
Apple Introduces iOS 7 - llambda
http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/10/apple-ios-7/
======
grey-area
I really like this - they've taken the best ideas they found in WebOS
(flicking cards), Windows Phone (flat UI, but NOT the idea of live squares, or
the ugly typography), and Android (swipe screen and more swipe notifications,
what else?). It'd be nice if others looked again at WebOS as we lost a lot of
good ideas there - I still feel like they could radically reinvent multi-
tasking and just let apps present as many cards as they want in stacks or
something, base it all around cards/views rather than apps.

The typography looks nice - Helvetica Neue works well on devices with a retina
display, though we've yet to see how it works on older devices, perhaps iOS 7
will require retina?

I'm really pleased to see they've removed some of the tasteless fake leather
etc that iOS previously indulged in (compass app, games centre etc), while
retaining hints of real depth and physical relations where it actually helps
the design (as in the translucent keyboard). I wonder how much of that was
stuff that Steve personally insisted on?

Some of the icons could do with some polish, but it's hard to redesign an
entire set probably coordinating with different teams and keep them all up to
the same standard - I'm sure revisions to those will come with time, and at
least we've lost all that faux 3D render effect which doesn't work so well at
small scale - these flatter logos are an improvement in most cases I think,
though things like the photos app icon don't make sense to me. The radio and
itunes icons are an example of something that works extremely well in this
style though.

There are far better screenshots on this other story:

[http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/10/live-blog-
wwdc-2013-keynote...](http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/10/live-blog-
wwdc-2013-keynote/)

~~~
sinnerswing
Free iTunes Radio. No subscription. I'm in.

Edit:

Without iTunes Match = Free iTunes Radio (with ads).

With iTunes Match = Free iTunes Radio (without ads).

~~~
youngerdryas
If you have iTunes Match.

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infinia
I like the design overall, but am I the only person who thinks these icons are
awful? In particular, the color palette they used and the ugly gradients used
(app store icon).

~~~
badusername
Agree with the almost-amateurish feel to those icons. Many of those icons seem
ill-proportioned to me, especially the icons for Messages.

~~~
andrewmunsell
Personally, this was exactly like what I was thinking-- to me, some of those
icons look like bad mockup-stage design. Some of those gradients, in my
opinion, are pretty bad and do not work.

~~~
drinchev
Well you can never tell this, until you see it on your phone. Most of the
icons may look like a basic photoshop tutorial, but still that's the
minimalistic approach of flat design.

You've got a really different view of something ( a gradient ) outside of it
context ( the whole UI ) and the same element as part of a whole design. That
wasn't pretty obvious to the great super-pixel-detailed skeuromorphic design,
where each icon was a whole design, but I'm pretty sure we'll speak
differently by the end of the year when we get that iOS and evaluate the
change for real.

Take a look at their new demo paga [1] it looks pretty nice and flattened. I'm
afraid of what will happen to the 3rd party apps, that will not get a flat-
design update.

[1] : [http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/](http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/)

~~~
andrewmunsell
Even looking at their site, the mail icon drives me nuts. Personally, I don't
like the cyan-to-blue because it looks odd that the gradient shifts so
dramatically in hue. The Twitter icon, on the other hand, is fine because it's
not really a shift in hue but in lightness.

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bhauer
I'm sure it will be repeated indefinitely, but I might as well kick it off:

Looks a lot like it was inspired a bit by Android and a bit by Windows Phone.
To my eye, the font looks like an Android device and the rest of the UI looks
like Windows Phone.

Note: this is a good thing. The old iOS looked tired and dated.

~~~
tptacek
I feel like all of the design and promotion in this WWDC was a notch or two
less egocentric than the mean of the last 5 WWDCs; even their tagline has
become less idiosyncratic ("the intersection of liberal arts and [whatever
else it was]") to "making good products people love". They made fun of
themselves relentlessly ("no stitching, yet the calendar doesn't fall off the
screen") and showcased unrepentantly nerdy features. It felt a little like a
shift from the Apple of Jobs to the Apple of California, down to the new OS X
names.

~~~
kunai
I agree; this was a developer's conference first, and a product unveiling
second. As much as I hate to say it, I think I like Cook's, Federighi's, and
Ive's Apple more than I liked Jobs', Serlet's, and Forstall's Apple.

They care more, they listen, and that speaks a lot.

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cromwellian
The Mobile Safari tab switcher looks like a clone of Chrome of iOS/Android.
Control Center? Christ, that's been in Android for ages.

What irritates me is that other companies get accused all the time of copying
the smallest things from Apple, even microphone icons, gloss, or rounded
corners.

However, Apple clearly was a late comer on many of these features, and they
are inspired, and in some cases, downright cloned, and they're going to get a
pass.

What if Google had a patent on Chrome's tab switcher and sued Apple? Or on a
Power Controls setting pane? Or on cross-device open-tab sharing? There's be
outrage among Apple users, because people just don't seem to see Apple
building on other people's designs, because Apple presents all of them as
major, radical innovations without acknowledgement of their prior existence.

I wish all of the claims of theft and copying would get dropped, I don't have
a problem with Apple "stealing shamlessly" the ideas of others, I just wish
they'd stop going nuclear when other people do it.

~~~
sinnerswing
>The Mobile Safari tab switcher looks like a clone of Chrome of iOS/Android.
Control Center? Christ, that's been in Android for ages.

You mentioned 2 features out of 1,000 Apple showed this morning. Google copied
the entire concept and design of the iPhone. Big difference.

~~~
kunai
I hate Google for their lack of respect for privacy, but I disagree. Copied is
pushing it, definitely. I'd say "inspired". There has been plenty, plenty of
innovation on Google's side.

Also, the concept of a capacitive touchscreen existed before the iPhone, take
the LG Prada. Apple wasn't the first to do it. They were the first to do it
right, and if people are inspired to improve upon it further, I see that as a
great, positive thing, not a bad thing. I don't see how you could call
yourself a hacker with that kind of mentality.

~~~
cromwellian
Since I work at Google, you'll have to qualify that claim, because in my
opinion, Google has more respect for user data than most other companies.

The iPhone 4 actually looked like an LG Prada as well.

James Hahn demonstrated many of the multitouch gestures before Apple, proving
that other people were coming up with the same ideas independently as soon as
the tech for detecting multiple touches accurately was available (capacitive
touch)

Apple did bring a lot of things together in the iPhone 1, but that shouldn't
give them the right to own the entire concept of a touch screen phone, nor
should they be allowed to hamper competition through stupid patents like the
data-tapping patent.

Imagine if IBM had patented the PC or Xerox the UI, and aggressively sued
anyone who tried to use them, as well as refusing to license at a reasonable
rate. The entire PC revolution, which was kicked off by cloning and free-form
building on the work of competitors, might have been hampered.

Apple stands on the shoulders of giants too, and they should not attempt to
cripple those that want to stand on their shoulders.

~~~
twistedpair
IBM did quite the opposite of Apple. Remember that they invented the FFT? They
patented and released it into the public domain. They wanted you to use more
computers and FFT's required computers. Quite far from the ambient
retrotacular patent land grabs like Apple just now patenting NFC POS payments
with a phone that have been out for many years.

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refrigerator
I'm not a fan of the icons at all :( The gradients and bright colours make it
look too cartoony and childish, and some of the icons themselves (eg phone,
safari) look strange.

I quite like the typography and new design style for apps though, so overall I
think it's pretty good. The messaging app definitely looks inspired by Windows
Phone, but I haven't really got a problem with that.

~~~
kunai
I like the color scheme. It's positive and fresh, I think Windows Phone 8
looks drab, bland, and very boring in comparison.

Android's Holo is still one of the best color schemes for a mobile device,
IMHO.

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ChrisClark
Seems like they took the best design of both stock Android and Windows Phone.

Really slick. They've also added a few of the great features from Android and
Chrome too, catching up a bit.

I think people will be happy with this.

~~~
psbp
Also a ton of webOS. They copied cards for safari and multi-tasking more than
Android has.

~~~
thecosas
I was confused that they used different interactions for safari tabs vs
multitasking. I feel like the multitasking interaction is cleaner ie.
right/left swipe to change tabs, swipe up to dismiss.

Note: the only bad thing I noticed haha.

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abe_duarte
Don't like the icons either and the typography and "simple" design looks like
Android 4.0... hmmm

It was a necessary change though, after so many years.

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nu2ycombinator
I like old icons with a reflection on the glass dock. Flat UI is not an eye
pleasure.

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mladenkovacevic
So will developers have to redesign their apps to bring the visual look more
in line with this new version of iOS? The old iOS had such a defined design
language, I wonder if opening an app that doesn't have the new "flat" look
will feel terribly inconsistent or jarring.

The free radio service sounds unbelievable though. I'm very jealous of iOS
users just for that (even though I'm not a big music listener)

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ashbrahma
Looks like the cards concept was inspired by Palm OS.

~~~
jonah
And that's a Good Thing TM.

~~~
joeblau
But Tim said he doesn't like copying.

~~~
jonah
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU)

------
S_A_P
This is a damned if they do, damned if they dont moment for Apple. The UI
needed a refresh. They have to follow design trends that make sense. The
mobile UI is maturing and standardizing since there have been a lot of smart
people thrown at the problem. I think the design is classy, functional and is
refreshing. I dont know that there is a "best" in class anymore. I think WP
stepped up the UI frontier and Android seems to get the message that things
need to have good design aesthetic. I dont think apple nailed every aspect of
the refresh, and its not perfect. I do think that it will provide a solid
foundation to move iOS forward, and Im very glad they got away from
skeuomorphic design. I've never been much of a fan of that design, as it
usually ends up negating all the advantages of software UI.

~~~
bblatnick
The thing I don't like with this is that Apple, with Jobs, used to set the
trends in UI not follow them.

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cpeterso
> _Instead of white bars on a black background, Apple will now tell you what
> kind of service coverage you have with five little dots, which are white and
> grey depending on how strong the signal is across a translucent background._

I don't understand why Apple dropped signal bars for "dots". The term "bars"
for cell signal is common, mainstream terminology. The dots take up more
status bar space than the bars (unless Apple really plans to remove the
carrier name from the status bar).

Perhaps Apple is trying to marginalize the carrier's branding and distance
themselves from "signal-gate" by not using the common "bar" terminology? In
the future, there will be no cell networks, only FaceTime. And bars will be
obsolete.

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drinchev
I'm pretty curious will this affect 3rd party apps, like Facebook and Twitter.
Apple didn't show them on the demo ( and any other 3rd party app ), so
basically we should be careful of how we design apps in the future!

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bblatnick
Jobs must be rolling in his grave with this UI.

~~~
gcb0
a demo where you can't read[1] the labels...

copying microsoft design for icons.

ouch.

[1] [http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/10/apple-ios-7/scaled-
screen-s...](http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/10/apple-ios-7/scaled-screen-
shot-2013-06-10-at-2-22-42-pm/)

~~~
danabramov
What you're linking to is not iOS7 but a mockup done by 9to5mac.

Oh, wait.

~~~
gcb0
[http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/](http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/)

not really :) see the "control center" pic there, same icons... i think...
plus a mother of pearl background on the dialog... ugh.

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jmduke
From a corporate perspective: Apple's pretty much wholesale using Google's new
design philosophy now, with some stuff grabbed from WP and webOS along the
way. This really isn't helping the innovation debate too much.

From a personal perspective: Yay! I have an iPad and iPhone and I'm looking
forward to them looking much better.

~~~
eurleif
Great artists steal?

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brunnsbe
Change the white background to gray and you have the design of Nokia's N9 user
interface (which isn't a bad thing).

Ps. Actually I must check how to change the background on my N9 to give it a
fresh look. ;-)

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AHconsidered
iOS 7 is a lesson in beauty and in simplicity.

~~~
bookwormAT
Not a lesson. But a lesson well learned.

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westonh
I really hope we have an option to use Google Maps for all these in-the-car
features.

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perlpimp
Too bad people don't speak about the fact that Apple participates in PRISM, at
least that should've tarnished their products release. Instead you have glib
masses waiting for handmedowns of great products(electronic collars) in
exchange for liberty and right to privacy.

~~~
msh
umm, thats not special to apple, their competitors also do it, and I guess
most large US companies.

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daigoba66
It's not "flat", it's layered. I like that.

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johnvschmitt
They allow changing Wifi settings without even unlocking the phone.

Be really careful about letting anyone touch your phone, esp. at
conferences/airports. A hacker could setup an easy MITM Wifi, to capture all
of your traffic. But, now, without unlocking your phone (but still getting
their physical hands on it), they can connect your phone to the Wifi SSID of
their MITM attack network.

Then, you're just surfing facebook, email, bank sites, & everything looks 100%
legit. Meanwhile all of that traffic is going through their wifi & they can
capture your sessions & impersonate you. Nasty stuff.

All it'd take is one malicious network, and a band of attractive agents to
shmooze unsuspecting people into showing them their phones to harvest tons of
sessions & data.

~~~
tptacek
Are you sure about this?

~~~
johnvschmitt
From the article:

"Control Center is a pull-up tray that is available in your lock screen.

You can adjust brightness, volume, and other settings including Wifi, Airplane
mode, rotation lock, or Bluetooth. "

~~~
masklinn
In the demos/screenshots it looked like fast switches where you could enable-
disable things (wifi, bluetooth, airplane, flashlight), nothing more.

edit:
[http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/features/](http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/features/)
confirms it

> _Turn on or off Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb_. Lock
> your screen’s orientation or adjust its brightness. Play, pause, or skip a
> song. Connect to AirPlay-enabled devices. And quickly access your
> flashlight, timer, calculator, and camera.

(emphasis mine)

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matmann2001
When other companies update a mobile OS, it gives the phone new features, not
just a new font and icons.

~~~
wmeredith
There's a ton of new features. Not sure what you're talking about.

~~~
matmann2001
List the innovative ones.

~~~
DannoHung
What counts as an innovation?

~~~
matmann2001
Something that greatly improves everyday use of the device, but isn't a ripoff
of something that's been on several versions of Android already.

