9to5Mac claims Health app was redesigned because of their leak

[Rogifan]

Right after WWDC Mark Gurman tweeted that he bet Apple changed the name/design of Health app because of his leak. We'll surprise, surprise, he claims to have found Apple employees who say it was redesigned because of his leak. And these same employees also supposedly say the leaked design was better than what Apple released. Of course I find that highly amusing considering at the time 9to5Mac and others made fun of the design.

I'm highly skeptical Apple would re-design something because of a leak. Case in point, last year 9to5Mac leaked mock ups of iOS 7 icons and yet none of them have been redesigned. It seems much more likely that Apple had multiple designs they were considering and the colored cards didn't make the cut. iOS design is white with splashes of color. That leaked design was a mismatch of dark and pastel colors that didn't really go together and on a black background to boot! When you look at the two screen shots it's quite obvious which one seems more in line with iOS design.

Perhaps Gurman has some bad sources inside Apple (or people purposely feeding him false information).

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/09/ios-8...terface-changed-late-in-development/#comments

 

[Tyler23]

Right after WWDC Mark Gurman tweeted that he bet Apple changed the name/design of Health app because of his leak. We'll surprise, surprise, he claims to have found Apple employees who say it was redesigned because of his leak. And these same employees also supposedly say the leaked design was better than what Apple released. Of course I find that highly amusing considering at the time 9to5Mac and others made fun of the design.

I'm highly skeptical Apple would re-design something because of a leak. Case in point, last year 9to5Mac leaked mock ups of iOS 7 icons and yet none of them have been redesigned. It seems much more likely that Apple had multiple designs they were considering and the colored cards didn't make the cut. iOS design is white with splashes of color. That leaked design was a mismatch of dark and pastel colors that didn't really go together and on a black background to boot! When you look at the two screen shots it's quite obvious which one seems more in line with iOS design.

Perhaps Gurman has some bad sources inside Apple (or people purposely feeding him false information).

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/09/ios-8...terface-changed-late-in-development/#comments

iOS 7 icons were leaked the day before WWDC.

The "Healthbook" info was leaked months before WWDC this year. They had a lot more time this time to make some changes.

Who knows, they could very likely have been testing various UI's and decided on the one they've now shown. Who knows, and honestly, what does it matter?

Mark and 9to5Mac have broken plenty of other stories that turned out to be accurate. Journalism isn't a science and is never 100% spot on, anyways.

 

[Rogifan]

iOS 7 icons were leaked the day before WWDC.

The "Healthbook" info was leaked months before WWDC this year. They had a lot more time this time to make some changes.

Who knows, they could very likely have been testing various UI's and decided on the one they've now shown. Who knows, and honestly, what does it matter?

Mark and 9to5Mac have broken plenty of other stories that turned out to be accurate. Journalism isn't a science and is never 100% spot on, anyways.

Sure I just think it would be nice if once in a while they admitted they were wrong about something, rather than trying to prove that they really were right. I find it highly skeptical Apple would redesign something just because of their leak (John Gruber basically said the same thing), and even if they did, I'm more skeptical that an Apple employee would admit it. Seems to me the guys at 9to5Mac think they're more important than they really are.

 

[jasonklee]

It's Gurman, so what do you expect? But even if it's true, Apple's plan B is actually better than plan A. The Passbook-style cards is a nice way to pack in more content but it feels really crammed. Yet, if it were up to me I'd copy the Weather app's UI.

 

[pdjudd]

Wasn’t there somebody who worked for Gizmodo (or similar) a while back who claimed that Apple changed things that he claimed were going to end up in a major iOS version that never made it there because he leaked it?

 

[Rogifan]

I like what John Gruber wrote:

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/06/09/gurman-apple-priorities

Let me get this straight. Apple completely scrapped a superior interface to Health because Mark Gurman published screenshots back in March. That is to say, Apple cared more about the surprise of revealing a never-before-seen Health interface during the keynote than they cared about the actual design quality of an interface that will be used by hundreds of millions of iOS users for years to come.

It’s public knowledge that Jony Ive now oversees all software design at Apple. So in this scenario, we are to believe that Ive is so petty, juvenile, and impetuous — and more concerned with secrecy than design quality — that he either approved or himself demanded a radical design overhaul not because it was better but merely to have something un-leaked to show on stage last week. This, for a feature which was deemed worthy of less than three minutes of keynote time (68:30 to 71:20). Jony Ive.

OK, sure.

(Another possibility: Health’s design was far from finished in March, and the intervening months of Apple’s iterative design process resulted in what we saw last week. Designs within Apple are never born finished, and often, if not usually, change radically before shipping. And though Mark Gurman is prodigiously talented, his youth has led him into the solipsistic trap of thinking that his primary perception of Apple — as a guardian of secrets — accurately reflects Apple’s actual institutional priorities, when in fact nothing, not even secrecy, trumps design in the halls of Cupertino.

But what do I know?)

 

[nfl46]

9to5Mac claims Health app was redesigned because of their leak

Haha. Good job, JG! The guy definitely has ego issues and loves to brag if he gets a leak correct, with a "I told you I posted this months ago." That's pretty annoying. But, whatever. To each its own.

 

[Rogifan]

Haha. Good job, JG! The guy definitely has ego issues and loves to brag if he gets a leak correct, with a "I told you I posted this months ago." That's pretty annoying. But, whatever. To each its own.

Gruber actually had Mark Gurman on his podcast shortly after Mark reported that designer Greg Christie was leaving Apple. He was very respectful toward Mark but it was hilarious how his own sources pretty much refuted everything in Mark's story. I still think Gruber had him on his show to refute Mark's claim that anyone disputing his story was getting their talking points from Apple PR. That's some ego for someone who's only 20.

 

[The Doctor11]

Oh I hope not. The leaks looked awesome. The real thing looks like ****. Apple needs to fix it. Just make the leaks the health app.
I talked about this in this video

I started talking about health book at 6:58 in the video.

 

[LordQ]

Haha. Good job, JG! The guy definitely has ego issues and loves to brag if he gets a leak correct, with a "I told you I posted this months ago." That's pretty annoying. But, whatever. To each its own.

I know, right? When he was not selected for the WWDC lottery he tweeted "I know everything that's going to happen anyway". (Only four or five things he leaked were right)

What an arrogant kid but well, he's a journalist and that's what he eats with.

 

[jonnyb098]

I know, right? When he was not selected for the WWDC lottery he tweeted "I know everything that's going to happen anyway". (Only four or five things he leaked were right)

What an arrogant kid but well, he's a journalist and that's what he eats with.

Yeah Apple surly cares about a 20 year old kid and changed their road map.

Gurman's head has been getting big lately. It doesn't help when Leo Laporte fuels it by publicly voicing his surprise/jealousy that Mark is only 20 years old and has some of the best leaks on the web. Been mentioned many times on his podcasts.

 

[Rogifan]

Yeah Apple surly cares about a 20 year old kid and changed their road map.

Gurman's head has been getting big lately. It doesn't help when Leo Laporte fuels it by publicly voicing his surprise/jealousy that Mark is only 20 years old and has some of the best leaks on the web. Been mentioned many times on his podcasts.

What really irks me is when he and his 9to5Mac cohorts constantly make fun of Apple on Twitter. As if they're some big hot shots because they run an Apple rumors website.

 

[TC03]

It's absolutely nonsense to say that Apple changed the design because of a leak. What purpose would that have? Absolutely stupid.

 

[jasonklee]

What really irks me is when he and his 9to5Mac cohorts constantly make fun of Apple on Twitter. As if they're some big hot shots because they run an Apple rumors website.

Stopped visiting after iOS 7 was released and they kept cramming in their parenthetical commentary on how ugly it looked in every post.

 

[famoussasjohn]

A few devs had found code referencing 'Healthbook' instead of health. So they probably changed the name due to the leak. It's still the same concept. The actual layout of the app was an idea of what it may look like, based on what Passbook looks like currently.

They also found code for 'TextEdit' for iOS as well.

Go to @hamzasood on twitter for the screenshots proving it.

 

[jlsm511]

He def knows his stuff, and has good intel, but the cockiness is part of youth I think, and will settle down with time (assuming he sticks with it)

 

[GreyOS]

The repetition of icons in each section does suggest a hasty redesign tbh

 

[Rogifan]

A few devs had found code referencing 'Healthbook' instead of health. So they probably changed the name due to the leak. It's still the same concept. The actual layout of the app was an idea of what it may look like, based on what Passbook looks like currently.

They also found code for 'TextEdit' for iOS as well.

Go to @hamzasood on twitter for the screenshots proving it.

I saw somewhere that the name Healthbook is already in use by another company. So maybe that was an internal code name and Apple changed it after they found out. Or maybe when they redesigned the app they decided healthbook as a name didn't make sense anymore.

 

[Cinder6]

I'm gonna go with Gruber on this (http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/06/09/gurman-apple-priorities) and say that I find it unlikely. I don't think Apple's the type of company to get so upset over a leak for a product that received less than three minutes of exposure that they would go and redesign it (to something worse!).

 

[matty.p]

I'm gonna go with Gruber on this (http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/06/09/gurman-apple-priorities) and say that I find it unlikely. I don't think Apple's the type of company to get so upset over a leak for a product that received less than three minutes of exposure that they would go and redesign it (to something worse!).

I agree with Gruber and I think Gurman wouldn't be as upset if more of his rumors / predictions hadn't turned out to be correct. Additionally, I don't know if an argument of it being worse is anything more than a subjective opinion. I personally prefer the newer design and a dashboard with lots of data presented in charts seems more useful to me than having to switch between cards to see the same data.

 

[thaifood]

Seems to me the guys at 9to5Mac think they're more important than they really are.

I completely share this opinion. So many people love to claim how important they are when they don't even register on the radars of big companies.

Reminds me of the letter that guy at Gizmodo sent Steve Jobs regarding the found iPhone 4. It oozed desperation and was really unprofessionally written. I'd be ashamed to sign my name on something like that.

EDIT: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/henry-blodget-gizmodo-editor-brian-lams-email-to-steve-jobs-raises-question-would-gizmodo-have-published-iphone-story-if-apple-hadnt-spurned-it-2010-5

 

[nnacrumors]

Right after WWDC Mark Gurman tweeted that he bet Apple changed the name/design of Health app because of his leak.

Just curious, how is this even news? Seems like a non-story except for a pathetic blogger clamoring for attention as if the world revolves around him.

 

[famoussasjohn]

I saw somewhere that the name Healthbook is already in use by another company. So maybe that was an internal code name and Apple changed it after they found out. Or maybe when they redesigned the app they decided healthbook as a name didn't make sense anymore.

Yeah that's more than likely the case, though Apple usually attempts to get an agreement with that company that trademarked the name to use the name like they did with the iPhone name from Linksys.

 

[Rogifan]

I'm gonna go with Gruber on this (http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/06/09/gurman-apple-priorities) and say that I find it unlikely. I don't think Apple's the type of company to get so upset over a leak for a product that received less than three minutes of exposure that they would go and redesign it (to something worse!).

Best thing about it is now every time he reports something we get snark in the comments sections. 9to5Mac articles don't normally get a lot of comments but this one has 64, most of them calling Gurman out for what he wrote.

 

[cobbyco]

The leaks were definitely real, but the claim that Apple redesigned because of 9to5mac? I highly doubt it.