Auxo Shows Off a Redesigned iOS App Switcher

[MacRumors]

Apple has spent little focus updating its iOS app switcher since it was introduced with iOS 4, so designer @Sentry_NC decided to try his hand at a new concept for app switching.

In October, he created a mockup on The Verge forums of an iOS app switcher that takes advantage of the iPhone 5's elongated screen, providing easy access to settings and additional app management tools.

Though it was originally designed as just a concept, the Auxo iOS app switcher has now become a reality as a jailbreak tweak after Sentry teamed up with two app developers.

Auxo's design allows users to control apps with intuitive touch gestures. For example, sliding down on an app closes it, while swiping left reveals both music controls and toggle controls for adjusting brightness and turning Wi-Fi on and off. The video below, from iDownloadBlog, demonstrates how Auxo works.

The Auxo tweak may be limited to jailbroken devices, but it serves as an impressive example of the improvements that could be made to future versions of iOS if Apple takes notice. Auxo is not currently available, but it is coming soon to Cydia for jailbroken iOS 6 devices.

Article Link: Auxo Shows Off a Redesigned iOS App Switcher

[ECUpirate44]

The iPhone 5 jailbreak can't come soon enough. This looks like something that Apple, dare I say "used to" put out.

[kockgunner]

Originally Posted by ECUpirate44

The iPhone 5 jailbreak can't come soon enough. This looks like something that Apple, dare I say "used to" put out.

This doesn't look like anything Apple has ever put out. I know people think Apple is the best company so anything "cool" seems like something Apple would have done, but Apple has never put toggles or quick access to brightness sliders except on desktops. This does however look like something Apple MAY put out.

[Tuan X]

Me Want Now..

[gmanist1000]

This is a great implementation that I could see Apple doing. Would love to see it in iOS 7 :P

[yearofthe]

They will soon buy it out and make it exclusive to iPhone 5S.

[camnchar]

Apple needs to hire these folks.

[L-U-R-C-H]

Wow, that's way cool. Apple should hire these guys and implement these features.

[Bubba Satori]

Wow, that's amazing innovation.

[Risco]

I bet he gets a nice little email from Apple offering him a job. Simply but effective, a nice play on the card system while staying true to iOS. I wonder you can reorder the cards or keep them as "stickies"?

[irDigital0l]

Only complaint is the double tap. My iPhone 4's button is basically 50% chance of usability now. Pressing the home button so many times a day for so many years eventually wears it out.

Apparently Apple is already thinking of replacing the home button which makes sense.

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patentl...me-button.html

Hopefully we'll see this as well as haptic, virtual home button.

[AirThis]

Great app, excellent ergonomics. The two finger delete is awesome. It would be nice to have a gesture to access multitasking in the future instead of using the home button.

[Mackan]

Originally Posted by camnchar

Apple needs to hire these folks.

I can't imagine Apple being so stagnant they need to hire people to implement something simple as this.

[iChrist]

Originally Posted by camnchar

Apple needs to hire these folks.

That would be a waste of money. The guy posted all the details in this video and it is free to try. Apple can just copy the good ideas, of which there are only a couple.

[WilliamLondon]

Originally Posted by yearofthe

They will soon buy it out and make it exclusive to iPhone 5S.

If by soon you mean 2nd half of 2013 when the new iPhone will be launched.

[jordexj]

Originally Posted by yearofthe

They will soon buy it out and make it exclusive to iPhone 5S.

That's exactly what I was thinking... or they'll try to figure out a way to imitate it so they can save money... just like what they did to that app "growl" for the the mac...

[GoCubsGo]

Pretty sure this is something that people have wanted more than silly Facebook integration. I really hope this comes in iOS 7, but really wish it could become much sooner.

[dopeytree]

Originally Posted by jessica.

Pretty sure this is something that people have wanted more than silly Facebook integration. I really hope this comes in iOS 7, but really wish it could become much sooner.

I think you hit the nail on the head there!

[ChristianJapan]

Wow, that's really awesome. Apple should open their wallet and buy the concept and work behind and integrate into next iOS. That's soo much better.

Well done designer and coder !

[iRCL]

Originally Posted by jessica.

Pretty sure this is something that people have wanted more than silly Facebook integration. I really hope this comes in iOS 7, but really wish it could become much sooner.

Pretty sure that I haven't even considered the app switching for the past few years along with the 99.9% of iOS users, meanwhile 99.9% of iOS users are on fb

[JS82712]

Originally Posted by iRCL

Pretty sure that I haven't even considered the app switching for the past few years along with the 99.9% of iOS users, meanwhile 99.9% of iOS users are on fb

As far as I know, most people don't even use the Facebook integration as it ignores a lot of the user's Facebook privacy settings with regards to who can see your uploaded photos

Apple needs to stop doing halfassed features (why do I have to use both iPhoto and Photo app? Why can't I have one that's powerful for both viewing and editing photos)

[TC03]

People need to think this through instead of just saying 'that looks cool'. Think about the essential requirements for the app switcher and see what value this tweak offers. Do that, and you'll see no additional value is offered.

- The tiles don't provide information an app icon does not show. In stead, things look more confusing/clustered)
- Music controls are still in the same place, they just look different
- The settings toggles require four or five interactions (click home button (2x), swipe (2x), scroll (optional), tap toggle). This is not less than it currently is (press home button, tap settings, tap menu entry, tap toggle).

So, this tweak is not quicker at all and has no significant improvement. Even worse, it looks less clean and more clustered.

If you want to improve iOS, develop an understanding of the goals, elegance and simplicity it currently has. If you don't, you'll just ruin things that are thought through very thorougly.

[GoCubsGo]

Originally Posted by iRCL

Pretty sure that I haven't even considered the app switching for the past few years along with the 99.9% of iOS users, meanwhile 99.9% of iOS users are on fb

Source? I think your numbers could be off.

[coltman75]

Originally Posted by jessica.

Pretty sure this is something that people have wanted more than silly Facebook integration. I really hope this comes in iOS 7, but really wish it could become much sooner.

I think that more people would rather have Facebook integration. I know a ton of people who were really happy when they updated to iOS 6 and found out they could post to facebook from the photos app and from the notification center.

[apolloa]

Originally Posted by jessica.

Pretty sure this is something that people have wanted more than silly Facebook integration. I really hope this comes in iOS 7, but really wish it could become much sooner.

This is very true however, Apple is a business and is most likely making money from that Facebook integration, a lot of money.

Personally I hate Facebook with a vengeance due to their utterly cavalier approach they take with data protection.