Little is still known about the next big iOS update, but rumors don’t stop from emerging. The most popular of which claims that Jonathan Ive, the legendary Apple designer, was personally involved with the redesign of iOS 7, and that its main attraction will be a flat design, and touches of black and white, while abandoning skeuomorphism. It’s interesting – all this sounds a lot like another operating system: Windows Phone.
Ever since Apple released the iPhone in 2007, the interface hasn’t changed much, which has caused lots of criticism. Its updates, while well received, have always been compared to Android’s widget capabilities, which users can customize, and Apple has been resistant to change when it comes to introducing new features, such as the notification and multitasking bars.
Because of all this, it seems as though Apple is going to establish some very clear aesthetic patterns for its apps, if the rumors are true, will have white backgrounds, and will clearly stand out by their key colors. Meanwhile, Ive himself said that the appearance of apps such as Calendar and Calculator haven’t aged well, and it is time to remodel them.
With this change in directives, Apple would face two major problems. On the one hand, users could get confused with all the changes made to the OS, which are probably more profound than just a facelift, and will affect features such as multitasking, notification bar widgets, and others.
On the other hand, the second problem is one of identity, and much more serious. Both the white backgrounds and color schemes are being used by its direct competitors – Android and Windows Phone – who have always been strikingly different. Aesthetically coming close to them, especially to the latter if the rumors are true, could cause the exclusive iPhone aura to be lost.
In any case, everyone agrees that iOS needs a change in its appearance soon, or else it will be left behind in the competition. Apple’s WWDC keynote will be on June 10, and it will undoubtedly reveal a new version of its iOS, and new models of the iPad.
