Apple's iOS 7 triggers App Store refresh as developers adopt its design cues

Just in time for the public release of Apple's new iOS 7, a series of new iOS 7-savvy apps will hit the iTunes App Store sporting new looks and new technology under the surface.

At its June Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple invited third party developers to adopt the fresh new design it unveiled for iOS 7, while emphasizing that for Apple, design is "more than the way something looks; it's the whole thing, the way something actually works on so many different levels."

Lots of iOS developers have been rethinking the design their apps in the months since, and a variety of new apps will become available tomorrow alongside the release of iOS 7.

In August, Twitterrific developer Craig Hockenberry reported that 95 percent of the 575 developers he surveyed said they were working to add support for iOS 7 features, and 52 percent said they were working on apps that would require the new software.

Threadflip Simplifies

One example is Threadflip, a social app designed to buy, sell and discover fashion finds. It's design team was inspired to "dramatically simplify and emphasize the visual elements" on their mobile shopping platform, dropping the existing versions' heavy menus and rows of buttons for a streamlined presentation espousing iOS 7's edge to edge graphics, borderless buttons and an clean, uncluttered overall presentation.

Threadflip noted that iOS users are its most important demographic, generating three times more engagement within the app compared to web users. App users contribute 80 percent of Threadflip's daily new listings and half of the company's purchases are made via the app.

The company, which has its new iOS 7 app approved for release tomorrow, also noted that efforts to develop for iOS 7 triggered an internal evaluation of how the company could improve its visual experience on other platforms as well, including desktop and mobile web apps.

News360 Illuminates

Newsreader app News360 similarly described iOS 7 as influencing a "rethink" for every screen within the the app, discarding old user interface "baggage" including heavy textures and complex navigation (below).

Following the "complete overhaul," the app now features similar edge to edge visuals that blend into the formerly static status bar, more subtle navigation controls, and a luminous, simplified topic picker (below).

Along with the visual overhaul, the developer also notes that the redesign afforded an opportunity to check a variety of planned features off their internal to-do list. The new edition of the News360 will also be available tomorrow.

Apple teases a series of major app updates

The company presented a brief glimpse (below) of a grid of a couple dozen revamped new iOS 7 apps, ranging from Facebook and Twitter to Evernote and PayPal, during its keynote presentation last week.

Source: iOS 7 apps in Apple video still, via Buzzfeed

Buzzfeed tried to identify as many of the apps as it could from the blurry still, but only managed to name about half of them.

Of those it could make out, it's clear that developers are embracing the focus on full edge to edge visuals, cleaner presentations, and stripping shiny gloss bevels and textured bars of buttons in favor of iOS 7's luminous depth, layered translucency, more elegant lines and simpler icons (below).

In addition to the new appearance, iOS 7 offers developers features including AirDrop and expanded sharing, new Multitasking support for background updates, Sprite Kit and new Game Center features, iBeacon support for Bluetooth LE, Inter-App Audio for streaming audio between music apps, new Map Kit features for navigation and overlays, high frame rate video capture, custom video composition and barcode scanning.

iOS 7 will also introduce support for the iPhone 5s with Touch ID, incorporating Apple's latest and most advanced 64-bit A7 Application Processor.