AppleInsider Staff
According to the well-connected John Gruber, iOS users will see a difference in the operating system's UI when iOS 7 is released presumably alongside the next-generation iPhone, but Apple is struggling to implement the changes on time.
Gruber, who runs Apple blog Daring Fireball, said Senior Vice President of Industrial Design and new head of Human Interface Jony Ive has apparently made noticeable visual tweaks to Apple's mobile platform. So much so, that "word on the street" has it that iOS engineers are required to put a polarizing filter over their iPhone displays to prevent onlookers from getting a glimpse of the new UI.
The rumor was revealed in a Branch discussion regarding the latest Apple talk, with a number of well-known bloggers airing out their thoughts on what the company has in store for 2013.
Rene Ritchie of iMore, another well-informed blogger, chimed in, saying, "Ive's work is apparently making many people really happy, but will also apparently make rich-texture-loving designers sad." The quip is in regard to the skeuomorphic designs seen in iOS 6, such as the stitching elements found in Apple's Find My Friends app.
Gruber claims that iOS 7 development is "running behind," prompting OS X 10.9 engineers to be pulled from their work to lend a hand in getting the mobile OS ready in time for launch.
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91 Comments
I am cautiously optimistic. I think Tim and other execs felt extreme embarrassment over the Maps fiasco. I think they not only want to wow us again with many improvements but also test the hell out of it to avoid any bad press similar to what ensued with 6.0. I expect 7 to be the biggest change to iOS since they added the app store.
A universal UI needs to be implemented between iOS and OS X. Hopefully sooner than later. This will surely benefit new Apple customers with ease of use and familiarity between the iOS devices and Macs. The experience is too messy right now. Do it right though, Apple, even it if takes time.
I hope they take their time. Redesigning iOS is a massive, and complex endeavor, seeing as how hundreds of millions of people use it and love it on a myriad of devices. Whatever new UI paradigms they implement will need to last for the next decade. There's also the vehemently anti-Apple press that will tear them a new one if there's any flaws/bugs/complexities/usability/compatibility issues. I'm looking forward to it, but they need to take their time and only unveil it when it's ready. On top of that, no doubt they're also redesigning OSX in parallel for unity of UI and features. This is quite possibly the biggest and most important software overhaul in Apple's history. The stakes couldn't be any higher.
So, if Apple is moving away from rich-texture designs and is opting for simple, then what's the point of a retina display, if the OS won't be taking full advantage of it? I'm not sure what I think of this new direction, but I guess that we'll know soon enough.
As for OS X and iOS, I hope that an OS X user sitting on a Mac Pro is not using an iOS desktop in the future. As for me, I haven't upgraded past Snow Leopard yet, and it's not because I don't have 19 dollars.
[quote name="Apple ][" url="/t/156785/rumor-ios-7-to-see-significant-overhaul-development-running-behind-schedule#post_2304045"]So, if Apple is moving away from rich-texture designs and is opting for simple, then what's the point of a retina display, if the OS won't be taking full advantage of it? I'm not sure what I think of this new direction, but I guess that we'll know soon enough. As for OS X and iOS, I hope that an OS X user sitting on a Mac Pro is not using an iOS desktop in the future. As for me, I haven't upgraded past Snow Leopard yet, and it's not because I don't have 19 dollars. [/quote] That's stupid. Look at the passbook app for example, very flat and simple. Compare it on an iPhone 3GS and iPhone 5. The differences are huge.