Apple should consider magnifying the close / minimize / maximize buttons on app windows

May 25, 2014 21:13 GMT  ·  By
OS X uses "Traffic Lights" to symbolize the close / minimize / maximize commands
2 photos
   OS X uses "Traffic Lights" to symbolize the close / minimize / maximize commands

If there’s one aesthetic tweak I wouldn’t mind seeing implemented in OS X 10.10, it’s larger “traffic lights.” You know, the close / minimize / maximize buttons that sit at the top left side of every application window across OS X. And while they’re at it, Apple should give that “close” command some consistency across apps.

After years of using a Mac, I’ve gotten accustomed with pretty much everything it has to offer. One of the first realizations I had when switching from Windows to OS X was that the Mac gave me more ways to customize my workflow, despite Apple being notoriously stubborn as regards giving users freedom in certain areas.

Features like Expose and Dashboard were enough to sell me on the Mac OS, but there’s always been one annoyance that I haven’t been able to shake off all these years – the obnoxiously small traffic lights serving as the close / minimize / maximize buttons for application windows.

Who at Apple decided this would be a good idea? Keeping these buttons so ridiculously small doesn’t save up space that can be used for anything else, and I can’t find a single logical reason for keeping them the way they are. Every time I have to use them it feels like an aiming contest.

Firefox, the traffic lights could easily go all the way to the top of the window as no one ever clicks there (mainly for fear of not hitting "close" by accident)" alt="In some apps, like Mozilla Firefox, the traffic lights could easily go all the way to the top of the window as no one ever clicks there (mainly for fear of not hitting "close" by accident)" />
In some apps, like Mozilla Firefox, the traffic lights could easily go all the way to the top of the window as no one ever clicks there (mainly for fear of not hitting "close" by accident)
There are quite a few people out there who feel the same way. Desperately trying to find ways to magnify those buttons, these people took to forums only to receive replies like “don’t worry, you’ll get used to them” or “try CMD + M” or “try enabling the double-click-top-of-window-to-minimize setting.”

OS 10.4 - Traffic light buttons to small to click Yellow minimize button too small? Try this! How to increase size of minimize and other buttons top left of window?

Some people are just not that versatile with a mouse However, some people don’t want to get used to this annoyance, don’t want to use CMD + M to minimize windows because it takes their right hand off the mouse (unless they have Lurch hands), and don’t see a solution in the double-click-to-minimize setting because it still doesn’t do anything for the other two buttons and, most importantly, their size. Whatever you try, including the Accessibility Zoom feature, nothing really addresses the problem at its core.

And why are developers so keen on being consistent with Apple’s design in this particular area? I’d like to see at least one application seller who is determined to make the traffic lights bigger and see how the users like them. I’d personally send that developer a bottle of fine wine and a greeting card.

A great workflow means consistency across the board

Here’s another annoyance related to the traffic light buttons. The red / close button doesn’t really kill most apps on OS X, but there are a few exceptions (like TextEdit) and that doesn’t make for a good user experience. To achieve a good workflow, you need consistency across the board. It’s hard enough that I’m angling to hit the button just right. I don’t want to remember if this is the app that shuts off completely or not.

So what do you say Apple, care to make a handful of your most faithful users happy?

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OS X uses "Traffic Lights" to symbolize the close / minimize / maximize commands
In some apps, like Mozilla Firefox, the traffic lights could easily go all the way to the top of the window as no one ever clicks there (mainly for fear of not hitting "close" by accident)
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