Following a report sharing supposed details of OS X 10.9, 9to5Mac has also posted some major new details about iOS 7. According to the report, iOS 7 will feature a major interface redesign, and will take on a new “flatter” user interface, as well as an even simpler design compared to previous versions of iOS.
According to multiple people who have either seen or have been briefed on the upcoming iOS 7, the operating system sports a redesigned user-interface that will be attractive to new iOS users, but potentially unsettling for those who are long-accustomed to the platform…
The new interface is said to be “very, very flat,” according to one source. Another person said that the interface loses all signs of gloss, shine, and skeuomorphism seen across current and past versions of iOS. Another source framed the new OS as having a level of “flatness” approaching recent releases of Microsoft’s Windows Phone “Metro” UI.
The report is anything but surprising – when Jony Ive was given control over Apple’s Human Interface teams for iOS and OS X in the corporate reshuffle that saw Scott Forstall ousted from Apple, many suspected that future versions of iOS and OS X would drop many of the skeumorphic design elements that Forstall was fond of in favor of Jony Ive’s preference for cleaner, flatter industrial designs.
While the report notes that the changes might be unsettling to long-time users of iOS, they also speculate that new users of iOS will find the changes rather attractive. Among the design changes will a series of new “at a glance” panels for system settings, which will reportedly be similar in design and function to the current iOS Notification Center.
The changes will also include a new icon set for Apple’s native iOS apps, and redesigned toolbars and taskbars. They also revealed that the update is going by the codename “Innsbruck’, after an Austrian city famous for skiing.
The report also makes a few notes about Apple’s WWDC 2013 logo, and how it hints on the likely changes to iOS 7, as well as pointing out that the changes reflect much of Apple’s recent increased focus on simplicity. It will be interesting to see what the finished product looks like. iOS 7 is expected to be unveiled at the WWDC keynote on June 10th.
