Apple's indecision on "Share" and "Export"

There are always little things that bother you when changes are made in your favorite operating system.  It's not a surprise that what bothers me most are the changes in the applications that I use all the time.

The differences that irritate me the most are the ones where I learned how to do something one way and now there is an extra step or the step is different.  What I'm doing is very little different than it was a year ago.  It just takes a little less familiar path to accomplish it.

My little issues might have zero impact on most users because we all use our computers differently.  I've heard the stories about how the deep down changes in Tiger are the most important ones so for now I will accept that on faith as I wait for some of those knock-me-over applications that those features will enable.

However, please in the next incarnation of OS X, figure out "Export" and "Share."  Are they commands, menus, or part of "save as?"

In the iPhoto that I use in OS X 10.3.9  there is an "export" under the file menu.  In the iPhoto that I use in OS X 10.4.3 "export" resides under a new "Share" menu.  In Preview in my 10.3.9 system, "export" is under the file menu.  In Preview in my 10.4.3 system, there is no longer an "export" command.  You get the same functionality by using "save as" just like in TexEdit.

In 10.3.9 iMovie has "export" under the file menu.  In 10.4.3, iMovie HD has a "share" command under the file menu. iDVD has at least improved in that there is no "Buy DVD Media" under the file menu.

To make it seem almost certain that different teams at Apple are operating under different guidelines, iCal still has both "import" and "export" under the file menu.

Of course that begs the question of what is the different between "publish" and "share."  "Publish" is the terminology used in iCal while "Share" is the terminology used in iPhoto.

The address book application shows up with "Export vCard" under the file menu in both versions of the OS.

Sometimes I wonder if the "Share Menu" under iPhoto isn't a trial balloon.  After all you can now find the "print" command  there as well as under the file menu.

Both "Pages" and "Keynote" have "export" located under the file menu.  All of this may be hair splitting, but the reality is either the applications have gotten too complex to have consistent commands or Apple itself doesn't really care anymore.

The interesting thing is that the less Apple enforces some consistency, the harder it is to use user interface consistency as a Mac argument.  Maybe it's no longer needed given the Windows competition.

However, in checking the world of Windows XP Pro,  "Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition" 3.0, I found that it too has a "Share" menu like iPhoto.  However, "Picasa2" has "Export Picture to Folder" as a command under the file menu. In the Linux world, I checked "F-Spot," a photo archiving application, that is on my SUSE Linux systems.  It has "export" under the file menu.  "Open Office Writer" also has "export" under the file menu.  Then of course I went to "Kino Video Editor" only to find "export" under a "View" menu.  I don't pretend to be able to provide the same depth of history in the changes in these applications.  They may be far worse than what Apple has done, I just don't know.  Also I have no illusions about MS applications, I don't want to even try to look at the problem.

I guess the point is that user interface consistency is something we hoped for in OS X based on some of our experiences with OS 9.  Maybe the world has moved on, and we don't need it, but I sure miss it,  and it was something to be expected of Apple.

Perhaps Apple has just been lost in iPod-lalaland and will really get focused on OS X with the next release. Otherwise, I guess I'll just get used to living in applications that always feel like something of a puzzle.

Comments

[Roger]

Share and export are just what they say; Export has been part of many applications for many years, while share is a newer feature.

To export is to save in a different file format than what is native. Sharing is sharing with another computer or a network.

roger

[Roger]

I didn't get the nature of your question at first reading.

Save as, and Export should be different things but I don't use iPhoto and am not subected to Apples whims with it. Apple seems to have thrown out any attempt to consistancy in the interface.

[ocracokewaves]

I'm glad you finally saw the point of the article. Basic user interface consistency is what the article discusses. Some applications no longer have "export" and some do which is something of a problem. Preview is a good example. In order to export you now have to do a "save as."

Another favorite example of mine is the new "Print" command under the share menu. While "Print" is at the top of "Share" menu, it is at the bottom of the "File" menu. Also the other two commands in the first part of the "Share" menu, "Email" and "Desktop," only are executable if a particular picture is selected. "Print" does as it does under the "File" menu which is good in that it is the same, but bad in that it just prints the first picture in your library which is pretty useless. The other issue is since when is "Desktop" a command. It looks like someone just decided to dumb down the user interface.

I just don't think user interface consistency is a priority at Apple.

Now that doesn't mean that others are not having the same problem or aren't far worse at it than Apple.

We get advances in user interface by trying things, but sometimes they don't work as well. I like Apple's Keynote for its flexibility but I find it a very hard program to come back to after I haven't used it for a while. It is scary to me that I can usually come back to PowerPoint and have fewer problems finding things. I would like to see Keynote adopt PowerPoint's "slide sorter" since you are very limited in moving slides around in Keynote because you can only see ten or eleven at the time. You can see twenty at a time in Powerpoint.

If "Share" is such a good idea why is there not a "Share" menu in Keynote?

I'm not against user interface change, but ignoring consistency makes for less productive workers.

[Cameron]

The thing you need to pay attention to is the functionality of the application itself.

The iCal application import/export deals with filetypes (XML, etc) that are not related to the iCal application specifically. In addition, iCal does not take a 'document-centric' approach, thus the "open" and "save" functions don't fully relate.

With iPhoto ... you are not really "saving" the photo since that is done automatically, you are "sharing" the photos. This additional menu with now includes other "sharing" mechanisms ... email, homepage, etc. (I should note, this change is a result of iLife '05 ... not 10.4 specifically)

Preview in the end saw redundant functionality ... "save as" and "export" did the same thing ... and they decided to go with the more entry-level, user friendly name.

I imagine the import / export functionality in Pages and Keynote do the same thing as iCal ... work with files that are non-application specific, or files that cannot be worked with again (pdf, html, etc) - in the end, they may end up going the "Preview" route and bring all this under the "save as" ... that will come with application maturity.

In the end ... the menu options/labels need to be based on the application functionality ... naming consistency only makes sense when the functionality consistency exists ... otherwise it just leads to restricted interfaces and/or poor usability for the system.

[ocracokewaves]

Well I disagree and if we're eliminating "redundant functionality" why have "Print" in the "Share" and "File" menu in iPhoto, and if we're going to have it there could we at least decide if it should be first or last in the menu?

[cre8ive]

As a Mac user for over 15years, it’s been both disappointing and a concern that lately Apple have been falling short with consistency in the UI department for the end user. Share and Export are two ‘little’ things, but two good examples.

I understand Apple are probably trying to give each app it’s own ‘personality’, but there’s no reason why some of the most basic functions shouldn’t be consistent across the board, especially for new users. Judging from the lack of refinement between OSX itself and Apples home grown apps, I’d agree this type of UI design isn’t as important to Apple any more. It just has to look cool.

I’d like to call on Apple to once again raise the benchmark for UI design. Or at least appoint someone (not Jobs) to manage the design, planning and integration of all applications and OS features to ensure some consistency with the HIG. I look forward to the day Apple spend as much time on the attention to detail with their software, as they do on their hardware. The little things do add up.

[ian]

I too find it disconcerting to see that OS X STILL has inconsistencies in the things that I find important. i.e. The GUI. Forget about it being a 'robust, secure' system, (I had that with OS 9) I just want to be able to go from work (x.3.9) to home (X.4.3) and not be spending valuable seconds LOOKING for the 'Export' command or the 'Share' menu item in my Apps, especially in the ones that Apple produces. Can someone PLEASE tell me why we still have a 'Services' menu item that does ABSOUTELY NOTHING in most of my Apps?