For years Apple has been tight-lipped about upcoming products and developments, especially leading up to showcase events like the World Wide Developers Conference. In similar fashion, Apple has been silent about its updated mobile operating system iOS 7 but fan sites like 9to5mac have pulled information from unnamed sources and aggregated all of the rumors to construct an overview of what to expect from iOS7 at Apple’s WWDC.
VP of Industrial Design Jony Ive has already confirmed suspicions that iOS 7 will sport a flatter interface that Apple fans are used to, ditching the ostentatious UI platform championed by the late great Steve Jobs and former iOS chief Scott Forstall. Ive, himself a Jobs disciple, opted for a flatter interface with simple black and white foundations to give features and apps a more uniformed, ubiquitous feel for the user.
According to 9to5mac, subtle changes to to things like the unlock screen will add to an increased user-friendly aspect. The site suggests that Apple has decided to drop its signature time bar on spread across the top of the lock screen and replace it with a gloss free black appearance. Additional to that, the gridded ‘enter-passcode’ prompt will be upgraded to simplified black buttons with white text and a white border.
Similarly, the texture-heavy notifications list will be altered to set notifications against a dark gray or black backdrop with white text. The panel for accessing Wi-Fi, airplane mode, and Bluetooth will likely receive similar a similar color scheme and easily navigable interface.
The homescreen of the respective mobile devices are expected to see flatter apps, though still rounded, and a texture-less default background, though Apple users can expect panoramic wallpaper that pans as the homescreen is swiped. Pretty much all navigation bars and tabs are thought to lose their gradient textures as well.
Apps, however, are alleged to be color coded. Each mainstay app–mail, calendar, maps, etc.–according to 9to5mac will boast its own color though all will probably have some kind of black or white base. Also, “Game Center, unsurprisingly, has been stripped of green felt. Newsstand has been tweaked to remove the wood-shelf interface.”
So much has gone into Apple’s mobile operating system that Ive himself had to pull engineers working on the latest OS X to work on iOS 7 just to have it ship to WWDC in time. This only adds to the speculations abound as many are wondering why Ive needs so many hands on deck.
Apple’s WWDC keynote is slated to take place on June 10 and only then will we know for sure what Apple has in store. The rumor mill is churning furiously with ideas about iOS 7’s user interface, and thoughts about software upgrade to features like Siri, Maps, Flickr, and Vimeo.
So what are all of you expecting from iOS 7 and the WWDC? Will the new user interface be a smash hit and make easier any functionality, or will it be a complete bust?
