Battery Percentage Numbers look odd on iPhone 4 and 4S

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Level 1

9 points

Battery Percentage Numbers look odd on iPhone 4 and 4S

A while ago I noticed, that on iPhone 4 sometimes the battery percentage figures looked odd. They are unevenly spaced and seem to jump off the baseline of the font. I tried to narrow it down and found out that this only occurrs on the 4, not a 3GS running the same iOS. The main font-related difference between the two devices - as far as I know - is, that the 4 uses Helvetica Neue, rather than simple Helvetica. Other than that, the increased resolution of the 4 versus the 3GS could also make a difference.

As I got my 4S last week, I was curious to see whether this display issue would persist on iOS 5. It does. This is especially noticable when the percentage drops below 20% and the first figure is 1. It seems to jump one pixel (or 2-3 on retina) off the font baseline. As a second factor, the kerning looks off quite a lot of the time, too.

I will try to post a screenshot when it happens the next time.

Has anyone noticed this? And: should I file this as a bug/suggestion? It seems odd, that apple would miss a design issue like this.

Posted on Oct 17, 2011 6:00 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 19, 2011 11:44 AM in response to oelna

I have noticed the kerning quirk, though I can't confirm whether it was present in iOS 4, as all my devices are now running iOS 5, and I never noticed it before today.

Fortunately, a google search for battery percentage kerning iOS 5 led me straight to this thread, so hopefully other people will chime into the discussion if they notice it.

File a report—why not?

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Answer 2

oelna Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 20, 2011 3:49 AM in response to thezaxfactor

I would, but I don't have a Dev Account. Not sure, where I would send it except https://bugreport.apple.com/

Maybe if other people chime in on the subject, somebody can do it. Thanks for your reply though.

I have seen the bad kerning on an iPhone 4 as well, so I still think it's Helvetica Neue-related.

I also managed to collect a few examples of bad kerning pairs. Some just look a little odd, others are unbelievably bad.

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Answer 3

Feb 13, 2012 9:05 AM in response to oelna

i have noticed this as well, with an iphone 4. Very unlike Apple...

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Answer 4

Feb 13, 2012 9:12 AM in response to ChrisBulle

http://xkcd.com/1015/

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Answer 5

Feb 13, 2012 9:15 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

... nice one Lawrence ;-)

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Answer 6

JVegas99

Level 1

0 points

Mar 22, 2012 9:42 PM in response to oelna

My 3rd gen iPad just dropped below 20% battery life for the first time. I immediately noticed that the 1 (as in the tens place) seems too close to the ones place, and also slightly lower. It is also whiter and bolder than the 8 and 9 it is next too. I hope this gets fixed eventually! It is a blemish on an otherwise beautiful product!

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