3 ms·

Honestly, I think Tweetbot (and Tapbots' other products) are the greatest "heavy" UIs I've ever seen. They're basically the pinnacle of pre-7 iOS design, and I

Honestly, I think Tweetbot (and Tapbots' other products) are the greatest "heavy" UIs I've ever seen. They're basically the pinnacle of pre-7 iOS design, and I still think it's the most beautiful app on my phone. My worry is that flat design will lead to less information density (because of the decreased emphasis on visual hierarchy and separation through 3D effects) and lead to a downgrade in functionality for some apps. Honestly, I wouldn't be bothered if Tweetbot stayed the same.

JoshGlazebrook 13y ago
I have to agree 100% on the Tweetbot aspect. By far one of my favorite looking apps on my iPhone and iPad. Even the OSX version is very nice.
rdouble 13y ago
A good example of flat design in an app is Propellerheads' Figure. http://www.propellerheads.se/products/figure/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/figure/ If all flat design apps are like that, things won't be too bad. Interestingly, their other iOS apps are totally the opposite, and are pinnacles of skeumorphic design: http://www.propellerheads.se/products/thor/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/thor/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/rebirth/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/rebirth/
- terhechte 13y ago
  ReBirth already existed in 1996, when Window 3.11 was still a common thing to have. So it was kinda one of the really early skeumorphic UIs
- mortenjorck 13y ago
  Thor for iPad is a great case study, but I'd say it's actually a fine example of how the entire "flat versus skeuomorphic" debate has ultimately been misguided: The app utilizes a broad spectrum of digital UI affordance to great effect, from literal object metaphor ("this is a synth; it has knobs that do exactly what synth knobs do") to abstract color and shape cues ("these controls aren't part of the synth but have auxiliary control over it and your project"). This layering of design language creates a useful divide between areas of functionality that can't be achieved when you're limited to "flat or skeuomorphic" as a binary choice.
- zeckalpha 13y ago
  Figure is flat but it is still skeumorphic. They are not opposites.
  - rdouble 13y ago
    What is it supposed to resemble?
mortenjorck 13y ago
I'd go a step further and note that from iOS 2 through iOS 6, apps already have used a wide spectrum of affordances, from complete object metaphors (the "skeuomorphism" of apps like AmpKit), lots of abstract depth cues (Tapbots apps), and pure shape and color cues (Shift Apps' lovely calculator app Digits). Given this pre-existing diversity, the apps that are really going to need to change or look out-of-date are the ones that made the most use of (or styled their custom controls most closely after) Apple's vanilla UIKit controls. I don't foresee apps that take their own approach to UI (such as TweetBot, AmpKit, or Digits) having to change much; in fact, I really hope their designers can see beyond the march of fashion and don't abandon certain types of interaction cues purely because Apple has. The thing to remember is that "flat versus skeuomorphic" is a false dichotomy – style is a tool, not an end product.
KuraFire 13y ago
> “My worry is that flat design will lead to less information density” That seems like a very silly worry, given that visually rich design is demonstrably worse for information density, whereas “flat” design is demonstrably better for it. Your argument of “decreased emphasis on visual hierarchy” has the design principles entirely backwards, especially when you look at apps like Tweetbot vs. iOS 7’s visual aesthetic. Whatever density is reduced in iOS 7 has nothing to do with its flatness, but all to do with the designers’ conscious decision to give UI elements more breathing space. But I can point you to dozens of iOS 7 examples that are more information dense now than in iOS 6, and the main reason for this is the flatter, simpler aesthetic requiring less whitespace to make information identifiable.

JoshGlazebrook 13y ago

I have to agree 100% on the Tweetbot aspect. By far one of my favorite looking apps on my iPhone and iPad. Even the OSX version is very nice.

rdouble 13y ago

A good example of flat design in an app is Propellerheads' Figure. http://www.propellerheads.se/products/figure/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/figure/ If all flat design apps are like that, things won't be too bad. Interestingly, their other iOS apps are totally the opposite, and are pinnacles of skeumorphic design: http://www.propellerheads.se/products/thor/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/thor/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/rebirth/ http://www.propellerheads.se/products/rebirth/

terhechte 13y ago
ReBirth already existed in 1996, when Window 3.11 was still a common thing to have. So it was kinda one of the really early skeumorphic UIs
mortenjorck 13y ago
Thor for iPad is a great case study, but I'd say it's actually a fine example of how the entire "flat versus skeuomorphic" debate has ultimately been misguided: The app utilizes a broad spectrum of digital UI affordance to great effect, from literal object metaphor ("this is a synth; it has knobs that do exactly what synth knobs do") to abstract color and shape cues ("these controls aren't part of the synth but have auxiliary control over it and your project"). This layering of design language creates a useful divide between areas of functionality that can't be achieved when you're limited to "flat or skeuomorphic" as a binary choice.
zeckalpha 13y ago
Figure is flat but it is still skeumorphic. They are not opposites.
- rdouble 13y ago
  What is it supposed to resemble?

mortenjorck 13y ago

I'd go a step further and note that from iOS 2 through iOS 6, apps already have used a wide spectrum of affordances, from complete object metaphors (the "skeuomorphism" of apps like AmpKit), lots of abstract depth cues (Tapbots apps), and pure shape and color cues (Shift Apps' lovely calculator app Digits). Given this pre-existing diversity, the apps that are really going to need to change or look out-of-date are the ones that made the most use of (or styled their custom controls most closely after) Apple's vanilla UIKit controls. I don't foresee apps that take their own approach to UI (such as TweetBot, AmpKit, or Digits) having to change much; in fact, I really hope their designers can see beyond the march of fashion and don't abandon certain types of interaction cues purely because Apple has. The thing to remember is that "flat versus skeuomorphic" is a false dichotomy – style is a tool, not an end product.

KuraFire 13y ago

> “My worry is that flat design will lead to less information density” That seems like a very silly worry, given that visually rich design is demonstrably worse for information density, whereas “flat” design is demonstrably better for it. Your argument of “decreased emphasis on visual hierarchy” has the design principles entirely backwards, especially when you look at apps like Tweetbot vs. iOS 7’s visual aesthetic. Whatever density is reduced in iOS 7 has nothing to do with its flatness, but all to do with the designers’ conscious decision to give UI elements more breathing space. But I can point you to dozens of iOS 7 examples that are more information dense now than in iOS 6, and the main reason for this is the flatter, simpler aesthetic requiring less whitespace to make information identifiable.