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Jony Ive Pushing for 'Flat Design' in iOS 7 Amid Greater Hardware-Software Design Collaboration

roow110 said:
Windows phone is too flat, and there is not enough differentiation between elements creating a confusing interface
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The other thing I don't like about Windows Phone is it's so highly stylized that many of its apps look the same. How do developers differentiate their products when following such a rigid UI template? OK, Facebook has blue squares and Evernote has green squares. :rolleyes:

I hope iOS doesn't follow a similar design theme. Give app developers the flexibility to innovate their own UIs. That's what's made the iOS app catalog so great - 3rd parties pushing the envelope.
 
Hopefully the iWork teams for OS X and iOS have merged and are working together to offer fully cross-platformed, and fully featured, apps that work properly with iCloud once and for all. Ibid for iLife. I really hope 10.9 and iOS 7 finally get things right with iCloud.
 
I really hope Jony focuses on the ACTUAL heart of UI design, and not simply the aesthetic quality. Knowing Jony, I'm not too concerned about this, he will likely really focus first on the operation and interfacing designs, before focusing too much on aesthetics. Jony understands the real heart of design, he knows its more than skin deep.

The problem is, the faux-depth and 3D elements of Apples current UI design does have practical uses for for actual user interfacing. Giving users visual clues and context, etc. Thats my main gripe about "flat" design, is that it doesn't give the same sense of context.

If he just goes back to Apples aesthetics during the 07-10 era, I'll be happy. Get rid of the unnecessary ornaments, more black backgrounds (like the iPads Photos and Videos app, Coverflow, Apple TV UI, etc.)

Jony has impeccable taste. And Jobs himself said that Jony was brilliant, and could pick up on new things very quickly. "Nothing is beyond him." iOS 7 should be interesting.
 
Ew.

Apple does realize the only reason people who use "flat design" is because they cant design worth **** right?
 
WestonHarvey1 said:
I'd like to see a Siri API. App developers should be able to extend Siri's capabilities.
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Doesn't have to be an all out theme . It could be from minor UI tweaks to some of the cool stuff on cydia .. It could be anything that's why I stress it should be apple-esque
 

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avanpelt said:
I really hope Jony Ive can pull this off. I just haven't heard of many individuals who were good at designing both hardware and software. In my experience, most people can do one or the other well, but not both. I hope Ive can do both with excellence.

If iOS 7 flops in the eyes of consumers, I have a feeling it's going to be a painful road ahead for Apple for a while -- at least compared to the past six or seven years. Apple has a loyal fan base like BlackBerry once did; and for the past several years, Apple has been considered a chief innovator in the smartphone/tablet space. BlackBerry was once considered the chief innovator in the smartphone space and look where they are today. Apple doesn't need to follow the same path.
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I don't think Ive will be designing the user interface for the software himself, but I know for sure that he is able to judge whether a user interface looks good or not.
 
conservative changes as in a new skin UI?

what about more flexibility and usability something like NCsettings for example? the lockscreen is ancient too
 
ikramerica said:
I would like the option to create an "app" for subfunction of settings. Why must I go deep into settings to change brightness (auto brightness is crap). Why must I go deep into settings to toggle LTE? Sure, not everyone wants icons to do this, but for those who do, why can't we make a shortcut "app" if we need it? On Windows or OSX you can use keys to adjust brightness and have toolbar level items to adjust other things, but on iOS, you can't. Bleh.

As iOS has gained functionality, it's become less user friendly and cumbersome to use in changing environments.
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I'm sure Apple could fix it without having to create yet another icon, and don't encourage them. :p

Hell, I may myself edit the damn file, and release it :)
 
I'm personally a fan of flat ui design, and I've started incorporating it to my web design work since last year. I think simpler generally tends to be better under most circumstances..

At least that's what I've found. But the flat UI is a lot harder to get right in my opinion.
 
LagunaSol said:
The other thing I don't like about Windows Phone is it's so highly stylized that many of its apps look the same. How do developers differentiate their products when following such a rigid UI template? OK, Facebook has blue squares and Evernote has green squares. :rolleyes:
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You know, if you spent more time reading up on the things you mindlessly bash, people would probably respect you and your opinions a little more.

As in...

Metro icons don't have to be flat colors. We'll use Netflix as an example here. It's not just a red square with "Netflix" displayed in Segoi font. It has the company logo displayed rather prominently, and will scroll through a series of shots of your most recently watched movies. It makes it pretty easy to find amongst all the other tiles in a start screen list.

Netflix_Tile.jpg


Really, only the MS made icons tend to stick to the singled colored tile with a white line icon inside scheme. Everyone else can make them as colorful or bland as they want.
 
Less skeuomorphism, and flatter iOS UI? I'm in. I love the flatter App Store look, I also love apps like VLC remote which are a bit flatter as well.

I'm looking forward to a UI refresh for iOS as it is starting to feel cramped, hacked, and outdated.
 
Non-Skeuomorphic =/= Non-flat

The important thing is that Apple moves away from skeuomorphic designs. Gradients and shadows, in moderation, can be appropriately used in an interface to indicate hierarchy.

Skeuomorphism has become kitsch. Apple is always on the forefront of design, and I assume whatever they introduce next will be a huge hit (but become kitsch over time just as most trends).
 
Hummm.... I wonder if flat just means less things buried... like someone else pointed out, Settings can be a nightmare to find what you're looking for sometimes if the function is buried 3 screens deep.

But I'm assuming is a visual thing he's referring to. I just hope it's not like Windows 8. Yuck.
 
Newton OS was pretty flat. I liked the fact that each icon had a distinctive shape (per Apple's published design guidelines at the time). Easier to recognize at a glance:
 

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