As an Android user why does an arrow out of a square signify sharing something? (Also why is the apple share menu used for so much besides sharing things)
Three dots being connected makes sense though it isn’t intuitive.
The first time I saw the square with an arrow I thought it was to spit the screen vertically or to connect to a projector.
I think it’s meant to show how one becomes two. One person shares… something, and then that something has doubled. I’m just used to it by now. Never really had to give it thought.
TIL this share symbol is android specific.
Edit: As other have mentioned, it’s not Android specific (I was referring to the post title). From Wikipedia:
Thx @grrgyle@slrpnk.net for the Wikipedia Link
It isn’t
Well I didn’t know that! Interesting,
As an iOS user the Android share icon makes no sense. How does that icon represent sharing? The iOS one is much clearer.
Icons generally dont have to make sense. The universal save icon being a floppy disk is a good example. It just needs to be recognizable.
As an Android user why does an arrow out of a square signify sharing something? (Also why is the apple share menu used for so much besides sharing things)
Three dots being connected makes sense though it isn’t intuitive.
The first time I saw the square with an arrow I thought it was to spit the screen vertically or to connect to a projector.
The iOS one looks like the standard “exit” symbol you see in airports around the world. It doesn’t suggest sharing anything to me.
It suggests something (the content) being sent outside your device.
It’s sending something outside of your device (the box).
Like a phone call or a text?
The universal symbol for “input” on a TV remote is the opposite, a box with an arrow going in, simply because there can only be one source at a time
Two arrows makes more sense in the context of sharing
Why? Are you sending it to two people?
More frequently (percentage wise) than I use the Apple share button to get something to leave the device lol
Oh ok now I picture the ios one. I’ve grown up with both. I do prefer the android one more though. But I also dislike ios design elements.
I think it’s meant to show how one becomes two. One person shares… something, and then that something has doubled. I’m just used to it by now. Never really had to give it thought.
Huh. The Apple one is new to me. It looks like an “upload” icon, which I guess makes sense.
The Android one looks like something being spread/copied from one point to two other points. Which also makes sense.
Like splitting from another cell? Or like splitting a bullet. Now 2 target can share the sweet relieve of death <3
/s