Users are complaining of nausea caused by parallax effects and zooming animations in iOS7.
It turns out that not everyone is a fan of the first Jony Ive-designed iPhone and iPad operating system. Despite widespread praise from the tech and user interface design community, a number of iPhone owners have been taking to Apple’s Support Communities notice board to complain that the new system — which includes brightly colored ‘flat’ icons, overlaying 3D effects and prodigious use of fast zooms in and out when opening and closing folders or apps — is making people feel sick.
The thread on the community board, started with a posting from Ensorceled on Sept. 18, the day the new software became available for download, which read: “The zoom animations everywhere on the new iOS 7 are literally making me nauseous and giving me a headache. It’s exactly how I used to get car sick if I tried to read in the car. How do I turn them off? Do I have to revert to [iOS] 6?” now runs to over 12 pages of similar complaints plus other users’ helps and hints for minimizing the effects the software is having.
In newer iPhones – the 4S onwards, there is a ‘reduce motion’ option in the control settings but the feature is missing from iPhone 4 handsets. However, the animated wallpaper and lock screen can be replaced by static images on all compatible devices.
Users on the thread that have talked to Apple said that there was no way of disabling the functions completely and worse still is the fact that anyone who has upgraded to iOS7 is now locked in. Apple has removed the ability to downgrade back to iOS6.
For now, the only solution for those that are feeling dizzy with the side effects of the upgrade is to email Apple’s developers and request that they build in a ‘turn animation off’ option into a future iOS7 update.
