System Settings and its last mile problem

macOS’s System Settings app might be a contender for the worst piece of software Apple released this century. Its 2022 redesign was based on wrong assumptions, the execution of that already bad redesign idea has also been subpar, and the situation not only hasn’t gotten any better in recent memory – I can point you to years-old bugs – but now it is spreading like gangrene to other apps. Among System Settings’ numerous UI crimes stands a simple, but incredibly important one: the app does a bad job at conveying to the users where they are, in a place orientation feels very important. A lot of this is self-inflicted, with bad search and confusing pop-ups partying with truly embarrassing bugs… Actually, one literally just happened to me. The only thing I did was opening System Settings: Which section am I in? General, right? That’s the one highlighted? No, turns out that “Software Update Available” added itself post launch and stole the content pane, but didn’t update the nav on the left:…

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