declare that doth now maketh an objective statement. Instead it's a manner of speaking where subjective evaluations are instead stated as if they are fact.
Hamburgers are better than hot dogs. Dogs are better than cats.
Okay, bad examples, because those are objective truths. How about-
Yellow is better than blue.
It was clear enough, after the whole hipster "not like bros" nonsense, with the "Actually if we’re being completely honest, its colors look like they were pulled straight out of Windows Metro. (And that’s not a good thing!)" bit.
Microsoft has a lot of designers. I'll bet a bunch of them will objectively make statements of claimed factual truth if given the chance. Metro has a lot of designer boosters (indeed, many in the iOS camp are boosters of the overall mix of design found in Metro). But instead of apparently realizing that they have a particular impression, the blog author is under the confused delusion that they have observations of fundamental truth. Maybe it's a narrative exercise to make an argument more convincing, but alas, such yields the sort of reply that I made.
And then there's this-
Just like you don’t want to use pure black, you also never want to use “straight from the tube” colors. They come off as tacky and cheap.
(followed by some thing about bros and neon)
All colors are "straight from the tube" in this medium. There is no additional complexity or uniqueness with any variation of reds, greens and blues. Applying what can only be considered colour hipsterism diminishes the message enormously.
Maybe the colors simply aren't right among their peers, or for the purpose, but the notion that they're simply too easy or "bro-ish" is silly.