Shadows create a better illusion of depth than parallax

[ErikGrim]

Er... They're both faked depth aren't they?

No. One is in 2D space, the other in 3D. Adding drop shadows to a 2D plane is faking 3D. Moving separate layers in 3D space isn't.

Unless you want to be that guy of course…

 

[zbarvian]

I could never go back to iOS 6 because I like the way iOS 7 works and the features it has, but visually . . .

Comparing those pictures, it seems to me that iOS 7 needs three things to make it great visually:

1) better icons. Not necessarily all glossy and skeuomorphic, just better "flat" icons.

2) Shadows behind those icons and their captions.

3) a better dock. Either a more translucent blur, or maybe a subtle tint.

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For some reason -- and maybe this is a beta thing -- the parallax effect seems much more pronounced when wiggling the phone up and down than it does when wiggling it side to side.

Either way, though, the only time I really notice the parallax effect is when I deliberately wiggle the phone so I can see it. In normal use I don't notice it at all.

I could never go back to iOS 6 because I like the way iOS 7 works and the features it has, but visually . . .

Comparing those pictures, it seems to me that iOS 7 needs three things to make it great visually:

1) better icons. Not necessarily all glossy and skeuomorphic, just better "flat" icons.

2) Shadows behind those icons and their captions.

3) a better dock. Either a more translucent blur, or maybe a subtle tint.

----------



For some reason -- and maybe this is a beta thing -- the parallax effect seems much more pronounced when wiggling the phone up and down than it does when wiggling it side to side.

Either way, though, the only time I really notice the parallax effect is when I deliberately wiggle the phone so I can see it. In normal use I don't notice it at all.

I'm in full agreement, and they even had room to tone down the shadows a bit. They want to convey depth and layering without shadows because they want a bigger visual overhaul, though they could do both the parallax and subtle(r) shadows. It's another example of how confused the design and presumably the process was in iOS 7.

Heres a great article relating to this: https://medium.com/wwdc-round-up/98f1d9dcd88b

 

[Parise]

The flat design looks 1000 times better, Apple just decided to go with horrid icon colors.

A good example would be the Messages app. It looks so dated on iOS 6 when compared to 7.

 

[zbarvian]

The flat design looks 1000 times better, Apple just decided to go with horrid icon colors.

A good example would be the Messages app. It looks so dated on iOS 6 when compared to 7.

Shadows can exist in flat design. We can still have hierarchy without resorting to cheesy motion cues. As for the icons, the best-looking solution would've been somewhere in the middle of both approaches. Losing the gloss and ornamentation, but keeping more character than the stark lines and colors of iOS 7. I look to apps like Kuvva, Dropbox, Google Maps, and Weathertron as examples.