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Comment by michael_miller | Hacker News Reader

Superficial as it is, absolutely, this is something I love about iOS. It reinforces the "manipulating real objects with touch" metaphor. If I move my finger while pressing down on a piece of paper in real life, I expect the underlying paper to move as well. The highlight on Android just feels weird and clunky with no basis in real world interaction. That's not to say it isn't usable -- it just isn't as much fun without the momentum scrolling physics.

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I don't really think of my phone as obeying any sort of real life physics. There are way too many interactions that don't (on iOS as well) for me to be able to keep up that illusion.

I hate the bouncing scroll - yet another example of Apple's idiotic focus on skeuomorphism. I like to scroll up when I'm at the top of a list, or down when I'm at the bottom, while reading an article or whatever. If that bouncing scroll thing existed in Android, the page would move as a result. That's not a problem with the highlight.

We all know that Android would have this if it wasn't for patents.

You can't scroll without the page moving... so I don't understand your point.

Plus if you are scrolling slowly and reading as you go, having a litte bit of background show (part of the effect) is little difference from showing a flash of colour.

> We all know that Android would have this if it wasn't for patents.

No, we don't. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. Now that there is a viable alternative that people are used to, I don't think bouncing would be used if the patent were to be invalidated tomorrow.

The only reason to use the bounceback early on was because (a) no alternatives had been developed yet and bounceback was adequate, and (b) it appeased all the early adopter Apple fanbois.

> Plus if you are scrolling slowly and reading as you go, having a litte bit of background show (part of the effect) is little difference from showing a flash of colour.

You completely missed my point. It has nothing to do with scrolling while reading. It only has to do with when I'm at the top or bottom of a page/list.

> You completely missed my point. It has nothing to do with scrolling while reading. It only has to do with when I'm at the top or bottom of a page/list.

If that is the case, what is the diference between scrolling and nothing moves but you get a flash of color, vs some text moves and you see a bit of the background.

If the text is moving, it's harder to read stuff.

So you’re saying you scroll while you read, and it's a noticeable advantage than when you hit the bottom your reading is slightly easier because the page didn't move a fraction.

I would have thought if you are already scrolling and reading, the slight decrease in distance when you hit the bottom would be less distracting than a total change in behavior.

No. Not at all, the Android mechanism for end-of-list is literally much less jarring. It's a subtle fade up of color that clearly indicates that you're at the bottom without having the damn thing jump around the screen.

> Apple's idiotic focus on skeuomorphism

I fail to see how it has anything at all to do with skeuomorphism. What object exists in real life that is comparable to a bounce back scrolling list ?

There are plenty of objects that will bounce back in real life if you throw them at a wall or floor.

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