Secure your place at the Digiday Media Buying Summit in Nashville, March 2-4
It’s barely been a couple of hours since Apple’s iOS 10 update came out, but the internet is already having a collective meltdown over a few font changes.
With a slew of new features and software updates to messages, emojis, fonts and the lock screen, Apple is calling the update the biggest overhaul of its mobile operating system to date. And it’s proving be a little too much for some people to stomach.
For one, people don’t seem to be fans of the iOS 10 font, which is a lot bigger and bolder.
why is the new lockscreen ugly why did apple make the font 40x bigger it’s not like i’m squinting to read the screen pic.twitter.com/qrK6nBQtNp
— alex (@sunsetsebs) September 13, 2016
Really hate this new bold font in #ios10. pic.twitter.com/pKL7XevjOq
— Kurt Sevits (@kurtsevits) September 13, 2016
They are also not wild about the new emojis either. Some have pointed out that the new characters are strikingly similar to Android’s emojis. Drawing fire in particular are the updated sassy “Information Desk Girl” emoji and the updated gun emoji, which looks like a toy.
#iOS10 THE EMOJIS ARE SO UGLY THEY LOOK LIKE ANDROID EMOJIS AND I HATE THE BOLDED FONT I’m killing myself pic.twitter.com/wtfiAj4fU0
— jos (@knjongin) September 13, 2016
Dang #iOS10 gave this girl plastic surgery and contoured the hell out her face at least she bought a new shirt tho pic.twitter.com/J0wWk5E2nB
— Adoomys & Fahatis (@Adoomys_Fahatis) September 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/huntymoonariana/status/775768107021242368
To complicate matters, the update got off to a rough start. According to numerous complaints across social media, many users encountered installation problems. “We experienced a brief issue with the software update process, affecting a small number of users during the first hour of availability. The problem was quickly resolved and we apologize to those customers,” Apple said in a statement to the Verge.
The hashtag #ios10 was also trending on Twitter, having been used over 152,000 times as of 4 p.m. on Tuesday. According to data from Brandwatch, while the overall response to the update is more positive than negative with 59.8 percent of mentions being positive, within sentiment-categorized mentions of the font, 67 percent of the tweets are negative.
“Most people are focusing on the font’s size and how large it is compared to the previous iOS font,” said Brandwatch analyst Kellan Terry.
This is not the first time people have freaked out over an iOS font update. Last year when the iOS 9 update launched, the font switched from Neue Helvetica to a new custom font called San Francisco.
More in Marketing
Thrive Market’s Amina Pasha believes brands that focus on trust will win in an AI-first world
Amina Pasha, CMO at Thrive Market, believes building trust can help brands differentiate themselves.
Despite flight to fame, celeb talent isn’t as sure a bet as CMOs think
Brands are leaning more heavily on celebrity talent in advertising. Marketers see guaranteed wins in working with big names, but there are hidden risks.
With AI backlash building, marketers reconsider their approach
With AI hype giving way to skepticism, advertisers are reassessing how the technology fits into their workflows and brand positioning.