Why do you think Apple made the screen moving parallax effect in the iPhone 5s/iOS 7?

[user-name-here]

I'm not complaining much as it's a cool trick to show at parties, but is that really the only reason Apple created the parallax effect?

It's not like it helps you read better if you have your phone sideways.

Any ideas besides a party trick to show off?

 

[Irock619]

I'm not complaining much as it's a cool trick to show at parties, but is that really the only reason Apple created the parallax effect?

It's not like it helps you read better if you have your phone sideways.

Any ideas besides a party trick to show off?

Not sure but if you don't like it you can turn it off in settings.

 

[user-name-here]

Not sure but if you don't like it you can turn it off in settings.

Yeah, I saw this article on how to turn it off, which is what reminded me of it and spurred me to ask the question.

I'm just not used to Apple making party tricks into their software. Usually they just make things that either have a purpose and don't mess with fluff. The closest thing I can think of is the rubber band effect, but at least that has a purpose to let the user know they have hit the end of the scrollable space. I can't think of any actual purpose to the parallax effect though

 

[wxman2003]

I would bet they did this for future gaming on the device. Will give games more depth perception.

 

[Vctr]

Its a cool little flourish that differentiates the look and feel of the operating system more. It really has no utility behind it.

 

[mzd]

Apple said it is there to give you a real sense of layers and depth to your interface. with the retina display clarity, they could do away with drop shadows and other visual tricks to simulate depth. they can have the system font be very thin, yet still readable, and now crisp without the drop shadows. part of the minimalist thing.
i'd say the precursor was changing the highlight of the slider controls when you tilt your phone with iOS6.

 

[user-name-here]

Apple said it is there to give you a real sense of layers and depth to your interface. with the retina display clarity, they could do away with drop shadows and other visual tricks to simulate depth. they can have the system font be very thin, yet still readable, and now crisp without the drop shadows. part of the minimalist thing.
i'd say the precursor was changing the highlight of the slider controls when you tilt your phone with iOS6.

Boom.

That's exactly the drop of knowledge I was after.

Thanks mzd