Althouse: "Apple, under direction from head designer Sir Jonathan Ive, has removed the 'textured' design of its icons in iOS 7..."

June 10, 2013

"Apple, under direction from head designer Sir Jonathan Ive, has removed the 'textured' design of its icons in iOS 7..."

"... in favour of simple, block colours. 'Installing iOS 7 is like getting a new phone, but one you can already use,' said Craig Federighi Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, pictured. 'We completely ran out of green felt and wood. That's got to be good for the environment."

23 comments:

Bob Ellison said...: That's the way Windows 8's default interface looks. Very flat. I don't like it, but maybe it's easier to identify things when they're not so textured. UI designers and layout artists often forget that not everyone sees so well or appreciates fine textures.; 6/10/13, 3:56 PM
Sydney said...: So they made it a Galaxy?; 6/10/13, 4:05 PM
Robert Cook said...: I wonder if it uses less processing power to render the flat images.

In looking at the photos from today's event, the new OS certainly looks beautiful. I'm looking forward to it.

As for the reference to Windows phone OS, I am a pretty loyal Apple fan, but if I were to switch from iPhone, I'd be very tempted by Windows phone...it's much more appealing in appearance than Android. A close friend of mine has the new Galaxy S4, which is certainly a fine device with very responsive software, but it seems too "all over the place." That is, it does not seem to have as coherent a design philosophy and more of an "everything-including-the-kitchen-sink" approach. It's cluttered and does not seem as intuitive as iOS, and it's certainly not as attractive as Windows OS.

I do wish Apple would manufacture a bigger iPhone, though, one similar in size to the Tab or Galaxy. The bigger screen is sweet. Maybe by the time my current contract is up in a year and a quarter....; 6/10/13, 4:18 PM
Barry Dauphin said...: It's amazing how quickly smartphones have become boring. Now if the next one serves as a transporter, like from Star Trek, that would be interesting...; 6/10/13, 4:20 PM
Astro said...: The original windows icons had texture. At some point, MS updated their 'look' and did away with the texture. And the new look was dull and uninteresting. So now the same thing is going to happen to my iphone?
More useless change for the sake of change. How about an option to keep the old style icons? Yeah, that'll never happen. That would probably add, what, another dozen lines of code?; 6/10/13, 4:22 PM
peacelovewoodstock said...: Watching the demo of IOS 7 in HD and it is *NOTHING* like Windows 8.

Instantly the 3D look seems dated.

Not change for the sake of change but improvements based on science of UI and usability.; 6/10/13, 4:29 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: Ellison --

The images of the new iPhone interface look a lot less flat than Windows 8, which really is a lot of flat squares and rectangles filled with flat colour and flat white icons. The new iPhone icons still seem to have rounded corners and a lot of gradients and shading. The internal interface (like the systems view) does seem cleaner and more Windows-like, though. Less bubbley.; 6/10/13, 4:29 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: Astro:

The original windows icons had texture. At some point, MS updated their 'look' and did away with the texture. And the new look was dull and uninteresting.

I don't think it's all that dull and uninteresting. That said, it doesn't really matter to me because I use my computer almost entirely in the desktop view where the flatness is actually kind of nice -- fewer distractions than, say, the old Aero interface with the glossy transparency and all that. I hardly ever use the Windows 8 start screen, which is where most of the novelty is.

If Microsoft had really wanted us to use the start screen, they'd have made it easier to open multiple windows in it (e.g. in a freely adjustable grid, even if overlap were disallowed), and the Office team would have coded their programs to work in the tablet view (e.g. menus swipe in and out from offscreen with the "charms").; 6/10/13, 4:36 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Sir Jonathan Ive es much mas macho than Scott Forstall so he wins.; 6/10/13, 4:42 PM
bagoh20 said...: With the whole world textured, I think we can get through the loss on this 0.1 square foot. It's gonna be traumatic with the central importance of our phones icons to the enjoyment of life, but being alive means dealing maturely with these tragedies. What doesn't kill you makes you whinier,... I mean stronger.; 6/10/13, 4:46 PM
bagoh20 said...: I've glued my own human hair all over my phone to improve the texture, and to facilitate usability in the dark. I can find anything with hair on it in the dark.

I've also never had my phone stolen, even if I leave it on a park bench overnight.; 6/10/13, 4:50 PM
Palladian said...: Keep plunging! A few more thrusts and you post-Jobs guys will eventually get Apple to go down the toilet!; 6/10/13, 4:52 PM
Methadras said...: sydney said...

So they made it a Galaxy?

ROFL... I don't think they will have much of a choice. If you've jailbroken your iphone, there are multitudes of themes you could apply. Even an android theme or a few if you like. Alas, Apple doesn't want you busting out of their walled garden.; 6/10/13, 6:10 PM
Moose said...: Oh, the humor, the irony. Doesn't look at ALL like the Windows Phone. No, not at ALL...; 6/10/13, 6:11 PM
Moose said...: Palladian - Son of Jobs turd is stuck in the Intertubes?; 6/10/13, 6:13 PM
rhhardin said...: I'm using /bin/ed and an early version of Cygwin under XP.

Upgrades do nothing but break things.; 6/10/13, 6:33 PM
Moose said...: rhardin - don't you PINE for ELM?; 6/10/13, 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Apple is back to Apple before the second coming of Jobs. Basically an also run to catch up with competitors. Feels like New Coke/Classic Coke blunder 2.0.

Instead of Apple TV, they give us Apple Radio. Sad. Should have sold all my Apple stocks right after Jobs' passing.; 6/10/13, 7:11 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I have a Galaxy and an iPad. Those new iPad pics look just like my Galaxy. Having used both devices extensively, I'd say that the more the iPad/iPhone OS can become like Android, the better.; 6/10/13, 8:30 PM
Christopher said...: Windows 8 and Windows 8 Phone are really different operating environments, even though part of the point of it is to create a unified look and feel. Unlike Windows 8 on a PC or laptop, Windows 8 Phone is a unified, consistent experience as opposed to Windows 8 on a desktop, which is a weird hybrid as noted above with the one guy who spends most of his time in the old desktop mode.

The new Apple OS does have a very superficial nod towards Windows 8 Phone which over time I think you'll see more of.

I couldn't be happier with my Windows 7.5 Phone, which has the same Metro look (in fact it started with Windows 7 Phone) (well I could, soon I'll be getting the W8 Phone Lumia 928). Smooth, fluid, clean, consistent, brilliant.

Great system. Stupid name for it, but a great system.; 6/10/13, 8:32 PM
Joe said...: I was going to buy an iPhone for my next cell. Not any more.; 6/10/13, 9:38 PM
Kylos said...: rhhardin, do you use lynx to browse the web, too?; 6/10/13, 10:30 PM
mishu said...: This is classic. They build all this capability for advanced graphics and then the nosy greenies step in complain that using the advanced graphics is "bad for the planet". So now they must not used advanced graphics anymore.; 6/11/13, 10:44 AM