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iCloud Beta Incorporates iOS 7 Look and Feel
- cremnob 13y agoI like the new look. They still need to update the iWork icons though.
- mynameisvlad 13y agoThey need to update the iWork suite as a whole. All the iCloud bits have the new UI (Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Find my Phone) but the iWork bits all have old UI. Maybe it's going to be an overhaul of the iWork UI across all their systems?
- k-mcgrady 13y agoIt's strange they created it using the old look when it was presumably in development around the same time as iOS 7. I imagine the iWork team saw iOS 7 announced at the keynote and though "shit, why did nobody tell us?".
- pornel 13y agoJudging by class names in the div soup of iWork webapp it supports theming, so presumably they'll flip the switch "when it's ready".
- ihuman 13y agoIf they chose any time to update the iWork suite, then it should be now. iWork for Mac hasn't seen an update since 2009, and both iOS and OS X are very different landscapes since then.
- TannerLD 13y agoIn the keynote, they mentioned redoing the entire iWork suite later in the Fall.
- mynameisvlad 13y agoDid they? I don't remember that. Did they include the OSX suite in that, or just iOS?
- glhaynes 13y agoBeen a while since I saw it, but I believe they only mentioned something like that there would be "a new release of iWork this year". No specifics about how major it'll be (still "iWork '09"?) or whether that was OS X, iOS, or both.
- cenhyperion 13y agoThey are all still marked as beta.
- stephanerangaya 13y agoThis is a good way to see the general direction Apple is taking. I can't wait to see what they're going to do with OS X.
- millerm 13y agoJust for fun, this is not a real peek: http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/08/a-look-at-what-an-ios-7-inspired-os-x-could-look-like-gallery/ http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/08/a-look-at-what-an-ios-7-inspir...
- gecko 13y agoThat looks more like what Windows 8 should've looked like in some alternative universe, rather than an upcoming copy of OS X. (Which is, I think, telling about the aesthetic movement going on right now.)
- phr4ts 13y agoCorrection: iCloud Beta Incorporates windows (Metro) look and feel.
- myko 13y agoNot really. Windows (Metro) is completely flat, there is no depth and it is very difficult to distinguish controls. The direction Apple is taking adds a bit of depth to help distinguish most controls, similar to Android design guidelines.
- khalidmbajwa 13y agoHonest question: What depth ? All i see is flat all around.
- jbraithwaite 13y agoThere are subtle gradients. Take a look at the tabs in the contacts icon. Or the (subtle) shadow under each icon.
- gbvb 13y ago:) It is the one that you see when it is built by Apple. Says the guy who buys everything Apple produces :)
- Aloisius 13y agoWell for one they use parallax (on the iPhone) which obviously communicates depth, plus background items out of focus, plus there is a very very light drop shadow on all the icons (oddly a png directly encoded directly into the html on beta.icloud.com) and a shadow around the text. The icons themselves are mostly flat with some exceptions (Contacts has a very strong bevel and there is a slight bevel on the notes icon).
- sirn 13y agoIn iOS7, menu transparency that blur the content below it give a sense of depth in a similar way drop shadows do. UI elements are in the top layer, with content in the lower layer. Parallax in the home screen is also there to add depth, as well as a very subtle transparency in some app that allow you to see your (blurred) wallpaper while in app. There are also some interesting use of solid color to indicate interactable elements (icons or links that are part of the UI are in the same solid color) that will be greyed out when there are layer above it (e.g. via action sheet). Most of these are not in the iCloud website, however. And I'm still not sure I like the new visual style.
- famousactress 13y agoAnyone else wobble their Macbook back and forth to see if the background shifts in response? (it doesn't)
- MBCook 13y agoYep. I liked the effect switching between the home screen and the "apps". My next thought was "I wonder if the parallax thing works too?" Nope.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- UVB-76 13y agoI know it's not quite the same, but MacBooks do have sudden motion sensors. See the "smackbook": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQTTPr9Rw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQTTPr9Rw
- smackfu 13y agoActually, a lot of laptops including Macs do have an accelerometer. They use it to detect possible impacts and park the hard drive heads. Probably will be going away with SSDs. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1935 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1935
- LinaLauneBaer 13y agoAs far I know MacBooks without SSD have a chip that can detect movement. Once the chip detects movement that is too fast it will turn off the hard disk to avoid damage. This chip can also be used with a C API.
- coob 13y agoMacBooks have had accelerometers since the titanium Powerbooks. They were used to park the hard drive heads in the case of sudden movement.
- scott_karana 13y ago
- spartango 13y agoIt also has iOS-style notification popovers at least for mail and calendar.
- smackfu 13y agoFind My iPhone is still using Google Maps. Guess they don't have Apple Maps set up for web embedding.
- UVB-76 13y agoThis will likely come with OS X Mavericks, which will introduce a Maps app
- Aloisius 13y agoWhy would a JS library to show maps on the web come at the same time as a Maps app?
- dougbarrett 13y agoThe Maps app could use the JS library for rendering. It's possible the app could have a chrome with different features, but use Web Kit to render the actual map.
- comex 13y ago% otool -L /System/Library/Frameworks/MapKit.framework/MapKit | grep Web % Nope.
- Klarifier 13y agoIt's iOS-Astigmatism! Get rid of the blurry?
- publicfig 13y agoI've been hearing it since it was announced, and I've yet to see for myself, but I really am starting to agree that a lot of the disagreements with the design decisions of iOS7 will go away once people start using the OS. Of course, there are still elements that seem half-baked at best, but it's interesting to see how some of the interfaces really shine when it's your own information being displayed instead of screenshots of information you ignore. I'm actually excited to see how I adapt to the new changes once iOS7 come out. (Yes, I am a developer and could install the developer preview, but I only have one iOS device right now and no way am I installing a developer beta on my one device)
- voxmatt 13y agoI've been using the developer preview for a few months and can confirm that, at least for me, the disagreements start to fade pretty quickly. Not to say that their aren't still some problems, but that initial shock seems to be mostly that - just a shock. As for the iCloud Beta, I actually like this design approach more in the browser. I think the larger screen actually helps the thin font choices and lines feel more appropriate.
- mitchty 13y agoAlso agree, ios 7 is really nice when in use. Static images don't quite do the "feel" differences in how you interact. That said, i also am in love with Helvetica Neue now. Was a bit so-so initially but it actually grows on you.
- btipling 13y agoThe wireframe icons, the blues in the mail, the red in the calendar. It looks interesting and terrible at the same time. I just don't like it. Maybe I don't because of the sparseness, starkness and of course the notorious gradients. Next to the iWork icons you can tell that the ios7 design update does make the old style look dated, but that doesn't mean it's appealing.
- artgon 13y agoSeems like it's still being built in Sproutcore, FWIW.
- navs 13y agoSo I guess we're stuck with the Reminders and Contacts icons looking that way. I know it's a silly thing to be upset about but damn if they ain't two of the more hideous icon redesigns for iOS 7. Notes has this subtle textured background. I'm not a visual designer so I don't understand the reasoning behind why but shouldn't it be a clean white like the calendar, more in keeping with the iOS 7 aesthetic?
- k-mcgrady 13y agoWhat are your objections to the contacts icon? I'm not fond of the reminders one but contacts doesn't look too bad. My only problem with it would be that it still maintains a slightly skeuomorphic look with the ABCD tabs down the side.
- navs 13y agoThat's my primary objection. While the rest of the icons look so light and minimalist, the Contacts icon feels heavier, more complex.
- MatthewPhillips 13y agoIs the contrast[1] as bad as the screenshot in The Verge article[2]?? [1]http://contrastrebellion.com/ http://contrastrebellion.com/ [2]http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/14/4621422/beta-icloud-website-overhauled-with-ios-7-design http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/14/4621422/beta-icloud-websit...
- johnymontana 13y agoI'm curious what technologies are being used for the web version of Keynote / Pages / Numbers. Is Apple using a javascript implementation of Foundation / CoreGraphics, etc. - similar to Objective-J / Cappuccino?
- joethompson 13y agoStill seems to be based on SproutCore. You can see the list of acknowledgements at the top of one of iWork's source files (https://beta.icloud.com/applications/iw/1ABeta108/editor/1ABeta108/en-us/javascript-packed.js https://beta.icloud.com/applications/iw/1ABeta108/editor/1AB...) to get a rough idea of what they're using.
- doe88 13y agoI guess it's a nice design but I really think it's wrong, really wrong to design a webapp like a native app and their apps look empty. For instance, I personally don't care about different kinds of templates in Pages, what I want is collaboration between different users, this is the whole point of the internet to enable synchronization, live updates and sharing... And imitating a desktop with sticky notes on it, it's unbelievable. I wonder if real people use their online apps, I can't imagine this is the case. All it shows to me is how much they don't get the Web and how much it's not in their DNA, it's scary.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago>> "For instance, I personally don't care about different kinds of templates in Pages, what I want is collaboration between different users" On the other hand I'm sure a lot of people do care about templates and would never use collaboration. I'm one of them. I don't create text documents often and have never needed to collaborate on one. Collaboration seems like more of an enterprise/business feature to me and that's a market Pages really doesn't seem meant for.
- drivebyacct2 13y agoLOL. You're not looking for an Office product from Apple then. And I say that as a happy buyer of Apple products, but come on. Emulating old school products and putting finesse above functionality? What else did you expect?
- hnriot 13y agoI have never understood why I can't get to photostream through this.
- k-mcgrady 13y agoI really like this redesign. The old one was horrible imo and I was worried they'd update iOS 7 and forget about iCloud (even though I don't use the website that often it would still bug me).
- k-mcgrady 13y agoInterestingly it looks like they're still using Google Maps in Find My iPhone. I wish they'd also change the name of that seeing as it finds iPhone's, iPad's, and Mac's.
- acak 13y agoHelvetica Neue - that wonderful font again. Sorry for being off-topic: can anyone please recommend a (legal/accepted) way for licensed use of Helvetica Neue on websites/apps without having to purchase it from expensive font vendors like Adobe or Myfonts?
- richbradshaw 13y agoRemember that all OSX/iOS users will be able to see it, so it may be that it's not an issue, depending on your demographic.
- naner 13y agoWeb use appears to start at 29$: http://www.fonts.com/font/linotype/neue-helvetica http://www.fonts.com/font/linotype/neue-helvetica http://www.linotype.com/1266/neuehelvetica-family.html http://www.linotype.com/1266/neuehelvetica-family.html
- richbradshaw 13y agoSo… how are they doing the blur before you log in? Quick poke around, can't see any -webkit-filter, and can't see any canvas…
- madisp 13y agolooks like they are doing it in javascript with data:image/png;base64 urls. Not sure if the blurs are precomputed/stored or computed in the browser.
- AsymetricCom 13y agoWorks quite well in FireFox, which is nice until you use the find my phone which requires Google API for some reason (which I have blocked). I prefer developers to use their own javascript. Why wouldn't they?
- esusatyo 13y agoI'm still curious what they're going to do about these apps: Find my friends, Airport Utility, Apple Remote, iTunes Connect Mobile, Apple Store.
- threeseed 13y agoProbably update them after iOS7 ships. It wouldn't surprise me if they are in the same position as external developers i.e. have to wait until iOS7 GM before the App Store will accept the binary.
- nhlx2 13y agoIs there a way to enable EMACS style bindings in the iCloud Beta iWorks programs? They work in iCloud Mail.