Reactions range from ‘hella ugly’ to ‘obsessed’ on Apple’s new iOS 9 font

As if figuring out how to operating a new operating system wasn’t jarring enough, Apple apparently sent newly christened iOS 9 users into shock by introducing a new font.

The Internet, which is never one to take change well as evidenced when Spotify slightly tweaked its signature green color, convulsed yesterday when Apple suddenly changed the typefaces from Neue Helvetica to a new custom font called San Francisco.

It’s the same font used on the Apple Watch, but for people who don’t have the $550 souped-up timer it was an unexpected change that led to varied reaction on Twitter. For example, some people hated it:

While others quickly came to grips with the new normal and voiced their support:

The reaction to the new font is split according to data from Brandwatch. The social measuring firm tracked 3,000 negative comments and 3,300 positive mentions, while the overall sentiment to iOS 9 was 59 percent positive.

Apple announced the shift to San Francisco font in June as part of its project to a use “consistent typographic voice” across all of it websites and devices.

Doing this creates an “ownable brand experience,” Stewart Devlin, CCO of Red Peak Branding, told Digiday.  “Apple is not the first to do this but certainly because it is so dominant a provider of consumer technology it is a move that will be noticed and recognized.”

The new font also follows in the larger trend within the industry to use typography that looks better and loads faster on mobile, as exhibited by the recent redesigned Google and Facebook logos.

 

https://digiday.com/?p=136233

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