No flat iOS 7 icons for the Google apps?

[Small White Car]

You need a better definition of what flat design is.

flat and 3D are NOT mutually exclusive.

This thread is not about flat in general but specifically about "iOS7-flat."

Apple has made it clear that they see "iOS7-flat" as apps that are painted on glass layers without any illusion of depth applied to them.

Google sees it differently.

The original question was "why does Google see it that way?"

I have no freaking clue why. I can't answer the OP.

But people need to stop saying that it's a not a valid question because there's no difference. There clearly is a difference between how Google and Apple sees flat design.

 

[Altis]

That's the main reason I don't have any of their apps installed. Stupid, yeah, but I don't like inconsistency on my home screen. I can just use Safari instead.

So you're okay that some Apple stock apps are 'top-lit', some are 'bottom-lit', and others are completely flat? Just look at OP's attached photo... In the dock, Mail is the only one brighter on the bottom. It defies the physical trait it tries to represent.

No inconsistencies going on around here...

 

[Jessica Lares]

So you're okay that some Apple stock apps are 'top-lit', some are 'bottom-lit', and others are completely flat? Just look at OP's attached photo... In the dock, Mail is the only one brighter on the bottom. It defies the physical trait it tries to represent.

No inconsistencies going on around here...

iOS 6 wasn't consistant either. Look at the iTunes U, Passbook, Reminders, and then the other icons.

Gradients that all move in the same direction wouldn't work. You'd THINK they would, but no. The white icons are fine.

 

[Altis]

iOS 6 wasn't consistant either. Look at the iTunes U, Passbook, Reminders, and then the other icons.

Gradients that all move in the same direction wouldn't work. You'd THINK they would, but no. The white icons are fine.

I wasn't talking about iOS 6... just that Google's "inconsistencies" are no worse than Apple's own.

I also didn't say anything about the white icons, which are apparently "fine", though I think they look unfinished.

I do think that if Apple wanted to simulate a light source by having the light-to-dark gradients on the icons, they should have all gone in the same direction (and be used on all or none).

It'd be like having some of Google's raised edges on the bottom, and others on the top. So, simultaneously, your perspective is supposed to be from the bottom on some icons, while on the top for some others, and directly head-on for others. It doesn't work - so they didn't do that.

 

[typeadam]

I don't know about you but this makes me cry. I find myself weeping copiously into my pillow at night because how dare Google defy Apple's iron fist of flatness? How DARE they?!
I have absolutely ZERO tolerance for Google's shenanigans and I have permanently banished ALL Google apps to my 9th page!
I mean this is simply a tragedy. That bevel will be the fall of Rome [Google]. Tell Eric his days are numbered.

 

[MalcolmJID]

I would hazard a guess flat icons are on their way. Hangouts just got updates to V2 and has a flat icon!

Edit - In-app design is really nice actually, too!

 

[C DM]

I would hazard a guess flat icons are on their way. Hangouts just got updates to V2 and has a flat icon!

On the other hand Maps just got updated as well, but the icon remained the same as it was before.

 

[sunking101]

On the other hand Maps just got updated as well, but the icon remained the same as it was before.

The Google maps app icon has a 3D look at the bottom.

 

[C DM]

The Google maps app icon has a 3D look at the bottom.

That's what I'm saying, that even though there was an update that came out for the app today (like there was an update for Hangouts), the icon for the Maps hasn't changed (while the icon for Hangouts has).

 

[MalcolmJID]

I think they'll become flat in future updates. I believe the Hangouts change will be reflected through the rest of their apps in the next major revisions.

 

[spyguy10709]

Oh good god. It's gotten to the point where every single subject around here is seen as an "opinion." Some things are just yes-no questions.

This is a simple question. Is it flat or 3D?

It has a beveled edge:
Image

That makes it 3D. This is a simple fact, not something where people get to argue their feelings.

https://www.apple.com/ios/design/

the word flat is not mentioned, even once.

The words depth and layers are used multiple times.


iOS 7 isn't flat, it's gradient-ed. Please, people - this isn't to OP, but to the MR Community - iOS 7 isn't flat, and it wasn't Apple's intention to make a "flat" OS.

 

[Small White Car]

iOS 7 isn't flat, it's gradient-ed.

This is a thread about icons, not the OS.

It's written very clearly in the thread's title, even.

 

[Todd B.]

None of the apps made by google have the icons updated for iOS 7 (flat)

google does not like iOS7?

I'd just chalk it up to the fact that Google doesn't know how to design anything rather then them not liking iOS7.

When have their designs ever been good?

 

[C DM]

I'd just chalk it up to the fact that Google doesn't know how to design anything rather then them not liking iOS7.

When have their designs ever been good?

Since at least Ice Cream Sandwich?

 

[djtech42]

Bad icons to match their badly designed apps (on iOS at least)

 

[spyguy10709]

This is a thread about icons, not the OS.

It's written very clearly in the thread's title, even.

Correction - the Icons aren't flat, they're gradient-ed.

Do you understand the difference?

To see flat, go to
http://www.a-blue-box.com/

that is flat.

These are gradients. Comprende?

 

[Small White Car]

Comprende?

So here's what's happened.

The OP asked why Google isn't making their icons look like Apple's. Some people gave him static about the question as if it wasn't a valid question.

I pushed back by pointing out that, hey, Google puts bevels on their icons, no one else does, so clearly the question of "why is Google being different?" is a valid question, leave the OP alone.

Since then I've gotten:

Someone who showed me an imaginary Passbook icon.
That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

Someone who tried to define what flat and 3D mean.
That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

You showing me Apple's website.
That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

And you showing me a bunch of gradients.


NONE of those things makes these two things look the same.

They're different. It's great that everyone wants to define flat and 3D but in the context of this thread the only thing that matters is how the OP framed it: "google does not like iOS7?"

Odd grammar aside, I think I still get the meaning pretty clearly. He wants to know why Google's doing it the way they're doing it. Showing me gradients and Apple marketing material does not even come close to answering the question.

 

[Seandroid]

I wasn't talking about iOS 6... just that Google's "inconsistencies" are no worse than Apple's own.

I also didn't say anything about the white icons, which are apparently "fine", though I think they look unfinished.

I do think that if Apple wanted to simulate a light source by having the light-to-dark gradients on the icons, they should have all gone in the same direction (and be used on all or none).

It'd be like having some of Google's raised edges on the bottom, and others on the top. So, simultaneously, your perspective is supposed to be from the bottom on some icons, while on the top for some others, and directly head-on for others. It doesn't work - so they didn't do that.

Apples icons are not designed to have a "light source." They move between colors on the outside of the colour wheel. They do not have shading. Shading is created by adding white or black to create shadows. The colours on the icons do this:

Cyan -> Blue not Light Blue -> Dark Blue.

Music, for instance, goes:

Pink -> Orange not Light Red -> Dark Red

That's why the icons can have the gradients go the other way. They're just a color gradient, not a light source. It's not meant to represent 3D shading.

 

[C DM]

Google is doing icons the way they want to do them. It's their apps and they can do what want for them without any particular (public or even private) explanation.

That said, they are already updating and changing some icons with major updates like the recent one for Hangouts. So they are changing to look more like Apple's iOS 7 icons (for whatever reason they decided to do it).

 

[dontwalkhand]

Oh good god. It's gotten to the point where every single subject around here is seen as an "opinion." Some things are just yes-no questions.

This is a simple question. Is it flat or 3D?

It has a beveled edge:
Image

That makes it 3D. This is a simple fact, not something where people get to argue their feelings.

Simple, it looks like Android apps, which coming from Google, shouldn't be too surprising.

 

[myrtlebee]

Apples icons are not designed to have a "light source." They move between colors on the outside of the colour wheel. They do not have shading. Shading is created by adding white or black to create shadows. The colours on the icons do this:

Cyan -> Blue not Light Blue -> Dark Blue.

Music, for instance, goes:

Pink -> Orange not Light Red -> Dark Red

That's why the icons can have the gradients go the other way. They're just a color gradient, not a light source. It's not meant to represent 3D shading.

So, what's your explanation of Photo Booth, Messages, Facetime, iBooks, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers app icons? Sure looks like 3D shading and light sources to me, not color gradients. Not all of Apple's app icons are completely flat (although I believe they should be for consistency like the Music and Mail app icons, which I quite like).

 

[BvizioN]

That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

Well, why should they? They are Google's apps and not Apple's.

There are countless icons of apps designed for iOS 7 but looks nothing like Apples. Heck, you even got the Instagram icon that have completely 3D icon.

And please....

None of the apps made by google have the icons updated for iOS 7 (flat)

It appears to me that the OP was implying that non of the Google apps icons have a flat design (read above) and therefore some others were arguing that they have already flat design. It would have been different if the OP did not use the word "Flat" as though the design is something exclusive to iOS 7.

 

[Seandroid]

So, what's your explanation of Photo Booth, Messages, Facetime, iBooks, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers app icons? Sure looks like 3D shading and light sources to me, not color gradients. Not all of Apple's app icons are completely flat (although I believe they should be for consistency like the Music and Mail app icons, which I quite like).

Messages goes from a yellowy-green to a richer green (in the 7.1 beta they did darken the colours a little), same with numbers, keynote is still cyan to blue, it's just got a much less dramatic gradient, and Pages is yellow to orange, but also a much less dramatic gradient. Look at GarageBand for comparison.

Photo booth is one icon that does sort of have a shaded appearance.

I'm also not claiming Apple's colour gradients never look like shading (App Store comes to mind) but this seems to be the logic behind them.

 

[spyguy10709]

So here's what's happened.

The OP asked why Google isn't making their icons look like Apple's. Some people gave him static about the question as if it wasn't a valid question.

I pushed back by pointing out that, hey, Google puts bevels on their icons, no one else does, so clearly the question of "why is Google being different?" is a valid question, leave the OP alone.

Since then I've gotten:

Someone who showed me an imaginary Passbook icon.
That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

Someone who tried to define what flat and 3D mean.
That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

You showing me Apple's website.
That does not make Google's icons look the same as Apple's.

And you showing me a bunch of gradients.


NONE of those things makes these two things look the same.

Image

Image


They're different. It's great that everyone wants to define flat and 3D but in the context of this thread the only thing that matters is how the OP framed it: "google does not like iOS7?"

Odd grammar aside, I think I still get the meaning pretty clearly. He wants to know why Google's doing it the way they're doing it. Showing me gradients and Apple marketing material does not even come close to answering the question.

That's not what happened at all. OP asked -

None of the apps made by google have the icons updated for iOS 7 (flat)

google does not like iOS7?

Icons updated for iOS 7 - that's an ambiguous phrase. And Google has updated their apps for iOS 7. This was their old logo. The new one has a bevel. It doesn't match what Apple is doing, but it's a change for the new OS nonetheless.

Those gradients are not FLAT. That my point. iOS is NOT FLAT. I can't link it (NDA's) but - apple's design guidelines mention nothing about "flattening" icons for iOS 7. Nothing of the sort.

 

[nikicampos]

Yes, I'm with OP, and I know what he is talking about, and for me it's just a way of Google saying, "I'm not going to follow your new design, so I'll just put a little edge on the bottom making it look like 3D" in other words ******* your new flat design Apple.