Although it's not that bad, there are parts of the new Apple TV interface that seem like a step backwards now.. especially the "rainbow brite" home screen. I really couldn't put my finger on it at first, it just felt more cluttered and a bit "off". Which is odd for me to say, since I typically enjoy all of Apple's GUI's.

So I thought I'd play around a bit with Photoshop today and share a slight re-design. I kept the rectangle icons, but removed the glaring color - then made the icons appear more like the text bars deeper in. I also eliminated the partially visible icons that were below the first row. Personally, I like the overall result - it feels cleaner.

There's little chance Apple would change it to look like this of course... but I can dream. I guess I'm just hoping Apple is using their new design only as a stop-gap until they release a really cool version with the television set.

http://i44.tinypic.com/358xlzd.jpg

I love your solution, a better Apple interface.

Would I have to jailbreak to change my atv2 icons too?

I will find the link, but read that this new design was rejected by SJ 5 years ago....

Former Apple TV Engineer: New Apple TV UI is actually one Steve Jobs threw away five years ago | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence (http://9to5mac.com/2012/03/24/former-apple-tv-engineer-new-apple-tv-design-is-actually-one-steve-jobs-threw-away-five-years-ago/?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+9To5Mac-MacAllDay+%289+to+5+Mac+-+Apple+Intelligence%29)

No, the photo you see is just my "idea" using Photoshop (I revised my original post to reflect this). Would be great to jailbreak it to get this look if I could - but have no idea how to do that - if it's even possible.

I've read that article you posted, but I tend to agree with some of the commenters. In that, back in 2007, the IOS icon-look was barely even out yet. So to say that SJ hated a similar looking Apple TV version, seems like a fabrication.

Not a fan of the new interface either. Everything is just so in-your-face that it's harder to actually pull back and find what you want.

I think the point of the color icons is that your brain just recognizes the shapes and positions after a whole without actually needing to read the words. That being said, it struck me as very un-Apple the first time I saw it, especially compared to the previous setup. But as long as it works, I'll go with it.

[deleted]

No, the photo you see is just my "idea" using Photoshop (I revised my original post to reflect this). Would be great to jailbreak it to get this look if I could - but have no idea how to do that - if it's even possible.


:-(

I've read that article you posted, but I tend to agree with some of the commenters. In that, back in 2007, the IOS icon-look was barely even out yet. So to say that SJ hated a similar looking Apple TV version, seems like a fabrication.
It's also worth noting that the original tv was much more limited in scope than what it has evolved into.

A button-like interface makes sense with the huge collection of features and services that are available now. Five years ago, you would have had little more than the top row of icons. Today, the older UI was getting very cluttered with the addition of the myriad third-party service -- the old "Internet" menu was becoming difficult to navigate.

As for the design itself, my two-year-old actually loves it compared to the old one, as she can now point at all of the colours and read them off :) Seriously, though, I think the real issue is not the colour itself, but the icon design. Apple clearly has a "B team" when it comes to graphic design -- the sixth-generation iPod nano shows a similar bright "cartoony" style for its icons in contrast the more polished look of those used by iOS.

It would be eminently cleaner if all the services I don't use are not displayed on the top screen. Alas, Apple probably makes a little bit of advertising revenue by putting them there.

i am not a fan of the new gui.
i would prefer having the ability to hide or remove the applications that I do not use.. even the ability to move the ones i use to the top.. I also agree that the bright colours are distracting at best and the icons are about 4x too big.

Found this EXTREMELY interesting:

As pointed out by Macgasm (http://www.macgasm.net/2012/03/23/former-apple-tv-engineer-those-new-apple-tv-designs-were-tossed-out-5-years-ago/), there was a Twitter exchange by some ex Apple engineers:

http://site-macgasm.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screenshot-2012-03-24-at-00.01.24.png

This has me thinking again about something big I've been thinking about:

Life at Apple without Steve.

Don't want to be negative, but I think Apple only has a little bit left of products "touched by Steve", but that as evidenced, already products are going to start coming out that simply don't have that Apple polish and perfection.

We may start to see it more and more.

Found this EXTREMELY interesting:

As pointed out by Macgasm (http://www.macgasm.net/2012/03/23/former-apple-tv-engineer-those-new-apple-tv-designs-were-tossed-out-5-years-ago/), there was a Twitter exchange by some ex Apple engineers:

http://site-macgasm.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screenshot-2012-03-24-at-00.01.24.png

This has me thinking again about something big I've been thinking about:

Life at Apple without Steve.

Don't want to be negative, but I think Apple only has a little bit left of products "touched by Steve", but that as evidenced, already products are going to start coming out that simply don't have that Apple polish and perfection.

We may start to see it more and more.

Former Apple TV Engineer Claims New Apple TV Interface Discarded 5 Years Ago [Updatedx2] - Mac Rumors (http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/24/former-apple-tv-engineer-apple-tv-interface-5-years-ago/).

Update: Margolis clarifies what he meant to TheNextWeb:
The new UI shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. There is a clear effort at Apple to make everything match the look and feel of their popular iOS products – starting with Lion and increasing momentum with Mountain Lion.

To be clear – he didn’t like the original grid. This was before the iPhone was popular and before the iPad even existed.

Given that the iPad is far more successful than the AppleTV, migrating the AppleTV to look more like the iPad was probably a very smart move – even if some of the users of the old UI don’t prefer the new one.

Update 2: TechCrunch posts a longer response from Margolis who seems to be downplaying his previous tweet:
Steve rejecting a design five years ago isn’t a huge deal. Steve was well known for rejecting ideas, tweaking them, and turning them into something even better. And that’s a very good thing. One of my favorite parts of working at Apple was knowing that SJ said “no” to most everything initially, even if he later came to like it, advocate for it, and eventually proudly present it on stage. This helped the company stay focused and drove people to constantly improve, iterate, and turn the proverbial knob to 11 on everything.

If you read the book of Steve Jobs, you can understand the logic of why the new UI which was rejected before makes sense now. It's the nature of an ongoing product cycle.