MacRumors has collected a few interesting quotes from people in the know about iOS 7. John Gruber: “What I’ve heard: iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it.” It’s going to be a “significant system-wide UI overhaul”. It will apparently make people who love rich textures “sad”. I honestly can’t wait – I wonder what Apple’s designers’ve got cooking for us.
That’s all that matters in iOS: bling bling and visual design.
If it means less-obnoxious skeuomorphism then atleast I definitely won’t hold it against them! I don’t own any Apple-made device, but I’ve seen plenty enough screenshots of their apps to be able to say that I hate the looks on quite many of them.
Yeah because that is all UI design is, bling bling graphics, not that it is the main input system for a touch based OS like iOS…
The UI is the thing that connects the OS to the User. I’d be pretty interested in any major OS having a UI shakeup.
Apparently though those are just vacuous pretty lights.
“The UI is the thing that connects the OS to the User.”
Nope. UI is the thing that connects the task/app – not OS – to the user.
But the thing that connects tasks to the OS also matters. Like actual multitasking, actual layout engine, background activities, reducing (re)loading times are design issue that are *not* UI ones, but still impact the User eXperience.
I hope that by significant system-wide UI overhaul they means UX, not just a facade overhaul. Those tends to get old quickly anyway, whatever the trademark written above (Android <4.x UI looks old too, for instance, even worse for <2.x ones!).
User eXperience is not bling bling, but if what you offer is only new look over same old material, it can be just that.
The fact that they pulled OS 10.9 guys to works on iOS 7 is a good news: they seems actually to focus on stuffs behind the screen.
The bad news: it’s harder and longer than initially expected. As always for stuffs which are not just easy FX…
Yep, you are right.
Sometimes my High Horse looks far too appealing, I should probably just give it a sugar lump sometimes instead.
How nice counter-argument(s).
Thanks for sharing with us.
Apple keep the same well proven UI: iOS is boring, Android is so much advanced with live tiles, widgets and more eye candy.
Apple change the UI: it’s all about bling bling.
Some are shameless as soon as it is about Apple.
…A Java VM over a linux kernel? and an inconsistent user interface?
Comparing an OS (iOs) with a potato (android).
* A Java VM over a Linux kernel… versus an almost proprietary version of C that needs an extremely slow message passing library for communication betweens its objects, and running on a BSD kernel.
Oh, and a COMPULSORY proprietary version of C. You are a bad boy if you would prefer any sort of alternative, and may be punished.
Advantage?
* An inconsistent UI?
Have you ever used an iPhone or do you only dream of some day being given one? iOS is the absolute master of inconsistence. All apps all look totally different, option menus are in different places, back buttons are in different places if they exist at all, app preferences are in different places…
The only thing consistent in an iPhone is that all the devices have looked exactly the same for years, whether you like them or not, that the home screen is nothing but a sea of rounded square icons, whether you like that or not, and that you are stuck with Apple’s keyboard and Apple’s browser whether you like it or not.
Advantage?
Apple was exciting. Now it is VERY boring. And limited.
Actually the model of having a JIT based environment for the userspace is as old as OS/400 (1988).
A solution not only adopted in Android, but also in some Windows versions and Plan 9/Inferno.
So Android is based on a 1988 concept, while iOS still follows a 1975 one, guess who is more modern.
Edited 2013-04-05 10:30 UTC
UI != bling bling.
IOS needs some UI improvements, calling it bling is like criticizing an anorexic for eating a cheeseburger.
I’ll believe it’s a “significant system-wide UI overhaul” when I see it. It’s not really in Apple’s DNA to do “significant” updates to their UIs. The only one I can think of is OS9-OSX (I’m not counting initial introduction here). Taking out all the instances of skeuomorphism in the interface isn’t really a UI overhaul, it’s more like applying a new theme to the existing UI. I’m guessing that’s what we’ll see.
They won’t pulled OS X engineers to accomplish just that sooner than later.
Or something is really wrong at Apple these days!
> It will apparently make people who love rich textures “sad”.
well, I won’t be… I kinda love the very plain look of Android Holo – straight lines, dimmed colours – perfect.
Thom is blind when it comes to UI design so I wouldn’t care what he thinks of about any UI.
He’ll praise it no matter what while calling competitors chaotic, unfocused, and cluttered for no reason other then personal bias and not having used it. What it does show is just how behind the current ios ui is.
Edited 2013-04-03 16:28 UTC
I always find it stupid that people whine about “bling” in a UI, OSD, etc. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with “eye candy” as long as the functionality isn’t compromised and the hardware can keep up. I suppose when people don’t have anything of any true substance to complain about, they go after the first thing they see.
I guess it’s a matter of personal aesthetics (or whatever it’s called) – I for one like simple lines and shapes with plain colours; others tend to like detailed buttons with magnificent textures. As simple as that
It’s not only a function of plain attractiveness: it’s also a function of presenting whatever the content is in an understandable form and a function of intuitiveness and clarity of UI – behaviour. Of course there is no such a thing as a single, always-optimal way of doing things, but in a good UI these all things are taken into account instead of just focusing on or the other.
We are full of revenge. We want to make someone sad more, than make everyone happy. The iOS design was a part of its success and human-less Windows 8 design – is a part of its failure. Textures gave iOS users subconscious signals of pleasure. iOS design was standing separate from others, oriented only on features and ignoring our human nature. Steve obviously understood that.
Well, that is what He thought. But He is dead now: may we move on?
As we (hopefully) all know, code abstraction/conciseness lessens the closer we get to the front end: “Make it look like blah if the user woofs, but only if the user barks in Bulgaria on every nth Tuesday of months not ending with 1 or maybe n. Occasionally.”
Cut my legs off & call me “Shorty,” but I don’t see how throwing engineers at design problems can accelerate a release.