Apple on Thursday issued a major update for its iBooks application, giving it a cleaner and simpler look in line with the company's design for the iOS 7 platform.
iBooks version 3.2 for both iPhone and iPad is now available for download from the iOS App Store. The free update ditches the skeuomorphic look of its predecessor in favor of a simplified appearance.
While iBooks previously feature a digital wooden bookshelf that would rotate like a hidden entrance to access the iBookstore, the new application features a greyish-white background where titles are displayed. Accessing the store now simply jumps to a new window where titles can be purchased.
The iBooks icon for iOS has also been updated with an orange gradient background behind a white illustration of an open book.
The same color scheme is also used in the new icon for iTunes U version 1.4, which features a graduate's cap as the centerpiece of its logo. Its new virtual bookshelf is similar in appearance to the redesign of iBooks.
The release notes for both updates state that the applications have been given "an all-new look and feel" bringing them in line with iOS 7.
With Thursday's updates, almost all of Apple's downloadable applications for iOS 7 have been updated with fresh new looks for iOS 7. The most significant remaining outlier is Find My Friends, which continues to feature skeuomorphic stitched leather textures prominently throughout the application.
65 Comments
Kinda prefered the skewmorphic designs of old but such is technology - you either adapt & move on or you get left behind.
Glad to see the bookshelf skeumorphism go away. Now if Apple would just allow PDFs to scroll vertically.
Page curls live on! :D
I used to love iBooks. But when you compare the prices of a kindle book vs an iBooks book. It's insane how much cheaper kindle books are! How did apple get successfully sued for price fixing?
I like the iBooks update for iOS - definitely cleaner when reading (although I will admit I kinda liked the faux-wood bookshelf look in the "old" version). Now I'm hoping for an update to the OSX version for better management of ePubs & PDFs in a more similar manner to how we used to do it in iTunes...and even more imporantly (to me) a simpler (i.e. drag-n-drop, not forced sync) means of dropping titles from OSX onto an iDevice...