iOS 7 is 'Black, White, and Flat All Over'

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Posted May 24, 2013 at 3:14pm by iClarified

More details about Apple's redesign of iOS have surfaced ahead of its unveiling at WWDC 2013. Sources tell 9to5Mac that iOS 7 will be “black, white, and flat all over” dropping the heavy textures and skeuomorphism found in earlier versions of the operating system.

Led by Jonathan Ive, Apple has re-architected iOS 7's new interface multiple times over the past few months. Although things could change before WWDC, the site's sources provide a look at the changes Apple has been testing in recent weeks. Notably, Ive has been making his mark on every corner of the operating system.

Starting with the lock screen, Apple is said to have dropped the shiny, transparent time bar the top of the screen for a shine-free, black interface. The square grid for entering your pin has been replaced with round, black buttons with white text and white borders. Lock screen notifications may gain improved manipulability via gestures.

Ive has reportedly convinced the design team to replace many of the linen and leather textures in iOS. For example, the leather in the calendar app has been replaced with flat white and black coloring. The Notification Center's linen background has been replaced with a dark grey/black color with white text. Notification Center is also set to receive new panels to quickly access information such as localized news feeds. Apple is also testing a panel for Wi-Fi, Airplane Mode, and Bluetooth toggles.

The home screen is said to be similar to previous versions of iOS; however, some of the icons lose their shine, shadows, and gloss for a more flat design. The camera, photos, and game center icons are mentioned for having new flat designs. An additional feature that will reportedly be added is panorama-like wallpapers (images that pan as Home screens are swiped).

Navigation bars, tab bars, and the keyboard are said to have been redesigned to remove gradient textures. In some apps, the status bar appears less transparent, according to the source.

Many of the built-in apps have seen changes. Passbook drops its shredding animation. Notes gets a flat white look instead of a yellow notepad design. Interestingly, some of the key apps have been given a unique button color. Essentially, each app has a white base with a respective color theme. Apple's new weather app is said to feature slightly animated images to denote types of weather. Game Center has lost its green felt. Newsstand has removed the wood shelf interface and replaced it with a texture similar to the OS X dock. Safari's tab views has been tweaked. The App Store/iTunes Store gets a flatter, white look and FaceTime may get its own standalone app for iPhone, similar to how it is on the iPad.

Apple will officially unveil its changes to the operating system on June 10th, 2013 at WWDC. Stay tuned!

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iOS 7 is 'Black, White, and Flat All Over'

[Dirk Jan Haarsma]

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Anonymous - May 29, 2013 at 2:41am

More flat? The buttons are already completely flat! Seriously, the only buttons developers can put in without re-writing the ENTIRE Cocoa-Touch library are literally white rectangles with slightly rounded edges and a thin blue outline. It is like it came from the 80's.

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Anonymous - May 29, 2013 at 2:35am

They are getting rid of that gorgeous linen texture? As I keep telling my friends and family, Apple was the pinnacle of excellence until Steve Jobs died, and Tim Cook is killing it. He has already ruined the iTunes interface so it is impossible to use, destroyed the testing phase of apps so they are released before any bugs are fixed, and now he is killing the most successful OS on the mobile market. It is as if he wants to kill Steve's legacy. The only way he could have done more damage to Apple is if he killed Steve Jobs before the cancer could. Tim, if you are reading this, what you are doing is like trying to revolutionize the car by removing the seats and engine. You are pushing the users away by pulling the floor right out from under them, and you are making sure the users who stay have an uncomfortable, bumpy, and slow ride. Do you think Steve would be proud of this? You are the little mosquito picking on a giant, and you will remain that way until you stop seeking to make a place for yourself. What you do not realize is that Steve chose you for a reason, and you stomping all over him so people will notice you. I, personally, dread the day iOS is "upgraded" in this way. iOS has always been about being so simple and fast that new users could pick it up and know how to use it to it's fullest effect, but it was also about giving them something that they want to use. If you get rid of the nice textures and colors, the iPhone will look and feel like a relic from the early 50's. It will feel like that new typewriter that came out just BEFORE the computer (whatever it was called). Sure, it was as good as the first computers, but it was left in the dust within six months. What Apple needs to do is this: stop trying to defeat the competition. Android is miles behind and Windows 8 isn't even on the same planet. Make the little changes that make the iPhone better. The specifications are nice enough, but the new iPhone still feels a bit sluggish. Try optimizing the kernel, add OpenCL so the "real" applications for commercial quality applications can be ported to the iPhone, and give developers access to more of the power the phone has to offer. I mean, it sucks that apps are forced to quit when they start to use a lot of memory, especially when they need the memory to do intensive tasks that should be run on the GPU instead. In short, focus on making the users AND developers happy now that your competition is so far behind.

Anonymous - May 29, 2013 at 3:05am

By the way, Tim, if you have anything to say to me, feel free to post reply here or zip off a tweet to dspawn39. I really didn't mean for the above comment to sound so rude -- I was just upset and a bit crazier than usual. I really do care about the future of Apple, and I always will.

Anonymous - May 29, 2013 at 1:02pm

I think before you start ranting you should do a bit more research. Tim Cooks not responsible for the design of iOS but rather Scott Forstall who was the former vice president for iOS software. There had been a lot of criticism for the designs and choices made for iOS such as Apple Maps, Siri and including the textures found in some of the apps like notes and game centre. Because of this, and i'm sure there are other complicated reasons, his position had been replaced by Jony Ive to better design what iOS should be like. And don't think there was too much pressure on Forstall, he made that outcome. If you like what iOS has to offer, fine, just don't upgrade your device when it comes out. It's harder than you think to perfect a mobile operating system to target a wide variety of users. I think it's about time they focus on the design of iOS.

Perone - May 28, 2013 at 1:59pm

The screenshot pictured here is a really nice weather interface. I still think Solar should be the standard weather app though.

iName - May 26, 2013 at 4:00pm

I need a complete overhaul of how notifications are handled. I wa nt to be able to respond to a message without leaving my app! I want third party apps to have better access to my phone so that I can set my own default browser and mail apps. I want a download manager for safari that allows me to upload files from my phone to whatever website I choose. I want a smartphone.

Jack Black - June 3, 2013 at 5:53am

Sounds like u want a jailbroken iphone. I can do all of what you just said now.

neo11 - May 26, 2013 at 12:12am

sounds like a big step backwards. too bad. we have this powerful device with great screen. flat, black and white - ??? I like skeuomorphism when done well... When done poorly it stinks, but when done well it's nice. oh well, I guess we'll have to see how apple does this. And I hope they give us options to keep a little decent look and feel... if wanted. I like 3d, texture, shadow... I think that android has it right when they let you have the phone look like you like. I may not want screens full of widgets, but at least I have the option. I certainly don't like the look of win 8 tiles... although I think it's an idea that could be expanded on... apple should have themes, then you could choose the flat and stark and simple theme, or go for 3d, colorful, textured - whatever best of both worlds,

AppleTecGuy - May 25, 2013 at 10:48pm

anyone know of a release date for iOS 7?

Anonymous - May 29, 2013 at 1:07pm

The announcements on the 10th of june. Knowing Apple it will probably be another 3 months after the announcement until it's released.

The boss - May 25, 2013 at 2:23pm

Some of you guys need to calm down I bet when iOS 7 comes out its going to be another whole design they can be testing you you may never know ,

Dirk Diggler - May 25, 2013 at 5:31pm

You're not the boss of me!!!

Kevin - May 27, 2013 at 2:53am

What a child. I actually can't wait for iOS 7. Personally I like clean and flat designs for an operating system. Something easy to use. I like the Android Operating System also, but the thing is, there are way too many options. Where you have to go into option into option into option to get where you need to go. I guess iOS is like that also, but just seems to be more.. simple.

MehSayer - May 25, 2013 at 9:43am

Would flat design increase the battery performance?? ha.. I don't really like what I'm going to see... The flat design was for the old phone that is limited to do the things when it comes to users to use the phone. Most phones in these days have a eye opening screen panels and it seems to me that using flat design with just simple black and white color scheme is actually way of defeating the purpose of having a large and high density screen...

jocko - May 25, 2013 at 9:25am

This is why I switched to the S4. boring crap like this.

RickvanR - May 25, 2013 at 4:40am

Way to Go, Apple. Clarity and Simplicity is the way forward. It's like the looks of CNN and CNN International, so much more with the times.

beezmark - May 25, 2013 at 3:37am

Apple is history....

Let's wait and see, kids! - May 24, 2013 at 10:52pm

Let's all chill, ok? We'll see what they've been working on soon enough. I for one find the image in this article pretty sleek, wouldn't mind at all if that was representative of the new look Apple is going for. I personally found all the textures and shiny stuff kinda cartoonish, to be honest. Either way, we'll know soon enough. (p.s. I don't want to seem too reasonable with this post, so let me just add that you can all toss my salad. So there.)

iH85CH001 - May 24, 2013 at 10:41pm

I'm serious people… If this is what iOS 7 is, I'm seriously gonna get myself a BlackBerry Z10.

Mikael - May 24, 2013 at 5:35pm

Flat or not..?? Who gives a F.. I jusst want some nice function updates and easier shortcuts for example settings.. I love my iphone.. Its jusst works and get straight to the point.. Peace

iH85CH001 - May 24, 2013 at 10:42pm

I agree....

SirSabatoge - May 24, 2013 at 5:27pm

I think these rumors are purposely being put out there, so when the real thing comes out people are like WOW, that was unexpected, and just fall in love with it.

KJ - May 24, 2013 at 5:25pm

What is flat ??!! Seriously!! I feel Apple is loosing the game

Ken - May 24, 2013 at 5:43pm

Perhaps they should tighten the game then...

Simon - May 25, 2013 at 7:21am

Lol! That's what she said

DavidG - May 24, 2013 at 5:19pm

I'm Keeping an open mind here due to apple's history of esthetically pleasing OS but it does sound crappy and even more boring. No mention of any personal customization to it still. Nonetheless, I might be pleasantly surprised so I will wait and see if its an Improvement or not. Doesn't look good though judging from this article.

xol - May 24, 2013 at 5:15pm

just look into a samsung or htc phone, break the sick cycle buying their overpriced shit, dont be an iSheep

iPhone 5 - May 26, 2013 at 4:12am

how about not being robot and wait for months and months for updates and how about optimizing the performance of robot os and dare to bring more stable os than the perfect stable and ultra fast ios even that it doesn't look colorized and stylish , it is still the most secured and staple os ever released don't say android is perfect because I use Note 10.1 and even that I only installed one game it is really hanging and getting real slow and there isn't enough games and apps in play store

Artcrimes - May 24, 2013 at 4:40pm

Things that defined and represented the Macintosh platform are now (probably) gone. All these years of developement and evolutoion are thrown into the trash can, simply because the wrong man got the wrong job. I can feel Steve's absence ...

Artcrimes - May 24, 2013 at 4:41pm

*evolution

Pete - May 24, 2013 at 4:17pm

Really Apple? Seriously? What is this flat design? It is not even pretty. Maybe game makers should also start using "stick men" instead of pretty 3D images. Flat is a thing from the past - like black and white movies. The one thing that people like about their iPhones is the non-flat design. If Apple are trying to loose customers - they should go flat for sure. That is plain and simple step back. Actually no - several steps back

pete - May 24, 2013 at 4:21pm

Oh, One more thing - If I want flat - I will get flat - there are already few options on the market.

FltDe - May 24, 2013 at 4:35pm

Game makers use flat design. It's more common now a days. iOS is not a game, or do you think so? Flat design should be used and is a step forward in user experience. NOT steps backwards. You want to live in the past dude!