The menu icons in macOS 26 Tahoe were roundly criticized for being both ugly and making Macs harder to use. A software engineer pointed out that Apple warned against this very mistake in guidelines published way back in 1992, and the company is now reiterating that decades-old advice as developers get to try macOS 27 Golden Gate …
9to5Mac readers had mixed views on the app icons introduced as part of macOS 26 Tahoe, but there was a clear consensus that Apple’s introduction of icons for every menu option was a terrible idea.
Indeed, one software engineer pointed out that Apple’s Macintosh human interface guidelines advised against this very mistake way back in 1992. The company described the practice as ugly, unpleasant, distracting, illegible, messy, cluttered, confusing, and frustrating.
Apple has now corrected this mistake, and Nikita “Tonsky” Prokopov noted that the company’s very latest guidelines reiterate this advice.
Use menu item icons sparingly and with purpose. Icons allow people to find menu items more quickly, and help clarify what selecting an item does. Use an icon to highlight the most common actions and key features of your app, file system locations, connected devices, visual concepts like rotating or flipping an image, and user-generated content like folders and documents. Don’t display an icon if you can’t find one that clearly represents the menu item.
John Gruber sees it as a sign that today’s Apple UI designers are now on the right course.
It’s proof that the rot has been rooted out of Apple’s software design team. I don’t know if all the untalented hacks are gone, but the untalented magazine-designer hacks with clout and influence all left with Alan Dye. I’ve chatted with a few people from Apple’s design team this week and they’re all loving the work they’re doing and the direction they’re taking Apple’s platforms. Backtracking on these idiotic menu item icons was a necessary first step.
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Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!
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