A)
I'm unconvinced that being more familiar to Android/iOS users is what's driving MS to make these UI changes. That's one of the most popular explanations floating around, but I just can't believe that MS' market research led them to conclude that WP would have more market share, had they only used more hamburgers and less pivots. No way...
B)
Whether or not WP is copying UI concepts from its competitors seems unimportant to me. IMHO MS should use what works best. However, I'm also of the opinion that the upcoming mix of app bars, pivots and hamburgers is not what works best (not to mention it being an inconsistent mess).
C)
Pivots are by far the most misunderstood UI control in the WP toolbox. Pivots were never intended to be used as a navigational "tool", yet many developers used them that way (due to a lack of simple alternatives), and users are now calling for that misuse to continue.
I'm sure someone within MS has pointed out that the calls for the continued misuse of Pivots for navigational purposes is precisely one of the reasons they should be axed.
The problem with Pivots is that they just don't work for apps that require navigational functionality, but simultaneously require swiping gestures for app related features. The W10M mail app is an example of that. Metro doesn't easily allow for both, but that is very common on Android. This is one of the reasons apps on WP are often less functional, compared to the competition. That's not surprising, considering an entire method of interaction is missing from WP. This is also why a configurable solution, where users could choose to use either hamburgers or pivots (based on personal preference) makes no sense... the two are completely different things, not two equivalent ways of solving the same problem:
- would an app just lose the swiping related features when running in Pivot mode?
- would a hamburger menu with 10 entries require me to swipe myself into an early grave when running in Pivot mode?
- etc etc etc
What WP needs is a standardized approach to navigation that:
- is separate from and unrelated to pivots
- allows apps to use gestures without compromising navigation
- doesn't hide navigation behind invisible UI that is hard to discover (Android apps often employ edge swiping to open the hamburger menu)
- allows the OS to automatically reconfigure the UI, without developer involvement, based on whether the app is running on large or small screens (which is the whole point behind the hamburger menu).
- is consistent with the Metro look and feel
- is optimized for one handed use
Here is an example of what I'd consider a better solution:
http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...oncept-combining-hamburger-ellipsis-menu.html