72 MACWORLD SEPTEMBER 2020
FEATURE 5 THINGS WE LOVE & HATE ABOUT iOS 14- COMPACT UI
What’s good
The full-screen takeover for Siri and phone
calls is finally gone, and it’s a joy to
behold. When you summon Siri on either
the iPhone or iPad in iOS 14, you’ll get a
small icon at the bottom of the screen or a
banner that’s much more pleasant. And
phone calls no longer interrupt your focus
with a jarring full-screen pop-up. You’ll see
a small banner at the top of the screen
that can be easily ignored. The Siri
interface is especially nice, but both are a
huge improvement on iOS 13.
What’s not so good
While the banner for phone calls lets
you keep working when an alert
comes in, summoning Siri still forces
you to stop what you’re doing, unlike
the Mac where you can keep working.
So you’re not really gaining anything
with the smaller UI other than nicer
visuals.
Plus, there’s a weird disconnect
between the Siri interface and the
response on the iPhone. The interface is
on the bottom of the screen but the
response appears at the top of the
screen, which takes a beat to find. I’m
sure I’ll get used to it, but right now I’m
actually spending more time away from
my work when I need to ask Siri a
question. ■5.