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16 Comments

Will I be sued for 📱💻🖥️?

Hey guys.

I'm excited to announce one of the most wanted updates ever: realistic devices mockups.
Now you can put your screenshots inside one of 13 desktop devices and 19 mobile phones (including colors)! iPhones 8, 11 Pro Max, XR, SE 2020, Google Pixel 4, iMac, MacBook, and many more.

Devices

Even though I have erased all logos and trademarked words, I'm still uncertain whether I'm allowed to use the pictures of the corporations' devices. I have seen hundreds of websites that use Apple's devices' pictures to present their interfaces. Some even kept the logos.

Personally I believe it will be fine: all the devices are flippin’ rectangles nowadays. Should I tweak a phone's border-radius from 3% to 5% to make it look less like a trademarked iPhone?
I doubt so. It will still look iPhonish. They all look iPhonish.

What do you think about it?

...

Some other sweet Unicorn Platform updates:

Lazy load:
We added native lazy load for all images and iframes by default. What is lazy loading and what does the word 'native' mean?

Lazy images loading means downloading the assets on-demand. We do not load all website pages' images when a user opens your website. Instead, we load images gradually as user scrolls the page. This trick reduces the amount of data transferred and therefore increases your website loading speed.

~A year ago the Chrome team announced the native lazy loading feature. Now images and embeds can be lazy-loaded without JS hacks and 'data-src' magic. You can learn more here: https://addyosmani.com/blog/lazy-loading

This feature works on 64% of web browsers. Safari already has this but under a flag, so in the future, the % will be even bigger.

  1. 3

    Thanks for sharing the tidbit about lazy-loading, gotta check that out myself. As for copyright, probably some limitations, but there are definitely other mockups out there using real devices.

    1. 1

      Hi Matt! I just checked SVG backgrounds. Looks dope! Would you mind if I add some of them to the background patterns collection?

      Thanks for sharing the tidbit about lazy-loading, gotta check that out myself.

      FYI: You will see the lazy loading effect on Chrome only if your page has a height of at least ~6 viewports. It will not work on short pages.

      1. 1

        I'm guessing by "collection" you mean on your Unicorn Platform? I'm sure we can work some something out. I'll send you a quick DM on twitter.

  2. 2

    Looks great, are they SVGs?

    1. 1

      Hey Esteban! Those are retina-ready PNGs.

      For some reason, SVG may render messy when it contains shadows and gradients.

  3. 2

    This looks great!!

  4. 2

    This looks super useful!

    I was actually just looking into your question about pictures of devices for a mockup video app I'm building, here's what I've found so far, and probably more info that you need haha:

    As far as Apple goes, they allow developers use the device frame images to show their apps, with a couple restrictions: https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/guidelinesfor3rdparties.html

    They also have a marketing guide with some more info:
    https://developer.apple.com/app-store/marketing/guidelines/

    Those could be worth looking into if you're using the Apple provided device images, as those images would be copyrighted and fall under their guidelines, although I don't know of any cases where this has actually been an issue yet.

    The other thing to watch out for is just making sure that it doesn't appear to consumers that Apple or other companies are selling or endorsing whatever users build on Unicorn Platform. So not displaying trademarked logos and names definitely makes sense, and you also don't want to disparage the companies.

    If you were to just take a picture of a device yourself, or render a digital image, things get more interesting. Copyright protects creative expression, not "useful articles." So it would protect a sculpture, but not a tool like a hammer. And same goes for trade dress (used for protecting the look or packaging of a product)– it only protects "non-functional" elements. So unless the device has some element that is creative but not functional, and stands alone from the rest of the design (like a painting on the side of a truck), it probably isn't protectable.

    The thing is, with most devices these days, like you said, they're mostly "flippin’ rectangles." Pretty much all the elements are meant to be utilitarian, not creative. Apple had to prove that its older iPhone designs where protected by trade dress in the Samsung lawsuit, but the court decided they were functional and not protectable. (https://katten.com/Apple-Samsung_Trade_Dress_Case_Demonstrates_Potential_Value_of_Design_Patents)

    Some of the elements of devices are protected under design patents, but I don't think taking an image of a patented item is an issue.

    (I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, just another person building an app and trying to read up. If anyone is a lawyer, feel free to weigh in and correct me)

    1. 1

      Hey Derek. Thanks for your valuable input. You definitely made a better research homework than me.

      making sure that it doesn't appear to consumers that Apple or other companies are selling or endorsing whatever users build on Unicorn Platform

      This is what I got after reading the official Apple developer guidelines. It seems they are strictly against using their brand power for making benefits.

  5. 1

    Stunning website. An example for us all.

  6. 1

    As usual, you continue to rock :). Congrats on this. Unicorn all the way!

    1. 1

      Thanks for the warm words and for your ideas, buddy! 🤜 💥 🤛

  7. 1

    Super cool dude, when I make apps I find it a pain to find the frames for all the devices.

    1. 1

      Thanks man! ✨ I plan to constantly add new devices to the collection.

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