Apple iOS 7 May Sport 'Very Flat' Look Like Windows Phone
Looks like Apple may finally be freshening up with iOS 7.
Sources close to Apple's iOS development team claim that the fruity company is taking cues from Microsoft to completely redesign a popular, familiar operating system. The upcoming iOS 7 platform will reportedly sport an entirely new design, breaking away from the glossy sea of apps that first began to flow on the original iPhone back in June 2007.
The new interface, reportedly codenamed "Innsbruck", will be "very, very flat" like Windows Phone 8: all the gloss, shine and "skeuomorphism" will be ripped out. That means icons will be void of any shadows, reflections and heavy textures, and may be presented as mere multi-colored boxes with the app's logo. This would make a more streamlined interface across both multiple devices and time itself.
Sources claim that despite the "flat" design, the new interface is not more difficult to use than earlier releases. The transition will reportedly be just as easy as it was when iPods went to color. Even more, core apps and system fundamentals like the Lock and Home screens will mostly operate in a similar fashion to how they perform on devices sporting iOS v6.1.3 and earlier.
In addition to the "flat" look, iOS 7 will supposedly include an all-new icon set for Apple's native apps, newly designed tool bars, new tab bars, and other fundamental interface features. Devices launching with iOS 7 will reportedly feature polarizing features to decrease the viewing angles of snooping, nosy on-lookers.
Apple is also reportedly discussing and testing ways to add more system options panels and information that can be accessed at a glance although it's unknown if these features will end up in iOS 7. Sources claim that one of the early ideas was to implement the new panels through swipes from the left and right side of an iOS device, similar to what's done on Mac trackpads.
One sign of the incoming design change can be seen in Apple's own Podcasts app. At one time, the design included a physical "tape deck" – which the user manipulated in order to move through the podcast – and virtual buttons. The new design which was introduced earlier this year doesn't feature the tape deck or virtual buttons.
There's also speculation that the colorful WWDC 2013 logo points to the new iOS 7 design, sporting a flat layout, lightweight modern text and other elements. Sources claim that the Game Center icon and interface materials will even be just a colorful, shedding the ugly green and brown casino-like design.
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The move to change iOS to a new design stems from Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jony Ive. He's believed to be less of a flashy, skeuomorphic interface fan than predecessor Apple iOS SVP Scott Forstall.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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Thunderfox Let's create supercomputers for our pockets and use them to display... DOS graphics.Reply -
ap3x They are not talking about the use of Tiles or other flat like features in Windows 8. They are talking about the color pallet. It will be more modern using flat colors with no or not as much shine. The skeuomorphism will also be gone for the most part. It will be a more modern looking UI that matches the hardware design a bit better.Reply
There is no comparison at all to the Windows 8 interface and what IOS is looking like. This articles are misleading because no one has even seen the interface yet everyone is mentioning Windows 8 when they talk about IOS 7. -
sundragon Before everyone goes all Apple's copying MS, lets see what it really looks like, lolReply
P.S. I have an idea that Key Lime Pie will also sport a newer interface than what we've been experiencing 2.x - 4.x -
nukemaster Reply
I have to agree with this post. I mean things are getting faster. i can see some pre-rendering to lighten the load(save battery), but things are so fast that transparency and whatnot are idle work for the cpu/gpu now.10743796 said:Let's create supercomputers for our pockets and use them to display... DOS graphics.
Like it or not, here comes the future.
In a bit of hind sight, Toms uses a rather "flat" look(for some parts of the site) and it works out quite well. -
falcompsx I'm not a fan of computers moving to flat looking interfaces. I liked windows 7 and aero. it looked alive, and high tech. Windows 8 just looks... like a toy.Reply
I hope iOS doesn't suffer a similar fate and ditch all of its animations and and icon shading. its very subtle but it really looks good.
Why have a super high-res "retina" display to display flat, mono-colored boxes? -
fat_panda They need something big for iOS 7. I've lost all faith in my iPhone thanks to the stagnant development of iOS updates. I'm ready to move on to Android phones.Reply -
robochump I highly doubt iOS will look like Windows Phone. Those that believe it are gullible.Reply