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iOS 26 Speculation Thread
- Thread starter Kylo83
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I believe it's just the Mac icon. I could be wrong, I’m not anywhere near my Mac right now.
Yeah, it looks very similar to the Mac icon, but looks slightly lighter? Perhaps it’s just a glitch showing the Mac icon, but the camcorder looks a bit more translucent with less green reflection on it than the Mac version, unless I’m misremembering.
I just got my MacBook out and checked. The icon is identical. A little curious though why it's just the FaceTime icon and nothing else.
Plus the bottom "bevel"/white border in both the pics shows that the top border is smaller than the one in the bottom. Makes me think it is one of the 3D effects of it. It also appears that the camcorder is "floating" on top of the green background, giving it more of a 3D look.
Just looked it up, it looks exactly like the Mac version of the FaceTime icon. So probably just a glitch sadly. I guess they’ve toned down the green shading on the FaceTime icon some since Big Sur. I didn’t really notice because I don’t use my Mac Mini that often, my iPad is my primary computer.
I do think it is very possible that app icons on iOS and iPadOS 19 (and macOS 16) will end up resembling the neumorphic app icons on macOS. I think Apple’s been using macOS the past few years as a test bed for design experimentation, app icons have a 3d depth look that matches the rumors for 19, and macOS already makes use of more frosted glass transparency effects. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple’s been using macOS to test the waters with their new design language, and I think there’s several hints in macOS that point to some of the new aesthetic. So I think it would make sense for Apple to use icons that are essentially like the ones presently found on macOS, perhaps slightly different, but same principles with 3D and depth.
Gurman previously reported that iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 will have new designs, with added translucency for a more glass-like appearance. In his Power On newsletter this week, he said that the design changes will extend to tvOS 19 for the Apple TV and watchOS 12 for the Apple Watch, but he did not provide any specific details.
The design changes will apparently be inspired by visionOS for Apple's Vision Pro headset, and visionOS 3 is expected to have some design tweaks of its own.
Overall, Gurman said Apple is aiming for a more consistent appearance across its operating systems, especially for the Mac and iPad. He previously reported that iPadOS 19 will make iPads more like Macs, with improved multitasking, productivity, and app window management. In addition, a leaker known as Majin Bu claimed that iPadOS 19 will display a macOS-like menu bar while an iPad is connected to a Magic Keyboard.
Gurman previously revealed that iOS 19's new design is codenamed "Solarium," which is a room with glass walls that allow in sunlight. The codename could hint at the more translucent menus and buttons that are expected across iOS 19 and the other upcoming software updates, which Apple will announce during WWDC 2025. The developer conference is just two weeks away, with the keynote set to be held on Monday, June 9.
Despite the buzz surrounding AI lately, Gurman believes that the redesigned software platforms will be "the highlight of the show" at WWDC this year.
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I think all us have been looking for OS interface modernization for some time after years of no tangible changes. We all know this Apple Intelligence was not particularly exciting after commercials about it failed to generate actual abilities that they couldn’t achieve.
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I hope this isn’t just a fresh coat of paint. Since it’s across all OS’s, my fear is that it is. There are real, quality of life things that iOS needs such as a clear indication of fast charging, a number row on top of the keyboard, better autocorrect, multiview/split screen, circle to search, etc.
None of these require a new device or new advancements, they are all things that current tech can support and would go a long way in making the OS more modern.
None of these require a new device or new advancements, they are all things that current tech can support and would go a long way in making the OS more modern.
Clearly the software side of things at Apple against OS 's is very imbalanced compared to iPhone, iPads, Macs hardware. Also many apps in the OS's were not cross ported quickly or updated such as Classical for Mac, Apple TV vs Music needs enhanced navigation/search, heck redo the whole interface for both.
Yeah, also lots of inconsistencies with some parts of macOS still dragging the old design, such as Finder’s “file info” windows or the brightness/volume indicators, still dating the Leopard era.
Hopefully they will, not only reunify the UI language across all the major platforms, but also get rid of such inconsistencies, especially on Mac.
We’ll see how it goes…
Interesting. It's very similar to this icon but now has a gradient and been made circular.
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But… do you think Apple is going to fully switch to round icons? On iOS? This may be a clue but honestly, I find it hard to imagine…
Two weeks to know!
Yeah, I doubt it, and I certainly would hope not. IMO they don’t look that good. Given the lack of any credible sources actually within Apple indicating they’ll switch to circle icons, I don’t think that’s happening. The squircle icon has been a defining aspect of Apple’s visual branding for the past decade, IMO, it would be as likely as Apple switching to block shaped iPhones with hard corners. Apple won’t want to completely remove any vestige of familiarity with the new design language, the new design language should build on the existing design, retaining an element of familiarity and consistency, while also incorporating some new elements. So I doubt they’re going to do that.
I could see circle icons and symbols within apps, but I don’t believe circle Home Screen icons would make any sense. For one, app icons coexist on the Home Screen alongside rectangular and square widgets, and possibly folders and files as well according to rumors. None of these visual elements would likely be circular. So you would have circle icons mashed together with square and rectangular elements, which would look way too chaotic and imbalanced in my opinion. Then you also have the issue of app branding. Many apps utilize the squircle shape as an integral part of the icon design, to represent real-world objects. Many such apps would have to completely rework their icons, which could be harmful to brand recognition. Squircle icons afford more creativity, devs can use the shape of the icon itself as an aspect of the design, a squircle shape lends itself to representing a whole bunch of different real-world objects. A circle shape, not as much…
I’m guessing the app icons will look more comparable to the 3-dimensional macOS app icons, with more depth shading and layered icons. The designs of the icons may be different from the current designs, but I suspect many of the design principles we see in current macOS app icons will likely be there…
In fact, I suspect that Apple has been using macOS as a testbed the past few years to tinker with some of the visual elements that will wind up in the new design language. We already see pretty widespread use of “frosted glass” UI elements in macOS. We also already see 3-dimensional elements like the aforementioned app icons. I’m sure the new design language will likely look a bit different from current macOS UI, but I suspect we can already see many hints of it in macOS.
At the end of the day, I hope Apple will retain squircle icons. Traditionally, Apple has shown close care to visual branding and beyond just that, matching the software aesthetic with the hardware aesthetic. In my opinion circle icons would be a major departure from that, and would hurt Apple’s visual branding.
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I concur with all of what you said. I concur…
However, maybe at Apple they have two or three different versions of the new icons. I think the possibility of round icons is there, but it isn’t likely to happen because of all the reasons you correctly pointed out.
Then, there’s the possibility of the squircle changing the proportions to become “rounder” without going full circular. And I think I don’t like that possibility either. It could remind me of old operating systems’ icons.
They went from round to square (well, rounded square) in macOS. I don’t think they are backtracking on that so soon…
Absolutely! 👍🏻. I’m sure they’ve tested a number of different design concepts, so I think that makes sense. Also, good point about them just moving from circle icons to squircle icons on macOS a few years ago! 👍🏻
The forums staff gave us the iOS 18 board 1-2 weeks before WWDC so we wouldn‘t completely annihilate the iOS 17 board with speculation and iOS 18 bait topics.
That was a welcome change, considering they often took hours or up to a full day to set up a board for new versions (something that is a task of 10 seconds in XenForo 2.x).
Oh! Now I get what you say. You mean an iOS 19 subforum to start using it for iOS 19 leaks, rumors, speculation and wishlists… an iOS 19 forum board.
I guess we should ask for it on the feedback thread.
That's simply not true. Read the iOS 18 speculation thread. This was asked for the day before WWDC 24, so certainly no subforums created 1-2 weeks before