I hope they change that, too. I use the top of the screen/view to keep track of which line I'm reading and the gradual blur makes it impossible to see which line I'm on.
It’s the same in Maps (at the top). My guess is that Apple are trying to get rid of the habitual boxed layouts, as if any content displayed on the iPhone screen was “passing through”. I would be very curious to see what it evolves into.