Apple UI Design Chief Alan Dye Leaving for Meta

[MacRumors]

Apple UI design head Alan Dye is leaving the company and transitioning to Meta, reports Bloomberg. Dye took over Apple's user interface design team in 2015 when former Apple designer Jony Ive transitioned to Chief Design Officer, and he's held that position since then.

Dye has been at Apple since 2006, joining the marketing and communication team as a creative director. He transitioned to Jony Ive's user interface team in 2012 to work on iOS 7, and he worked on subsequent iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS design updates. Most recently, he helped develop the Vision Pro interface, and he oversaw the rollout of the iOS 26 and macOS 26 Liquid Glass design revamp.

Apple plans to replace Dye with Stephen Lemay, a longtime Apple designer who joined the company over 25 years ago. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook praised Lemay.

Steve Lemay has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999. He has always set an extraordinarily high bar for excellence and embodies Apple's culture of collaboration and creativity.

Design is fundamental to who we are at Apple, and today, we have an extraordinary design team working on the most innovative product lineup in our history.

Dye is joining Meta as chief design officer on December 31, and he will help Meta in its efforts to further break into consumer hardware. Dye will head up Meta's new design studio, overseeing hardware design and software design with a focus on improving Meta devices like headsets and glasses with AI features.

Article Link: Apple UI Design Chief Alan Dye Leaving for Meta

 

[jonnysods]

The arsonist has left the crime scene...

 

[Phineasgage1848]

YES!!!! Best news I've seen all week. Please be careful Alan don't let the door hit you on the way out!!

 

[F23]

Employees leaving left and right, Tim when will the mass exodus end?

 

[DeutscheMark]

So what now? Soapy Glass cancelled for iOS 27?

 

[TFrank2]

Coming soon...Liquid Meta Horizon OS 🤣

 

[infinitedreams]

He probably left for Meta so he can get them to remove UIBoycottLiquidGlass UIDesignRequiresCompatibility from their apps

 

[Phineasgage1848]

Employees leaving left and right, Tim when will the mass exodus end?

Yeah but this one should be celebrated. The dude was really bad at design for the Mac

 

[mlayer]

So now I can unfollow "alancdye" on the 'gram. Not that he posted anything interesting there.

 

[Slo Pesci]

I'm starting to think Apple doesn't pay that great in terms of upper echelon tech companies. So many people leaving.

 

[iLuddite]

Zamn. Hopefully a positive shift for Apple 🤞

 

[iZac]

After finally perfecting refractive camouflage and implementing it into iOS 26, nobody could read the icons on their phone - and no one even saw him leave.

 

[msephton]

Wow. Alan Dye pushing the travesty that is Liquid Glass ...and then going for Meta #micdrop

 

[code-m]

Employees leaving left and right, Tim when will the mass exodus end?

Employees leaving doesn’t always means trouble or doom and gloom for a corporation, it could also mean fresh minds join the company to catapult it from the comfortable.

 

[johannnn]

Employees leaving left and right, Tim when will the mass exodus end?

When Meta stops offering $100M

 

[Delivered]

I'm starting to think Apple doesn't pay that great in terms of upper echelon tech companies. So many people leaving.

They paying stock. These people may think stock will start dropping so best to leave and take your money. Plus meta is paying ridiculous salaries right now. Partially I think they want to know how apple
Ticks so they can shred them. Apple does bad things sometimes maybe even a lot but Meta is an evil corporation.

 

[nt5672]

Apple's UI design has been in the dumpster for years. Don't think this is bad at all, unless of course he was being overruled by upper management. Which is not that far fetched. Cook is a moron when it comes to design.

 

[bmark]

Good riddance if he was the lead designer on Liquid Glass!

 

[vantelimus]

Liquid Glass makes me think he has been on the Meta payroll for a couple of years already.

 

[code-m]

I'm starting to think Apple doesn't pay that great in terms of upper echelon tech companies. So many people leaving.

Didn’t meta go on a hiring spree last year only to layoff many employees? This is normal practise.

 

[jz0309]

When $$$$$ call ... "Chief Design Officer" - given Zucks paychecks for AI folks, he'll be in similar range ...
And to go with the "Liquid Glass" haters here - wait for LG to come to Meta's apps ...

 

[Avenged110]

He transitioned to Jony Ive's user interface team in 2012 to work on iOS 7...he oversaw the rollout of the iOS 26 and macOS 26 Liquid Glass design revamp.

Yikes. Good riddance.

 

[code-m]

So what now? Soapy Glass cancelled for iOS 27?

Frosted glass is becoming an option.

 

[Starfia]

This is temptingly cathartic news for anyone concerned about Liquid Glass and the (used but conspicuously not capitalized within Apple) "new design."

An attempt at perspective: I've been concerned since the announcement week, but those concerns have been specific rather than sweeping – elements I think make sense have been upstaged by more visible updates – and I've never felt confident in equating Dye with this stuff. It's prudent to report he's been with Apple for almost two decades, in a leadership role for almost a whole one, and plenty of tangibly good stuff has happened there. And we know even less about what Lemay has in mind.

Anyway. Good luck, Alan, if you're reading this, and thank you for all the work.

 

[DocMultimedia]

No complaints from me. The less Liquid Glass the better. IMO