IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

It's hard to justify Tahoe icons

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Ironic distraction of site's snow animation

Overwhelming complaints about animated snowflakes obscuring the anti-clutter article, with poor toggle UX (delayed stop, yellow background).
"there's some irony in putting a full screen animated snow effect over an article about unnecessary, distracting clutter." —jsheard
"It's hilarious that it's a great article about clutter, and yet, the post is on a theme that is so badly cluttered it would have been funny... if I could have read the article..." —serial_dev
Many used reader mode or disabled JS.

2. macOS Tahoe menu icons are inconsistent/cluttered

Broad agreement on article's critique: icons misaligned, poorly chosen, violate HIG principles like consistency.
"One of the first things mentioned is not to be distracting. Yet they went out of their way to make their own site distracting. 'Do as I say, not as I do.'" —al_borland
"the audacity to critique Apple's use of icons... while having animated snowflakes falling over the text" —nkrisc (extending to Tahoe).

3. Apple's software design decline post-Jobs

Nostalgia for past UIs (Snow Leopard, Win2k); calls for stability over churn, enshittification fears.
"Apple's UI design started going downhill with the iOS 7 'flat design' release which was very shortly after Steve's death" —nicoburns
"UI OS for ordinary people peaked with Windows NT (1993)." —bambax (echoing broader peak nostalgia).

🚀 Project Ideas

CleanRead

Summary

  • A browser extension and desktop utility that forces a "Reader Mode" standard across all websites, specifically targeting the removal of distracting CSS animations, "snow" effects, and non-standard cursor behaviors.
  • Solve the frustration of "UX-hostile" personal blogs and corporate sites that use resource-heavy background simulations (like fluid sims or particles) that cause laptops to heat up and fans to spin.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Readers, researchers, and users on older hardware/mobile devices.
Core Feature Selective disabling of fixed-position elements, particle systems, and mouse-trail scripts.
Tech Stack JavaScript (WebExtensions API), CSS Injection.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Directly addresses the "snow effect" debate: "I noticed my phone was incredibly hot and realized it must be the snow effect" and "flagging a submission just because they added a little whimsy... [that is] UX-hostile."
  • HN users specifically mentioned switching to "Safari reader-mode" or "Edge Immersive Reader" to solve the site's layout issues; a dedicated tool would automate this for technical content.

TCC.db Manager (GUI)

Summary

  • A specialized system utility for macOS that provides a transparent, searchable GUI for the Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) database.
  • Solves the common "broken permission prompt" bug in macOS where apps (like Ableton or Logitech G-Hub) fail to trigger system dialogs for microphone, accessibility, or disk access.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience macOS power users, musicians, and developers.
Core Feature Manually inject or reset app permissions via a user-friendly interface instead of obscure CLI commands.
Tech Stack Swift, SwiftUI, SQLite.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: $5-10 "Pay what you want" utility.

Notes

  • Inspired by the commenter who had to use a Gemini-generated SQLite command to fix Ableton: "I have absolutely no Idea what it does... please don't touch obscure system files if you have data to lose."
  • This solves the "Tahoe" specific pain point where the permissions system is described as "sluggish" or "screwed up."

MenuAudit

Summary

  • A developer tool and linter that audits macOS (and cross-platform) application menus for consistency, alignment, and Human Interface Guideline (HIG) compliance.
  • It identifies "icon clutter," mismatched ellipses, and inconsistent labeling (e.g., using different icons for 'Save' vs 'Export') to prevent the amateurish look described in the "Tahoe" critique.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience UX Designers and App Developers.
Core Feature Automated scanning of .storyboard or .swift files to flag non-standard menu patterns.
Tech Stack Python (Parser), Swift (Analyzer).
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby / Open Core.

Notes

  • Responds to the core critique of the article: "Tahoe feels like... a manager said 'every menu item needs an icon' and just left engineers to figure out what to use."
  • Would appeal to the "old school" HN crowd that values the 1992-era rigor: "Leadership doesn’t understand and/or care anymore... we need more old timers in charge."

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