iOS 7 looks familiar

http://chris.millr.org/ios-7-looks-familiar-cant-quite-put-my-finger-on-it/

by vxNsr • 13 years ago

286 205 13 years ago

chris.millr.org

vxNsr• 13 years ago

Not to be partisan, or anything.

The thing that stood out the most for me was slide-up to unlock, that's been a Windows thing since they began their redesign with WP (from WinMobile).

Still I think that somehow Apple did a better job with the flat UI, I'm currently using Windows 8 (by choice) and my phone is a Lumia 521 (again by choice), and I always feel that something is off with the WP/W8 buttons, they just seem too flat or too... just off -- I can't explain it but I get this weird feeling everytime I see them, the buttons and controls just don't feel polished enough.

When I first installed W8 on my laptop, I thought it might be because it's a beta product and not finished, then when they shipped those icons, I thought it was just my screen (my laptop is a four year old dell inspiron that shipped with vista, incidentally it runs W8 better than it did W7, and better than vista before that), but now that I have a new smartphone the niggling is justified -- there is something odd about the buttons, especially when compared to the new iOS7.

kennywinker• 13 years ago

Irony: it only looks like it's slide up to unlock. It's actually slide sideways. My twitter stream right now is full of people pointing out how deeply confusing that little arrow at the bottom of the screen is.

See it in action:

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2013/06/slide-to-unlock-appadvice...

cheald5• 13 years ago

This is something that really, desperately confuses me. Apple is supposedly the king of intuitive design, and yet here, you have literally the first interface people will see on the phone, with an interaction model which is completely impossible to intuit, and only works for people who are already trained in how to complete the action.

I get the desire to eliminate depth, but that little slide gutter and right-pointing arrow tell you exactly what you need to know. The iOS7 UI instructs you to do the wrong thing!

drivebyacct2• 13 years ago

What in the ever loving hell is that arrow for then?

edit: I guess it seems obvious now...

benaiah5• 13 years ago

Interesting - the animation for the unlocking is somewhat similar to the animation when swiping between pages in the app list on Android Jellybean (I'm not criticizing the copying, just noting the similarity). Given the focus on layers in the rest of the design (the control panel and notifications center, for example) I would have thought the unlock screen would slide off like a layer, as well (since they are using the visual metaphor of dragging the whole unlock screen, rather than sliding a specific unlock element, as in previous version of iOS).

Any thoughts as to why they did that differently? Am I just totally off base?

zmmmmm• 13 years ago

Particularly ironic since Apple made such a big deal out of their slide to unlock patent, being a competitive advantage etc. and specifically tied to moving something from two explicit points along a predefined path. Now after all that fuss they just threw it away and copied their competitors?

noginn• 13 years ago

My two year old daughter figured out how to unlock my iPhone by sliding her thumb across the slider. Interested to see how she'll find the iOS 7 interface. Toddler usability testing :)

marpstar• 13 years ago

My son, also two years old, can unlock iOS6. He cannot, however, unlock my Galaxy S3, which offers no visual "unlock" slider. It's insane how well a two-year-old can interact with touch devices.

Pxtl• 13 years ago

My 2 year old did it on my winphone, which uses a full-screen slide to unlock.

soundoflight• 13 years ago

Actually, I think Zune HD was the first Microsoft product with the slide up to unlock. (Obviously close enough)

Recoil42• 13 years ago

The lock screen looks much closer to Android's than it does Windows Phone, as Droid Life points out: http://www.droid-life.com/2013/06/10/that-moment-when-ios7-b...

makomk• 13 years ago

I actually first saw the new lock screen linked by some random comment poster on one of the tech sites and had to double-check that it wasn't some Android variant and that they weren't having me on. Not joking.

richkuo2• 13 years ago

In a general sense, this is natural design evolution - where Darwin's mutation and natural selection concepts can be applied (generally) to the evolution and advancement of good/effective design.

The windows phone likely took some of its design concepts from previous iOS and Android designs, and now iOS7 is 'evolving' the same way.

This (evolution) can be described as a recursive process: keep the things that work (natural selection), try something new (mutate) with the things that didn't work.

I would also like to note that I find iOS7's weather app design closely resembles Yahoo's weather app, more so than the Windows' phone.

richkuo2• 13 years ago

great post btw

dubcanada• 13 years ago

In regards to the Yahoo weather app, if you look very closely in the bottom right you will see they are pretty much the exact same thing. Both taking from the same location (Yahoo Weather) and both formatting it similar to how Yahoo does already.

No sense in redoing something that is already well done.

JosephHatfield• 13 years ago

The Yahoo Weather app is quite well done and I think one of the best weather apps on the iPhone. Apple couldn't have chosen a better weather app to "steal" from.

Samuel_Michon2• 13 years ago

Apple likes Yahoo!’s Weather app so much they gave it a Apple Design Award. Their review:

“Yahoo! Weather stands apart with its simple, uncluttered, and beautiful visual design. This highly-rated app displays weather details with stunning photography based on time of day, location, and current conditions. Yahoo! Weather has great layout and typography, compelling animations, fast image processing, and clear iconography. This attention to detail means that in a saturated category, an app can rise above the crowd.”

https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/events/awards/#yahoo-weathe...

bane• 13 years ago

You know, I can see that. If Android is ripping off iOS that really means that for iOS to step up and get modern, Android isn't the template to follow -- Android is stuck with innovating off of iOS's past accomplishments...it's innovating while walking backwards.

WM, being a ground-up re-imagining of how smart phones work is looking forward...better to co-opt some of those ideas instead...be in a position of innovating while walking forwards.

cheald5• 13 years ago

What makes you think that Android is ripping off iOS?

bobsoap• 13 years ago

Perhaps the same thing that seems to have convinced most every Apple user that their products are magical and categorically superior to every other product in existence: good marketing paired with illusory naivety on the receiving end.

da_n• 13 years ago

You obviously have not used modern Android, or are ignorant of Android's own innovations and design language. See here where iOS7 "borrows" a lot of stock Android features and design language.

https://securecdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/516/5...

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/06/10/ios7-vs-android-a-quick...

https://plus.google.com/112995668742108647641/posts/dmSKzTwC...

gte910h2• 13 years ago

The OS looks far better on a device in front of you than on a static picture on a website or on a projector on a wall.

myko3• 13 years ago

Everything except the home screen icons/default background. Those are still fairly hideous.

Still time to fix it though, I don't expect Apple to leave it in this state.

I'm more concerned with why hasn't Apple made lower case keys show up on the keyboard yet? This is a no brainer.

gte910h2• 13 years ago

Of all of those, only the settings one really bothers me

omni• 13 years ago

As I look at the upper-case keys on my 2012 Macbook Pro, I'm not sure why you think they are going to do this.

mikestew• 13 years ago

I've used a iPhone since 2008, starting with the 3G. It wasn't until yesterday, after loading iOS 7, that I noticed the keyboard was always in caps. In fact, I thought it was bug in iOS 7. "Why in the hell is the keyboard all caps now? Surely it won't ship this way." Then I used my wife's iOS 6 phone and for the first time noticed that it's always been that way. There's something about the new UI/color scheme that brought this to my attention. Or maybe the shift key state isn't distinct enough to tell me whether it's caps or not (and hence I look at the keys to discern the difference, and they're of course no help).

My point, on topic with your objection, is that I never even noticed the lack of lower case keys before iOS 7. So for me it's not something high on the list.

philthesong• 13 years ago

We are talking about smartphone screens. There are not lots of flexibilities for UI design. You either slide up or to the side for a lock screen. And what about time?

cheald5• 13 years ago

Sure there are. Android has seen a lot of different lock screen types - drag the small circle out of the big circle, drag the small circle into the big circle, "rotary dial" unlock, pattern unlock, and Samsung's (or was it HTC?) "fling the whole screen" unlock style.

Contextual gesture unlock/launch mechanisms are actually pretty popular. Here's an example with 4 options, but that is by no means the only option set.

http://cloud.addictivetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MI...

SEMW2• 13 years ago

The reason for all that creativity is to try and get around Apple's breathtakingly broad patent for unlocking a phone by moving along a "predefined displayed path".

http://www.google.com/patents/US7657849

_progger_2• 13 years ago

It's a cross between WP and Android. It's a very strange feeling when you realise you could do a better job at UX design then a multi-billion company.

masklinn• 13 years ago

It's a cross between WP and Android.

With a bunch of WebOS thrown in, e.g. the task switcher.

rimantas• 13 years ago

Then why don't you do it? Redesigning the entire OS is a bit more complex than proclaiming that it is similar to something and you can do it better.

_progger_2• 13 years ago

My point is that you could expect such an obvious decision as making a mix of UX styles of two other competing platforms to be executed a bit better.

mattermill• 13 years ago

Unfortunately, not many others would be willing to put much faith in someone with the grammar of a 6th grader to do a better job at UX design than a multi-billion dollar company.

infinitone2• 13 years ago

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem

shurcooL3• 13 years ago

I don't understand this obsession with complaining about copying or imitating in design. As long as good things are taken and worse things are left behind, the consumers benefit.

It's like being upset that the 2014 cars have the same steering wheel and pedal layout, or that a manufacturer "stole" the idea of using a USB port in a car.

hawleyal• 13 years ago

No, it's like someone having a good idea, and someone else saying it was theirs.

myko3• 13 years ago

When did this happen?

jspark• 13 years ago

Different people have different reasons for idolizing Apple, and one would be its role in the past half decade as the innovator, the leader, or the envelope-pusher. Taking cues from other companies' products goes against the refreshing originality we've enjoyed from Apple so much.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying I personally agree or even think this viewpoint is entirely true; just offering some insight.

dman• 13 years ago

http://gigaom.com/2005/09/20/redmond-start-your-photocopiers...

I dont get where people got this obsession from either.

antimatter• 13 years ago

Great post. This is what I keep thinking. I couldn't care less about these companies copying each other. If it benefits me as the user, then let them sue each other into oblivion or make any marketing claim about being innovative. Why do people take these things so personally?

tolmasky2• 13 years ago

I can't speak for other people, but I can perhaps share some insight from my feelings. Just to get it out of the way, it is a bit annoying to see a company that is normally absolutely obsessed with others copying them now doing the same. But as eyebrow raising as that is, its not really my main concern.

My personal issue with this design is that it signals the coming of a boring lull in mobile design. Its the death of distinction. Android, Windows, and iPhone now largely look the same (to me). In fact I think the Windows stuff actually looks better. Its upsetting because there are surely more than just two possible designs ("flat" or "skeuomorphic"). Did iOS need a design overhaul? I don't know (I'm personally of the belief that it was missing key features and services more than a new skin). But if for the sake of argument it did, then this just frankly feels lazy on Apple's part. It was the most obvious direction to go in, and its been done. Aqua and iOS 1 were different, fresh, and represented an original vision for UIs. Even if you didn't like them it provided something to contrast to. This just provides something to compare to :/

rdouble2• 13 years ago

After a morning playing with it, it doesn't really look or feel anything like Windows phone to me. I don't have enough experience with Android to offer much in useful commentary, but it doesn't seem like the Nexus 7 I once used. Has anyone put up a side by side compare and contrast against the other mobile OSes yet? I suppose that would be against the dev agreement.

Finster• 13 years ago

I feel like your argument basically distills down to: "All flat designs look alike."

Surely, that's not the case. And as I've been messing around with IOS7, I'm noticing a lot more than just a graphical redesign. This is also a usability redesign. Little things like including a contact button at the top of the Messages app itself rather than at the top of the message view. IOS7 is full of these little tweaks that have been standard fare in the jailbreak communities.

To boil it down to "a boring lull in mobile design" is to really ignore the quality of the IOS7 redesign.

sjwright3• 13 years ago

I don't think it's a lull, I prefer to think of it as a spring cleaning. iOS 6 is great, but it has reached a visual saturation point, making it difficult to add more ideas.

Sometimes you need to step back in order to advance further. The Pentium 4 is a case in point.

I'm sure there will be ongoing refinement to the visual language, and will feel finished by the time iOS 7 ships. Then iOS 8 and 9 will be able to progressively layer new ideas into the new literal and metaphorical white space.

jljljl2• 13 years ago

The "Can't quite put my finger on it..." piece is in reference to a common catch-phrase for bloggers who have mocked Android, Samsung, and Microsoft for "copying" elements from iOS.

I agree the whole back and forth is a bit silly from both parties.

Edit: missed a word

Steko2• 13 years ago

"elements from iOS"

Frequently seen re: MBA and iMac knock offs as well. It's hilarious and worth pointing out in both directions although I think the popular notion that one cancels out the other is false equivalence.

coldtea4• 13 years ago

The "Can't quite put my finger on it..." piece is in reference to a common catch-phrase for bloggers who have mocked Android, Samsung, and Microsoft for "copying" elements from iOS.

Only this is not a copy. It's just a different flat design, just as Windows also uses a flat design.

It doesn't copy the look of Windows Phone -- it just uses a similar flat visual language.

We cannot say the same for, e.g., MBA look-alikes that you cannot tell apart from 5 feet away.

It's like the difference between two manga comics by different artists (of course there are similarities: they used the same visual language) and a cheap rip-off of an animated series (e.g Power Rangers vs Powerful Rangers).

Taylorious• 13 years ago

I think it has more to do with the particular company. Namely, a company that brags about how original their designs/products and is very sue happy towards anyone who imitates them in the slightest. On top of that, they have a lot of fans who think of Apple as a master of UI and general design (I'm not saying they're wrong) and will associate the design Apple and not the others who spearheaded it.

I didn't listen to Apples presentation, so I don't know if they tooted their own horn on this new design scheme, but if I was a designer who had been working on interfaces similar to what Apple is switching to, I would still be pretty pissed off right now. Because, once people switch to iOS 7, the general public will perceive your design as "Apple like" or "Apple inspired."

shurcooL3• 13 years ago

I couldn't care less how original or unoriginal something is, I mainly care about how good it is functionally and less so how pleasing it is visually. I wish more people paid attention to that rather than who created what first. All ideas are based on some other ideas to some degree.

I guess that's the difference. If Apple implemented something I created in their products, I'd be super happy that my idea is doing well and will benefit more people. I care about the ideas themselves, not about receiving credit.

shurcooL3• 13 years ago

Here's an article that gets me.

http://www.androidcentral.com/apple-s-ios-7-copied-everyone-...

bennyg2• 13 years ago

I like when people post a perspective like this. It's a lot more bold than to criticize every single thing. Stay humble, stay happy folks.

leoc• 13 years ago

This Ars Technica piece http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/06/the-global-influence-of... has a similar piece which is good too, pointing out that the app switcher seems to trace back to WebOS. Actually, the big, high and centred, skinny-lettered and unbordered time display on the lock screen always reminds me of some Sony Xperia lock screens, though maybe that's just me.

mtgx2• 13 years ago

Ideally that would be true - but try to tell that to Apple in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

natmaster• 13 years ago

There is nothing wrong with it. Unless of course you claim you revolutionized the space with your original designs - which is what Apple and co. do. I simply have a problem with people lying.

batbomb• 13 years ago

Get over this already. "Flat" design or whatever the hell we all want to call it has been the application of the International Typographic Style to UI elements across phones.

If you are worried about somebody ripping somebody off, worry about the works from Jan Tschichold, Adrian Frutiger, or Josef Müller-Brockmann being ripped off, not MS, Apple, Android, or whoever else.

marknutter• 13 years ago

Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:chris.m...

emehrkay3• 13 years ago

Ha. Apple removes some gloss and all-of-a-sudden it looks like OSes that post-date it.

nivla• 13 years ago

You do realize that there is more to flat design than just removing gloss? If I were to agree with your statement then I would say the opposite is also true. Draw a rectangle, add some gloss and voila.. Apple's design right?

emehrkay3• 13 years ago

Put the iOS images side by side, shit even ignore the ios7 images, and the difference is gloss(and button shape). My point is that layout/placement of elements seem to be a constant, while it is actual dress that is the differentiator. Functionally it seems that iOS hasn't changed. The lock screen looks different, but seems to behave as it does now (the bokeh effect is the only thing that compares from this article). And I can't fault them for taking WebOS' multitasker, every small-screen os should use it.

taktix• 13 years ago

I have the Lumia 920 and Microsoft absolutely nailed the design of the OS. It works seamlessly with Office Live/Online/365 whatever the heck they call it too. The home screen of the phone agitates my OCD something fierce because I have to get it just right or... I'll... die...

Seriously though, its a great phone and if you need one for work like I do, might as well get one you really like.

Gigablah2• 13 years ago

Lumia 900 owner here. OS is nice, but the apps... just as an example, I got really frustrated with IE this morning because it didn't recognize StartCom as a trusted certificate authority, and it doesn't cache my response (to ignore the warning and browse the page anyway). The https page loaded the first time, but subsequent pages just showed blank screens. And that stupid SSL warning page just kept popping up.

It's 2013 and I can't browse certain web pages with my expensive smartphone...

snowwrestler2• 13 years ago

Where oh where did Microsoft get the idea to totally rebuild their mobile OS around the concept of a full-face capacitive touch-screen?

DaemonHN• 13 years ago

I don't see what this has to do with iOS7 looking similar to Windows.

See: https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/tu-quoque

SEMW2• 13 years ago

Microsoft and Palm have been building full-face touch-screen mobile devices since the late 1990s. Full-face Touch-screen PocketPC phones started coming out in 2002ish.

Yes, they were resistive rather than capacitative touch-screens. That wasn't because it didn't occur to anyone to use a capacitative touch-screen before Apple, it was because the technology wasn't mature enough before around 2006/7. And if even you want to make the (silly) argument that whichever manufacturer happens to be the first to bring out a full-face capacitative touch-screen phone can somehow claim to have invented the concept, that honour goes to the LG Prada.

CanSpice• 13 years ago

During the WWDC keynote I tweeted this:

"Not sure what's worse about WWDC keynote days: Apple fans cheering for new features or Android/WP fans saying "we have that already"."

It's boring and repetitive and expected. Yeah, they mimic. Big deal. Get over it.

infinitone2• 13 years ago

Samsung would like to have a word with you. (motioning the lawsuit that Apple took up against them last year over petty things like rounded corners)

greghinch• 13 years ago

These arguments always strike me as coming from people who don't actually understand what design is. The folks who think that design is the font face, the weight of lines, the colors used. Those are all facets of design, but they are essentially just tools to accomplish the goal: experience and engagement. What you are noticing are just trends, and this is nothing new. Look back over the history of even just twentieth century graphic/print design, and you will see how marked trends define periods in time. The fact that one product or group uses the same or similar elements to another does not say that one is the copy of another, simply that they are both products of the same era.

I haven't used iOS 7 yet, so I can't say this with certainty, but based on my experience with Apple, I feel pretty confident to say that they may have integrated similar graphic motifs you're familiar with from other platforms, but the end experience will be leaps and bounds better than others who've tried to implement the same elements. There is real thought put into how a person will best use this product, not just how clean and pretty the UI can look.

thezilch2• 13 years ago

These arguments always strike me as coming from people who only spend time with Apple's designs. The folks who think that only Apple designers are leaps and bounds better, are the only thoughtful producers, and are the sole visionaries beyond just the UI.

Let's face it; look to the Samsung vs. Apple case to see how it is the laymen making billion dollar calls. Not designers. It's not designers that Apple has a majority rule over.

nilliams• 13 years ago

> The folks who think that only Apple designers are leaps and bounds better

Parent doesn't say that at all, or make any comparisons.

LowKarmaAccount3• 13 years ago

Let's face it; look to the Samsung vs. Apple case to see how it is the laymen making billion dollar calls.

The damages were reduced to $600 million after the judge ruled that the jury's used an "impermissible legal theory" to award damages, and ordered a new trial.[1] The jury foreman had a technical background and lied during voir dire by failing to mention that he had history of suing others for patent abuse.[2] He was the one he told the other jurors to ignore prior art and assume that Samsung had violated the patents.[3] So it isn't fair to say that laymen decided the damages.

After the trial, a patent('380, bounce-back) that Apple relied heavily upon during the trial to prove that Samsung was "infringing on their innovative designs" was invalidated by the USPTO.[3] This means that if the jury had been competent and searched for prior art (which the foreman with technical experience told them to ignore), or if Samsung had been allowed to present evidence demonstrating prior art, it is probable that no damages would have been awarded at all.

[1] http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20130301161659602

[2] http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20121031200136965

[3] http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20130402121308772

Geee2• 13 years ago

No, this isn't true this time. I have been using iOS 7 on iPhone 5 for a day now, and I have mixed feelings. I have always trusted Apple to 'get it right' and be delighted with thought-out details and just no-frills great UX.

I know it's Beta, but it honestly looks and feels like Android with a bit of lag here and there, some stuttering animations, confusing unlock and answer call screens, too thin fonts for my taste, icons and iconography aren't that great either (opinion), completely unnecessary eye-candy with animated parallax background which doesn't even work very well, etc.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad, but 'leaps and bounds better', I say no. I'm sure they'll redefine the design for final product though.

LowKarmaAccount3• 13 years ago

Have you had a chance to beta-test any of the previous iOS releases? It is possible that other iOS releases had lag issues that were fixed before the release to the general public.

bennyg2• 13 years ago

What phone are you using? How much system memory do you have left? There's a lot of reasons for lag beyond just a new OS. Some of those things could be exacerbated by the new OS, but for another datapoint, I'm running an iPhone 5 with 3.1/16GB used and I'm not experiencing any lag. The animations are a delight.

I am, however, not a fan of some of the graphical choices they made. A few subtleties like a thin 1px inset color on the NavBar text would do wonders for UI and contrast - but I'm not hired by them to make those decisions.

pazimzadeh• 13 years ago

I have been testing the beta on my iPhone 4S and the animations do indeed seem sluggish compared to iOS 6, but I don't doubt that Apple is aware of this and is working on to restore snappiness in the next few months.

ruswick2• 13 years ago

I know it's Beta, but it honestly looks and feels like Android with a bit of lag here and there.

This sort of lag has been a common artifact throughout the iPhone's history. Crashing apps, lag, and outright unresponsiveness are daily occurrences on my iPhone 5. It's honestly gotten to the point where, if I didn't have an astronomical amount of money tied up in their ecosystem, I'd switch to a Nexus 4 tonight.

weixiyen• 13 years ago

It feels nothing like Android. The easing and physics are very different. I'm sure they'll fix some of the the visual design.

nikster5• 13 years ago

I've been playing with iOS 7 on my iPhone 5 for a day now as well.

It's utterly fantastic. What is surprising is how much all the apps have changed - all the functionality was seemingly ripped apart and put back together.

It's definitely rough. This is a beta, not a Google "let's call it beta even though it's actually finished". A real beta. With plenty of bugs; occasional crashes. Lots of graphics glitches esp. when using 3rd party apps. Seems to use tons of battery.

If you don't understand what a beta is, better don't install this. Beta means buggy.

But as far as the UI is concerned, it's fantastic. It's beyond that - it feels as if a great weight has been lifted from iOS and I can feel the blood, sweat, and tears, as well as enthusiasm and sheer euphoria, of the people putting this together in an insane timeframe. 7 months!

Sure there's inconsistencies in the design - those will get fixed over time, probably before the GM; there's so many glitches - I expect some will remain past GM. There's some weirdness that'll only get fixed next year.

But all in all, this is one fantastic update. This is Apple at its best. If you can't see that, I feel sorry for you, but I also feel confident that you will see it in hindsight, next year, when everyone will talk about how Apple re-invented itself yet again with iOS7.

Samsung meanwhile is already hard at work copying all those features, expect them to pop up in Android within the next 6 months. Parallax background will be first.

pizza• 13 years ago

Android as in an Android device you personally have used for a while, or Android as a pejorative?

eddieroger2• 13 years ago

It's beta 1. What do you really expect? The lag is because the code just isn't done, let alone optimized. I'm using it on an iPhone 5, and it doesn't feel like any Android I've ever used, and I was in the Android world from 1.5 on a Sprint HTC Hero through the Nexus 7. This feels like the first seed of every beta - there are problems, and they will be addressed.

jawngee• 13 years ago

It's fascinating how completely different people's experiences with the same thing can be.

I've been using it on my phone and I love it. I always had to jailbreak my phone, but I don't feel like I need to with iOS 7. Though I wish they'd add Quick Reply and then I'd be set.

But, so far, for me, it's been very fluid and smooth.

Drains battery like crazy though. I went to bed 100%, woke up at 3% six hours later.

bdt101• 13 years ago

Even if these are just trends, we now see Apple following trends rather than setting them. That's a significant change.

rustynails77• 13 years ago

Noone should see this as Apple copying anyone. There are designs that work well with phones - and to be honest, there aren't too many of them within today's technology. If something works, designers use it.

There should be no better argument that software patents (in most instances) are idiotic.

jaequery• 13 years ago

omg, the new designs look hideous! steve jobs would never have approved these ... looks like apple is now following the footsteps of microsoft, so sad.

Steko2• 13 years ago

Is it even? Over the last 30 years haven't we seen Apple follow plenty (in addition to leading). Is it possible to both be hyper-focused and also always be first?

aet2• 13 years ago

What about the new MacPro?

coldtea4• 13 years ago

Following what trend? "Non-skeuomorphism"? This looks like what Ives would have done all along, even since 2006, if he was in charge of the UI.

The most important features of the new UI are the behavioural and conceptual changes.

Not the icons or the hues. Those can and will be fine-tuned easily in upcoming versions, just as OS X went from lickable glowing candy buttons, pronounced stripes and metal windows to today's look.

path411• 13 years ago

Hasn't Apple's process always been to take other successful things and offer a very polished and high quality feel of it?

dirkgently3• 13 years ago

This particular argument strikes me as coming from people who don't actually understand that Rounded Corners(TM)(R)(C) fall in the same category.

542458• 13 years ago

I'm really sorry to drag this up again, but the "rounded corners" thing isn't really as ridiculous as some people made it sound. There are two important points here.

First - Samsung was found not to infringe on design patent D'889, which is commonly criticized as the "rounded rectangles" patent. Most of the patents in the case covered other ideas ('381 patent - "rubber band" scrolling, 'D '305 patent - home screen design, '163 patent - double tap to zoom onto a specific block). The "rounded rectangles" issue had little bearing on the verdict.

Second - Read patent D'889 (Please note that it isn't a regular patent, rather, it's a design patent). The patent specifically (and only) covers a touch-screen handheld tablet shaped like a rounded rectangle, with a thin bezel, edge-to-edge glass, and minimal extras, a charging port at the bottom and no stylus. It's hardly as simple as a patent on "rounded corners" - it's a patent on very specific design features, and if a single one was changed, the patent wouldn't apply (and it didn't!).

gabipurcaru• 13 years ago

I do agree with your arguments, yet they do have a patent on "Slide to unlock"

andyhmltn• 13 years ago

You see the thing is that it's nothing like windows phone. Having had it all day, I can definately not see any such 'copying.' The style of the design is not the design itself. To copy is the act of replicating something.

jwarren• 13 years ago

Everyone is so quick to judge the static pictures. But Apple took great pains to point out how this is a reactive system, how movement, suggestion and gesture follow the user's interactions. Sure, the current culture of design appreciation that they played a big part in has now started moving faster than they are. But that's mistaking visual decoration for how something works. Based on past experience, I trust Apple to make it more than skin deep.

mtgx2• 13 years ago

Another one:

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/06/10/ios7-vs-android-a-quick...

emehrkay3• 13 years ago

Apple clearly took ideas from Google/Android. However, Apple's offerings look to have a level of polish that the Android ones do not have. Each and every comparison on that page looks like Google's engineers' visuals vs Apple's artists' -- thats the thing that "regular" people will instinctively gravitate to -- the one that is pretty.

JacobSkyler• 13 years ago

The only Android screenshots that look less pretty to me are the ones taken in the middle of doing something, e.g. the Android lock screen notifications which is in the process of being pulled down vs. the Apple one which looks a lot cleaner because it's fully extended.

hdra• 13 years ago

I actually think the homescreen icons look kind of similar to the one in Symbian (especially Safari - Ovi Maps).

jsz0• 13 years ago

You could put Android, WP and iOS side-by-side and they are going to look (and work) more alike than different in most areas. That's what happens when these products reach a huge mass market. There is too much risk (for established players) to diverge too far from what is familiar to so many people. Also why it's so difficult for non-established players to compete. They can't diverge very far from what people are familiar with. We're locked into basically the same SmartPhone flavors until the hardware changes so radically that the software has to change radically to accommodate it.

andyharl• 13 years ago

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal." ~ Pablo Picasso

All these interfaces are pillaging the Bauhaus! Shame on them! Shame Shame Shame! (-;

http://www.effectiveui.com/blog/2013/04/26/an-historical-per...

In all seriousness though, there isn't any original design. To think that the goal of design is to snatch something from thin air in moments of lighting like brilliance is a gross misconception. Designing is solving problems.

jroseattle• 13 years ago

The similarity to Windows Phone and some concepts I first saw on Android were what caught my eye here. And do I think that's a bad thing? No.

I think what has everyone generally up in arms is that, with Apple, they never look like they're copying anyone. Until they do.

And what frustrates others is when users try to explain away how it's not really a copy, it's something different because it's done oh-so-much better.

I don't really care all that much, but one thing is certain -- the new iOS7 design looks more like designs of competitors than it does the previous iOS line.

shortstuffsushi• 13 years ago

When I see the new screenshots, I can only think of the old, maybe 2003 era Microsoft Powerpoint themes. I haven't quite been able to pin down what about it is drawing the parallel for me, but it is.

Having an unfortunately difficult time finding a relevant link :(

daddy2twin• 13 years ago

Flat design has been around for a while. I remember seeing them on phones before iPhone 1, and also on various Linux desktops. People says Microsoft or Google did this first hasn't been around enough.

Personally, I like previous version better.

As for other features, iPhone jailbreaking community should take more credit then Google or others, quick access to wifi and other settings. I remember seeing them on jail broken iPhone way before Android.

brown9-2• 13 years ago

The incoming phone call and last screenshots are unfair - the iPhone of today would look a lot more similar to Windows Phone and iOS 7 if there was a facial photo of the caller and if the background image was a bunch of dots.

Oculus• 13 years ago

"We(Apple) have always been shameless about stealing great ideas" - Steve Jobs

We progress by improving upon the current best. Clearly Apple felt that Microsoft had taken some steps in the right direction.

Sealy• 13 years ago

I'm getting a 404 for that link. Anybody got a mirror?

nikster5• 13 years ago

iOS7 after day 1.

This Steve Jobs quote comes to mind: "Design is not how something looks; design is how it works"

Everything about iOS, and all the included apps, has been taken apart, and put back together. Everything has been questioned.

This is amazing because I think it's the basis that will take Apple and/or iOS to a whole new level. iOS 7 is not an evolution - it's a revolution.

jmduke• 13 years ago

iOS 7 is not an evolution - it's a revolution

What the hell does that even mean?

We can wax poetic about design and UX or we can accept that what they did was change the way something looks and feels, which is ultimately not the same thing as changing what something does.

I'm not underplaying the importance of design, but I think calling something that ultimately does not affect the capabilities of the device a 'revolution' is a bit of an exaggeration.

eddieroger2• 13 years ago

I'm not necessarily going to defend waxing poetic, but the visual changes (which everyone has been harping on) are being driven by some pretty significant changes in UIKit that really are a revolution in how iOS apps will be written and used.

nikster5• 13 years ago

Repeat as you maybe missed it the first time around: "Design is not how something looks; design is how it works"

iOS 7 doesn't change the looks. It changes how everything works. All the built in apps have been changed completely. The entire OS layer has been changed completely.

A revolution is not poetic - it means a significant change where all the old paradigms are thrown out and replaced with new ones.

I was up until 1:00 am yesterday night finding more and more features and changes, and I am still finding more changes. I know it's not technically but it certainly feels like iOS has been re-written from scratch.

krichman• 13 years ago

I disagree that it's a revolution but think it's a much needed refresher. They also introduced some features that I think they've been lacking. It's a much better upgrade than 5 and 6 IMO.

smegel• 13 years ago

I'm not convinced. They seem to share a very high level "clean" theme, but there are enough differences to make me feel it is not a knock off. It does make their old design look rather gaudy though.

mambodog• 13 years ago

Considering iOS 7 is a 'flat' redesign, it's hardly surprising that it bears stylistic similarities to other flat mobile UI designs.

The flat trend in web and app UI design has been building for the last couple of years. We're at a point where flat is simply the present zeitgeist of UI design.

However, 'flat' largely covers superficial aspects of design. Where iOS still differs is in the actual meat of the design; the interactivity and user experience.

Also, as the page was down for me, here's the Google cached page: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FATZrqh...

skeletonjelly• 13 years ago

Mirror anyone?

Edit:

Text: http://chris.millr.org.nyud.net:8080/ios-7-looks-familiar-ca...

Images:

http://chris.millr.org.nyud.net:8080/wp-content/uploads/2013...

6ren• 13 years ago

good artists copy, great artists steal (and yes microsoft does work worth stealing).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU

Tomis02• 13 years ago

Yes, and when Apple steals it's called "innovation".

harel• 13 years ago

Apple on Anderoids

wisty• 13 years ago

Honestly, I think iOS has gone too flat.

Flat is beautiful, and easy to use, if it strips away non-functional chrome. It's even more beautiful, but a little hard to use, if it obscures the controls. A pro user (say, one who's trained on a previous version, and knows what functions are available) might feel at home, but it's just not intuitive anymore.

tomelders• 13 years ago

You first have to start with the fact that every smartphone has copied the iPhone†

From there, it's impossible to see how Apple could possibly change anything without someone somewhere claiming that they've ripped off something from somewhere else. But the people they're allegedly ripping off have in turn ripped off Apple, rendering the entire debate pointless.

†Not that it's a bad thing, once the iPhone came out, everyone else had to copy it. The first iPhone was the starting point for how all smartphones from that point on shoud be.

pizu• 13 years ago

Noooooooooooooooo? OMG!

outside1234• 13 years ago

no, you don't understand. when Apple copies people it is "amazing" and "revolutionary". when other people copy Apple it is a "lawsuit" and "evil."

get with the program. :)

iOS 7 looks familiar

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