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Comment by zeffr | Hacker News Reader

I have, and it certainly is an improvement in my eyes, however the biggest difficulty when doing UX is, to put it bluntly, getting yourself in the mindset of an absolutely clueless user.

My dad is over 60 and loves his nexus 7, but trying to explain to him how to clear an application's cache is about as effective as educating him on the underpinnings of posix threads.

Do I know a better way? Hell no. Were it up to me, everyone would be forced to learn a CLI before they even get to THINK about a file browser.

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> My dad is over 60 and loves his nexus 7, but trying to explain to him how to clear an application's cache is about as effective as educating him on the underpinnings of posix threads.

This is interesting, as it highlights one of the big differences between iOS and Android for me. With Android, a lot of appliance-like convenience was given up for more flexibility and control, which makes it more like a general computer. iOS, on the other hand, takes a more curated approach to UI (not to mention hardware options) and is easier to use since it is a more appliance-like experience. The ability to even clear app cache for an Android app shows that you are using a computer, and with that comes the complexity of operating one (granted Google is making attempts to make things easier in default cases).

There is a way to clear the app cache in the same manner as iOS. Simply uninstall the app and re-install it.

Except I think this is a terrible thing to highlight the differences. The user should never have to think about clearing the application cache, or what that even means, and in my experience on Android, you don't have to. I can't think of a single time I've had to outside of trying to reproduce a bug for my own app. The fact that his father had to think about it indicates that someone, somewhere along the line screwed up.

He shouldn't have to think about clearing an application's cache. Seriously, if that's something he's thinking about, someone, somewhere along the line, screwed up.

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