Android applications mobile user interface (UI) design emphasizes three goals; enchant, simplify, and amaze.
While beauty is considered a subjective quality interpreted individually, in Android it has a deeper meaning. An application’s UI is expected to be fast and beautiful, with a crisp layout and meaningful typography, with icons as works of art in their own right. Deep within the system, however, transitions should be fast and clear, combining beauty, simplicity, and purpose to create a magical experience that’s enchanting, effortless, and powerful.
For a user, the whole purpose of engaging an application is to simplify his or her life, beginning with an easy to understand interface. When people use any of the applications below for the first time they intuitively grasp the most important features, while back-end web hosting system tasks such as file management and syncing occur automatically without user intervention. A simple task should never require complex procedures, and when designing a complex task human factors such as hand movements and mind must be a priority. An effective UI makes the user feel in control, regardless of age or culture, and never overwhelmed by too many choices or unnecessary flash.
Following are 10 examples of mobile applications with some sophisticated user interfaces. Note that while most of these are Android-based apps, some of them are specific to iOS, too. Why? Because they have a UI worth showcasing.
You may love it or you may hate it, but Reddit is big and getting bigger. As a social news service, it has major reputation issues. Its native mobile application UI design is a much better version from what browser users are used to seeing, with simpler navigation, aesthetically pleasing, and well-spaced content.
Colony
Colony offers an audio experience, while the UI design presents textual content in a very readable and pleasing way. The Colony FM application can narrate articles and stories found on web hosting systems, using clear, crisp voices that are easy to understand, turning the written web into your curated audio library.
Eat This Much
To really follow a diet effectively, a good plan is crucial, supported by self-discipline and sheer will. It’s not just calorie counting, that alone won’t do; it has to become a part of your lifestyle. Researching new foods and recipes that make sense for your particular situation is a time-consuming task. Eat This Much is an application that follows the “simplify” principle putting your diet planning on autopilot. You can create meal plans based on your dietary goals, budget, and preferences. Fully packed with features, the UI design of Eat This Much simplifies the whole diet process for you.
Remente
We are still early in the year and if you have not done so already there’s still time for a few self-development resolutions. Life is not just labor, and there are many other sources to derive personal satisfaction. Remente works as a portable psychiatrist constantly concerned with your mental health, offering articles and courses for mental training and self-improvement. Its UI makes good use of white space and bright colors and is a good example of effective two-dimensional design.
Dials Calendar
This is not just another calendar application. Dials Calendar unique UI design is above many other similar applications. Your daily agenda is shown as a beautiful clock with appointments and to-dos marked as icons. A countdown timer, right in the middle, displays your next agenda item. Dials Calendar is useful, cool, and its dark background and playful colors are fun to watch.
MailTime
When you feel like talking to an intelligent non-human being, and Alexa and Google Home are not enough, or portable enough, MailTime comes to the rescue as an intelligent email-as-a-conversation application. The UI design resembles an IM application, but instead of you spending time classifying emails, MailTime’s smart inbox will filter out the real conversations from your never ending stream of newsletters and ads.
What else?
The following apps might be strictly offered on iOS right now, but they definitely have a UI worth noting. Besides, we know at least some of these are coming to Android before long.
Plane
Do you like meeting new people but find it hard to do? Are you new in town and don’t know where to start? Common interests bring people together and the Internet is the premier tool to find like-minded people. Plane works as a social icebreaker offering an alternative to meet new people in new places. Forget Tinder with bots and sleazy folks, Plane instead sends out a “signal” to your location of choice for people to respond with social meeting ideas. What’s to love about Plane’s UI is its beautiful gradients and unique typography with an edgy, futuristic look that sets it apart from other social networking applications.
Letterboxd
Movie lovers, rejoice, this one’s for you. In between good movies, you probably spend a lot of time researching the next one to see, but find the process tedious and boring. The Letterboxd mobile application works as a social network letting you know what your friends and others have enjoyed watching. The UI design of Letterboxd is simple and good-looking, offering you all the information that you might want to know about a film in diaries and lists that you can create and share.
Great Italian Chefs
If cooking is your thing and you love Italian food, this is the application you have been looking for. Great Italian Chefs gives you access to recipes from 26 well-known chefs representing all the diversity of Italian cuisine. Its UI is gorgeous, with an elegant typeface, a visually balanced layout, and stunning food photography that will make your mouth water.
Today
This is one application that asks to be seen daily if you want to be happier, healthier, and more productive. A tall order for just an application, Today will help you pick a few good habits while you put in the willpower to stick to them. A stunning UI design is its hallmark, along with great features that enchant, inspire, and motivate you to achieve your goals. Your health data, or anything else you want to track, can be displayed as pretty charts and counters, collected from more than 30 different applications on your mobile device. Combine those charts in stunning cards and create your own dashboard. Beautiful cover images from stock or from your own photo gallery enhance an UI designed to motivate with visual reminders.
Conclusion
These are a few examples of well-designed UI’s that strive to be called “amazing”, a highly-sought quality that is not achieved by ease-of-use only. In their own way, they feel personal, providing access to web hosting technology with clarity and grace, and therefore empowering people to try new things and to use them in creative ways.
