Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I’ve had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7’s new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 – I’ll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it’s late here now).
iOS 7 was the main attraction tonight, and just as all the leaks told us, Apple has revamped the theme for its mobile operating system. Gone is all the garish analog design (yay!), but sadly, the company doesn’t really seem to grasp digital design as well as Microsoft and Google do. The icons in particular look very childish and garish, with neon-bright colours, and some aspects of the operating system are just bad design, like light-grey, thin fonts on white backgrounds. They’ve clearly got a few iterations to go.
Overall though, it’s pretty clear that Apple took a lot – a lot – of inspiration from Metro and Google’s Holo, and mashed them together on top of iOS, without actually changing the underlying workings of the UI. In that sense, it feels more like a flat theme than an actual redesign of the UI. Let me also note that, unlike some others, I have no issues with companies copying each other. In fact, I like the trend towards simplistic, digital design, so Apple following the trend that especially Microsoft has been championing for a few years is a good thing in my view.
As always, though, final judgment is reserved until the new theme has actually been used.
On the feature front, there’s some very useful additions to iOS that were long overdue, such as a quick settings panel that can be accessed by swiping up from below the screen. Multitasking has also been changed, and is now essentially a copy of webOS meets Windows Phone. That’s another great thing to copy, because switching applications on iOS with the icons was pretty terrible. Sadly, Apple maintained the awkward double button press, but alas, I think I’m one of the few who dislikes that. iOS will also adapt to usage patterns, and load applications in the background based on your usage patterns – kind of what Windows has been doing for a while now.
iOS 7 is looking like a relatively big update, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it later this year.
All looks like very nice updates. No gimmicks, just solid useful features. A more unified look to apps and a visual refresh.
Will need to use it, but overall I’m not a huge fan of flat design as used in Android and Windows phone. When combined with busy interfaces, I find it quite confusing when nothing stands out, and it’s difficult to distinguish presentation UI from functional UI. So personally I hope it isn’t as flat as Android.
And my iPhone 4 will be getting the update (minus airdrop). Got that thing as a work phone when it came out 3 years ago, and it still runs the latest software.
Edited 2013-06-11 00:05 UTC
It is only a matter of time now before Apple “invents” all of the features that it has now borrowed from Android and Windows Phone and begins suing other companies for using them. Apple innovates but it copies just as much.
The Verge has a nice visual summary of some of the most visible parallels:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/12/4424288/ios-7-design-elements-sid…
I really hope I can turn this off. I like to know when my apps are being updated and to be able to keep an old version on-hand in case, as often happens, the update introduces a nasty bug.
I’ll reserve final judgment till I actually get to use it, but most of what I’ve seen looks good. Some bits do seem original, while others look to be pillaged from Android, WinPhone and WebOS.
The icons in the app tray do seem a tad too flat though, and the overall ‘language’ seems undecided in places – sharp edged boxes in some places, curved edges in others.
I’m ecstatic that they finally got rid of that ghastly linen background for the notifications. Also happy they gave a keyboard a more neutral colour (though I’d have preferred grey or black), as opposed to that horrid gumby purple.
My 2 main concerns for now:
1. Like @darknexus posted above, I also hope they allow us to disable (or enable on a per-app basis) automatic app updates.
2. Bing seems to be the new default search engine. Personally, Bing doesn’t do it for me, so I’m hoping they at least allow us to select an alternative.
Still no word on going completely PC-free (Post PC my ass!!), since it looks like it’ll still be dependent on a Mac/PC with iTunes installed for transferring files and media. Sucks for people who don’t use an iTunes compatible operating system.
Edited 2013-06-11 02:36 UTC
Heh, I have an iTunes compatible os and I’ve gone iTunes-Free because I hate it so much. The important thing, when going iTunes-free is that you need to use apps that have alternative file transfer mechanisms. I like Air Sharing (which lets you copy files via web dav and open them in any application that registers as being able to handle that file type), Goodplayer (FTP file transfer and a jack of all trade media players for iOS), and other such apps. Most every app (aside from the built-in ones, funnily enough) will register the filetypes it can open. Of course, this also means that you want to limit your use of the iTunes ecosystem to apps only, but purchasing from iTunes is generally a rip-off (lossy music, expensive movies and books with drm, etc). Going iTunes-free is quite possible and worth doing, imho. How Apple can be behind some of the best software in the world (OS X, iOS, iWork for iOS, etc) and still produce that horrid festering pile of shit they call iTunes still baffles me to this day.
I looked at OS X Mavericks and some of the new features, Maps and eBooks I have been using Maps with my current Linux distribution, OS4, http://www.os4online.com which included maps for at least a year, they included Nokia Maps then switched to Google Maps and it was the first Linux distro that I know of that included FBReader as an ebook reader by default. Thunar and Nautilus have had tabs and apps could go full screen long before Mavericks did as well. I think Mavericks is just playing catch up with some of the things that have already been around for awhile.
Maps and an eBook reader (like, say, Kindle Reader) are all available on the Mac now. It’s just Apple has finally decided to make official apps for their own platform.
The lack of iBooks support on Mac has always been ridiculously stupid and frustrating and made iBooks less attractive then the kindle.
The ‘Top Gun’ OS X release has some nice features I’ll use but it’s, once again, not a ‘must have’ upgrade. But I’d say for $29 for all your machines it’s worth it.
I have to agree with Thom. The icons look a bit too dramatically colorful to me. I wish the color palette was more understated.
It’s better then then Windows phone though. I don’t understand who could like that.
]{
I’ll be interested to see just how far the AirDrop integration will go. I’m primarily a Mac user and I love AirDrop when sending files to other Mac users. Encrypted wireless file transfer over an ad-hoc network without any of the irritating setup at both ends, and it really helps when you’re sending a file to someone who doesn’t have the first clue what an ad-hoc network is let alone how to set it up. No need to pass around thumb drives, or even to have a wireless network in range. Being able to AirDrop files to and from Mac and iOS would be convenient. Now we just need it for Windows and *nix, and for it to be compatible across the board. I suspect that last bit is a pipe dream though.
I think the AirDrop feature reminds me of Bump which has been around for a few years. Bump uses “bumping” two devices as a pairing mechanism (matched with precise time and location) and support pairing with the desktop browser from http://bu.mp bumping the spacebar. I never took off really, I’m sure Apple will have a greater success though as preinstalled on millions of phones.
Nah, AirDrop is much more streamlined. As it is now, from Mac to Mac: Both Mac users open AirDrop in the Finder. This enables it, and both Macs broadcast their existence. Users drag files and/or folders into the airDrop window on to another Mac’s icon and the data sends. No bumping or complex setup, and they only broadcast and allow it when the AirDrop window is open, so you can’t get sent a malicious file that way without being aware that files are incoming.
It remembers me the fresh and colourful look of the first iMac and the OSX’s Aqua interface. And I like that, I want colors and happiness. 🙂
One other feature I saw on one of the last slides that I don’t think they mentioned was integration with 3rd party game controllers. Anyone else notice this?
OSX is the best OS by far for Desktop use. Games are a really crap metric to rate desktop usability. The stuff like calendar integration etc is second to none and seems to be really obvious stuff that other OSes miss. But seriously we’re still a long way to go for computing to stop sucking.
Like where the hell is Proxy server/wireless integration? I shouldn’t have to disable/enable proxies manually in OSX. It should automatically enable/disable them as soon as you join a remembered wireless network. My home wifi doesn’t use a proxy. Why keep the settings for my work proxy enabled when I’m at home? If I need it I’ll set it myself.
Really obvious yet stupid setting that every OS has so far screwed up. OSX is ahead of the curve on these things but still leaves a lot to be desired. Linux needs to learn from OSX and integrate things a lot more tightly. It’s annoying how many small services could be working in unison which fail to on Linux. For the record I think Microsoft is so far behind on this stuff it’s not even worth mentioning. They’re incapable of learning and fixing their bad practices.
Edited 2013-06-11 06:35 UTC
You misunderstood… I was talking about iOS, not OSX
No, not really.
http://marin.jb.free.fr/proxydriver/
For those with Apple developer accounts, it seems we finally have modules in Objective-C, most likely based on the work Apple is doing for C++ modules.
Full details not yet available.
Looks awful. Did a brony design iOS7? Seriously, it’s like they lifted the color scheme straight from My Little Pony.
http://imgur.com/Txqq91I
I am quite relieved.
After following the rumors i have been a bit nervous about the release of iOS 7. Why? Because i recently switched to Android and was afraid i would regret it. But now IMO they destroyed the look of iOS and made it just as ugly as many Android phones default look. Now all i need is Google to fix the font size issues in Chrome and i don’t really miss anything, well, except the physical mute switch, the email client, and the all in one place control over notifications.
I love the design of the new Mac Pro, i kinda want one.
Just want to say that this screen switching have been with AmigaOS since the beginning. Its like Apple tries to re-invent the wheel. Its good, because AmigaOS did lots of good things for the market.
One thing AmigaOS still wins on screen switching is that each screen can have different screenmodes. You can also move programs between the screens. Its nice to see Apple follows AmigaOS in this. I am positive towards new MacOSX and iOS7. Just I would like to see more freedom for the users.
all the mobile operating systems are converging on the same thing. and it seems to me that all the new ios7 features can be traced to one competitor or another.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57588632-37/ios-7-hands-on-videos…
one important feature remains exclusive to android: significant customizability and control, letting you install anything and everything
The new iOS looks good insofar as it’s a much needed change and it’s not as bland as Windows. I favour flat designs myself, but metro is OTT for me. iOS 7 looks like a good middle ground. The colours are a bit bright for my liking, but I suspect they appear stronger in the online picture than they do if you had the device in your hand.
On another note, how frekin cool is the new MacPro!!? http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/
-fixed typos-
Edited 2013-06-11 10:04 UTC
Thom, I’m glad you said it, I thought I was the only one. It doesn’t look that pretty to me either. I was really surprised how a lot of features seemed in direct response to, or direct copies of Android features. To be fair, they didn’t say they “invented” them, but I was surprised at a few:
Command center is basically what Android 4.2 added, only swipe from the bottom instead of top.
Multitasking is really just a horizontal version of Android’s multitasking from 3.0+. Some are equating it to WebOS, but my understanding is that the apps shown do not necessarily represent running apps like in WebOS, just recent.
Safari looks like it works exactly like Chrome on Android.
Automatic updates and seeing Notifications from the lockscreen? These are new features?
iRadio looks like Pandora to me.
Multitasking looks interesting. They didn’t go much into detail. It sounds like the OS will pick what apps can run in the background. I’m not sure if they are describing some new process, or if this will be Similar to Android, but this may be the biggest announcement.
I think that everyone should be glad Apple gave iOS a significant update. iOS users should be happy they are moving forward again, Android and WP users should be glad that this will force Google and Microsoft to continue to push forward.
Can’t believe how fugly it looks.
I must concur. And that’s just a very broad way of describing it. Having used the developer preview, and while I realize it’s an unfinished product, it is still quite underwhelming.
They “flattened” everything but then in the process couldn’t decide on a standard of how detailed or simple to make the icons. Settings is super detailed while camera is not. Then Game Center still contains highlights that break the “flattened” look, and icons like Email contain hideous color gradients from the late 1990s when people first discovered Macromedia Fireworks.
The default color schemes are not well planned for people with visual impairments. I’ve seen many instances of bright blue, thin text against a light grey/white background.
Nav bar buttons no longer appear to be buttons, while center header text is bolded and thereby drawing your attention away from the buttons, so it appears that many designers worked on iOS 7 but they didn’t work together, or there was a lack of leadership to make the environment cohesive.
It’s not like Apple hasn’t tweaked the colour palette between beta and the final release. Might be a good idea to send them your thoughts about the palette: http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
In any case, Apple has toned down Mac OS X’s theme over the years. I am sure they will do the same for the new iOS theme
Edited 2013-06-11 13:26 UTC
I think the question is, why is Apple toning the color palette up in iOS. It’s not a new product–it’s a new iteration. When they toned down things it was the opposite.
God I’m different.
I never thought I would buy an iPhone (I always thought it’s the worst smartphone from the lot and Apple can suck my balls), but I’m looking for something to replace my Nokia N900 and now that everyone hates new iOS, I think iPhone 6 with iOS 7 will be my next phone. Simply briliant.
And how is it ugly? Current iPhone is fugly. Especially message bubbles – like Windows effin XP. /facepalm
Edited 2013-06-12 08:33 UTC
I felt that design cues were take from Microsoft and gesture were taken from Blackberry.
I really dont get why we need 4, android, ios, BB and MSFT. And ubuntu and firefox as well.
Im sticking with android. I have IOS devices, but I no longer care about that ecosystem.