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Apple’s Jony Ive said to be bringing flat design to iOS 7
- nwh 13y agoI can't see Apple being able to do this even if they tried. So many apps in iOS rely on the standard elements, mix them with others, make overlays using them and so forth. For them to "remake" the OS now would break tens of thousands of apps, and to offer a new UI as an upgrade would stunt adoption. No matter what happens in this scenario, Apple is left with two half interfaces. Not clean at all.
- 0x0 13y agoThey could make redesigned standard elements opt-in, so old apps would still use the old styles and continue to work. (I've certainly seen apps change behavior simply by being recompiled by a newer SDK, so there must be something in the binary loader that sets a bunch of compability flags or something)
- Snoptic 13y agoRight. This is how Aqua migrated to Brushed Metal
- drpancake 13y agoI would imagine that there will be some kind of 'legacy mode'. Much like the (botched) transition to Auto Layout, or the move to the 4" iPhone 5 screen.
- nwh 13y agoA year on and I'm still using a multitude of letterboxed apps.
- api 13y agoOh thank god... when that leather crap started to creep into OSX I took it as a sign that Apple had peaked and was on its way down. Things should look like what they are. A computer display is not leather, so it should not look like leather. Making it look like leather is low-brow kitsch, like a fake electric fireplace or fake electric arc candles.
- kyro 13y agoI too thought the end was near for the billion dollar tech behemoth when I saw that design of that one app they released for one of their products.
- kmfrk 13y agoYou must have loved the podcast app, then.
- sjtgraham 13y agoIt seems as though you believe this is a binary issue, i.e. there is skeuomorphism, flat design, and nothing in between; of course this is not the case. I hope Apple doesn't pursue the flat UI route a la Microsoft, not only is it not to my taste, but the use of subtle lighting effects have legitimate uses as cues to the user that an element is a button and can be pressed for example. Clearly this is not skeuomorphism as it's not a frivolous accessory but an aid for the user to understand the UI. This is not new either, buttons have been beveled since Mac OS 8 and Windows 3.0! Essentially I think Apple will ditch the revolting skeuomorphism e.g. leather skinned apps, and continue to use subtle lighting effects and gradients to augment their UIs, and if they are truly planning a radical departure you can bet that it will be something rather original and not simply following Microsoft's lead. That is not Apple's DNA.
- MichaelGG 13y agoThe flat "metro" style that Zune/Windows Phone have is best when it's clear that it's a UI you're meant to interact with. There's no need to show button-like things on a list that says "music phone contacts" - the fact you're in a touch UI means its obvious you're going to touch stuff. For non-touch and complicated UIs, it's a lot less useful. See Office 2013's mess of a UI, which also added ALL CAPS as a design element that literally conveys zero information (there's no common trait caps has across the applications, it's purely a random design change for the sake of some really poor design sensibilities).
- aespinoza 13y agoThis kind of thing puts a smile on my face, because it breaks the omnipotence of one company in the industry. Making the market reflect its true colors, which is competition. In this case, it was Microsoft who got there first, and not Apple. I hope this kind of innovation is maintained, because we the users benefit from this. In so many ways. I wonder if Microsoft hadn't invested everything into flat design, would Apple had moved away from skeuomorphism so fast ? I think not. I hope to see Apple fighting for the design lead again.
- DigitalJack 13y agoYou might be right, but I think the shift is because of Job's death and Forstall's ousting.
- aespinoza 13y agoTrue. But I do wondered, if Steve Jobs would have responded to Microsoft with another kind of UI other than flat. That is one thing that Jobs was great at it. Creating trends. In this scenario, Apple will be basically following the trend already started in the industry and solidified by Microsoft's push. I think Steve Job might have come up with something different than Flat.
- Snoptic 13y agoJobs was very good at ignoring existing work and claiming Apple's version was a revolutionary new invention.
- wlesieutre 13y agoI doubt Ive is going to take it as flat as Metro. It seems more likely that it will take cues from recent changes like iOS 6's App Store and Passbook, which dropped the shiny glass appearance but still have some amount of lighting on them. My personal hope is that they push it a bit flatter than that to something like what Google did in their new iOS Maps app. We'll see.
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- geuis 13y agoEven if they don't go as far as I wish they would (complete UI redesign) I'll be fairly happy with modest updates to the overall UI. I'm not a big fan of Win8, but I've quite liked the MetroUI look on their phones. A nice middle ground between the two would be a great update.
- hkmurakami 13y agoI'm no expert in design, but when trends change so consistently, I have to wonder whether this is like automobile design or fashion where UI design kind of just "rotates" and churns indefinitely rather than head towards "the true answer" I have no idea and no opinion on which is better etc, just genuinely curious.
- scott_meade 13y agoYes, that's how it works and is why the TechCrunch article calls flat design a "fad".
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- morsch 13y agoFashion and automobile design are quite mature fields, though, compared to human machine interfaces. This is reflected in the fact that most changes in digital interfaces include shifts in terms of functionality. These kinds of changes are very rare in fashion: pants (either BE or AE) all work mostly the same -- and so do cars. The choices made seem to affect mostly aesthetics as opposed to functions. I guess it's possible that at some point the major interface methods will be standardized to such a degree that future changes will be aesthetic, to avoid putting off people, if nothing else. For instance, there was considerable resistance to MS changing the functional interface of Office not too long ago. But even mature consumer interfaces such as windowing systems continue to introduce additional functionality, although I guess some might characterize those changes as mere window dressing (heh), as well. Some computer interfaces do head towards what some conceive to be the true answer, with a slow stream of incremental improvements, e.g. the Unix shell. But that's a professional interface subject to other kinds of pressures than consumer technology. IANAD.
- brudgers 13y agoAutomotive design has changed radically around function - safety and aerodynamics being the most obvious visible changes which could be trivialized as styling.
- coob 13y agoI understand the visceral reaction to the fake leather and hatred of metaphors taken too far, but I wouldn't go expecting iOS 7 to look like Metro. I'd rather expect a toning down, a reduction – not banishment of gradients and all texture and personality. Look at the iOS 6 App Store redesign and iTunes 11 for visual hints. Just as OS X toned toned the gloss and lost the pinstripes, iOS too will have its refinement.
- suyash 13y agoI loved the use of Real Life Metaphors :)
- Stratoscope 13y agoFor a similar flattening done in a good way, look at the window chrome in the Windows 8 desktop compared with Windows 7. Not Metro or Modern, the desktop. Window titlebars have lost the peekaboo effect and use a solid color instead. The min/max/close buttons do a simple color change with a quick fade confined to their own little rectangle, instead of glowing around the edges. It's a subtle but pleasant improvement. I don't like the Start screen, but not because of its flatness. It's the tiny text that doesn't obey my screen DPI setting and the gratuitous animation that really bothers my eyes. But that's OK, I use Start8 which brings back a non-animated start menu with the correct font size.
- Domenic_S 13y ago> Look at iTunes 11 for visual hints. Welp, we're boned.
- ChrisNorstrom 13y agoEdit: No I'm not an Apple fan, I genuinely have a newfound love of flat ui (not block ui). I've been very hard on Flat UI in the past (and still dislike the overdone blocky look) but I've decided to embrace it after realizing it's true purpose. It's NOT to destroy skeuomorphism. It's to destroy "forced focus design" in favor of "distraction free design". In the past we used gradients to aim the eyes towards a direction, shadows to make elements pop out of the page at a viewer, overly rounded corners to seem friendlier to the viewer, etc... We styled elements like this so we could draw attention to certain things and away from others. The same way people wear certain clothing to stand out or fade in with the crowd. However, in this era of instant gratification online property owners not only realized that content is king but that there's too much shit to do and not enough time to do it. They need to give the viewer what they want and give it to as quickly as possible. Confusion breads negative feelings and pissed off viewers leave and don't return. So pages became lighter, more minimal, and lost unnecessary elements, and so designers adjusted to this. By getting rid of the un-needed information on a page we no longer have to draw attention to one thing and away from the other because everything on the page is important. If it wasn't, it shouldn't be there in there in the first place. The buttons don't all need to have massive rounded corners and huge shadows because they're no longer lost in a sea of text and ads. They're easy to spot. This is why you'll notice a lot of Flat UI sites are a lot more minimal than usual. The Flat UI that I HATE is the blocky kind. Minecraft / 8-bit / designer out of college / what the hell's an a/b test inspired extreme flat ui. The kind where you don't know if that's a header with a colored background or a clickable button. The flat ui where everything on the site is so white white white you'd think the owners were clansman. That crap I hate. And it's only a few dozen A/B tests away from disappearing off of prominent sites. I don't think this is "just a fad" anymore. There's a reason big companies are switching to it. Microsoft, Apple, Google. They're not stupid. They run A/B tests. They're not going to sacrifice market share, page views, usability, ease-of-use, and their bottom line just to blindly follow a design fad. That's just an insult to them. To say all Flat UI is backwards while the internet's biggest companies convert to it just goes to show how delusional and unknowledgeable we (especially I) can be. I apologize for my past remarks.
- kyro 13y agoI personally think it's just the in-style at the moment. It's different than what we're used to, barebones, and uses vibrant colors -- the antithesis of recent popular styles. Some seasons blacks and grays and navies are in, other seasons women like wearing greens and oranges and yellows. UX-wise, though, flat has more problems, but people might not care because it looks so fresh.
- outside1234 13y agoIf so, will Microsoft sue Apple for stealing their look and feel? #irony
- jussij 13y agoIf I was somewhere high up in Microsoft I'd serious think about it. Nothing too serious, just dragging them into court would be enough. What goes around comes around.
- suyash 13y agoPersonally I would have liked if iOS kept the skeumorphism look and feel. I prefer that to Flat Design. Now I guess all the platforms would look and feel similar :( (Android, Windows and iOS) I hope iOS 7 look and feel much different.
- sgdesign 13y ago"The changes would likely be welcomed by most, though they could result in a negative reaction from users who’ve grown used to the current Apple way of doing things." What extraordinary insight…
- nohorse 13y agoskeuomorphism is the dream UI of the baby boomer generation who always wanted a fancy desk set. I'm so glad to see it finally gone from iOS. These best part of this for me will be all the skeuomorphism apologists bloggers over the years instantly hail flat design as the smartest thing ever. Ever. I see its already started :)
- chrismealy 13y agoI'm sure Dieter Rams used some nice textures here and there. Ive can steal that too.
- potatolicious 13y agoUnsure why you were downvoted - Apple has borrowed heavily from Dieter Rams in the past decade or so. Heck, the current iPad Music app is a straight lift from the famous Braun SK radio/record players. That being said, there's no real reason why Apple has to use textures anywhere. Dieter Rams designed physical products which by their nature must have some texture or another. Having texture is purely optional in a digital product.
- mikec3k 13y agoI really hate the flat design. I prefer to see some depth as a indicator that something is clickable & active.
- Shooti 13y agoAndroid 4.x/Holo doesn't get enough credit for absolutely nailing the right balance. It's "flat", but has depth. Going purely by the strength of their design team, I'd expect iOS 7 to be closer to Android-flat rather than Metro-flat.
- Aloha 13y agoI think its about time. That said, a complete UI overhaul is.. I just see it as unlikely all at once, more of a gradual thing.
- r0s 13y agoOne of my favorite mods for OSX is to revert the dock back to "2D" mode. The mirrored table effect is not to my taste.
- pdeuchler 13y agoThis seems like blog spam based on blog spam based on "sources". I'd take it with a grain of salt. I'd also be very skeptical that Ive would create a sweeping change to a formula that works so well currently (Regardless of what the technorati think, joe consumer loves the iPhone UI. Small gizmos and refreshes are all that's needed to keep the standard consumer sufficiently happy), especially with Cook in charge. A better article could probably be condensed into: "According to sources it looks like Apple will follow the latest design trends and begin incorporating flat design into their products." Which is a no-brainer and hardly sells adspace.
- dr_ 13y agoGiven the discussions they've reportedly been having with Yahoo http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/4/9/4206794/apple-and-yahoo-in-talks-to-build-a-deeper-ios-partnership http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/4/9/4206794/apple-and-yahoo-... I wonder if Yahoo's new, aesthetically pleasing IMO, weather app is an indication of things to come to iOS.
- kayge 13y agoJust when my poor parents were starting to get the hang of using their new iPhones... On a more serious note, I know it's never going to happen, but it would be nice if Apple would just create a Theme system and allow the user to choose how they want their default apps and controls displayed.
- DigitalSea 13y agoWhile it's possible, it's highly doubtful Apple will radically shift away from their current look. Microsoft are currently associated with the whole flat-design UI trend and I can only speculate that changing to a completely flat look would only fuel the speculation that Apple are out of ideas and lack vision to keep innovating thus driving their share price down further and undoing all of their hard work over the years. You're only as good as your last hit as they say in the music industry. I am envisioning if Apple does change to a flat UI look, it'll have their own little twist on it. I think it's a given they'll drop the skeuomorphism from iOS, because lets face it, skeuomorphic elements like leather books and note paper backgrounds look dated when used anywhere (not just mobile applications). I would expect things will get flatter, but evident by their latest Mac OS and iTunes redesigns which I think give us a sneak peek of the direction: not completely flat, still dabs of light & aluminium as well as rounded corners on things. Whatever the end result is, I think we can all agree Apple needs to evolve. The iOS interface has remained basically untouched since 2007, it's time for a change because the aging operating system is starting to show its age.
- mixmastamyk 13y agoI wish on ios I could pick a theme and stay with it. I dislike how every page is white and every other black with no rhyme or reason. At night the white screens are especially blinding even at lowest brightness. Sometimes negative works, but not when screens are half-white, half-black as is the trend lately. Sigh... I miss the days of Windows 95? when I chose a theme and all apps had to follow it.
- hapay 13y agoI think flat UI is horrible. Outlook 2013 looks like piles of words. I can't tell where one email stops and the next starts. I would take leather trim over that any day.