iOS 7 - This Changes Everything for Designers and Developers

According to Business Insider, “iOS 7 Is A Wake-Up Call For App Developers And Publishers.” iOS 7 which is being called the biggest change since the first iPhone by Apple has a new aesthetic which is "flat," with less shading, texture, and 3D-style effects in the icons and app design.

According to analyst, Alex Cocotas, iOS 7 also does away with skeuomorphism, a design philosophy that advocates for digital tools to intimate the physical objects they replace. For example, Apple's Notes application, which formerly looked like a paper notebook is now having a non-textured icon that is far more abstract.

Practically, these are the important changes which are important from developers and publishers point of view:

• Aesthetically, the changes are significant enough that developers will have to seriously consider aligning their apps with Apple's new color palette and design choices.

• iOS 7 also introduces new styles and concepts for app user interfaces, which will create a lot of work for app developers.

• These changes create a tremendous opportunity for publishers and developers to create iOS 7 apps that are more in sync with the new paradigm and leave legacy apps in the dust.

Matt Gemmell did a nice work comparing some aspects of the new UI style in iOS 7, against that found in iOS 6.

iOS 7 represents a huge aesthetic evolution. The flattening of the user interface did away with a lot of shadowing. The result is a much brighter color palette, giving the impression of a cleaner overall design with more open space.

Lets look at the side-by-side comparisons done by Gemmell in screenshots on following slides. And yes, iOS 6 looks stale and cluttered by comparison.

You can read full details on his blog.

Comparing the Contacts app in iOS 6 and 7, when viewing a contact’s information, you find that iOS 7 forgoes borders, instead relying on colour to indicate interactivity, and dividers to organise information. Controls are implicit, based on labels or icons, positioning, and having visual ‘energy’ via a theme colour

Comparing how Messages looks now, compared to its iOS 6 counterpart, one find that iOS 7 isn’t flat. There are subtle shadows, lighting effects, gradients, and even new parallax effects. It’s more flat, certainly, but not two-dimensional.

The shift in style is even more apparent when you receive a phone call. Bevels, grip-handles, embossing, shadows, gloss, inner-glows and acres of hard button-borders. The chrome on the iOS 6 screen eats away 60% of the display, and very much has the appearance of an alert. The newer version not only lets you see more of the caller’s photo, but is a quieter presentation.

The Home Screen, and stock icon design, is much brighter and simpler than before. Although it’s not obvious from screenshots, the spacing of icons is different now, and the icons themselves are each a few pixels larger. The sacrifice of boundary in exchange for legibility can also be seen in the icons themselves: their content is bigger in comparison to their total area than on iOS 6.

Linus  Ekenstam  called  iOS  7  "worst  thing  Apple  has  ever  made,  period."

Developer  Marco  Arment  sees  an  opening  for  the  developer  community.  He  writes,  "I  don’t  think  we’ve  ever  had  such  an  opportunity  en  masse  on  iOS."  

Arment  further  explains,  most  developers  with  a  long  trajectory  in  the  App  Store   need   to  maintain   support   for   users   who  will   remain   on   iOS   6   and  maybe  even  iOS  5.  

Reactions to iOS 7 by famous Designers and Developers

Most   developers   can't   afford   to   write   two   separate   interfaces,   nor   are  they  eager  to  blow  up  their  apps  and  start  over.  So  many  will  be  to  some  extent   aGached   to   their   old   design   and   user   interface   choices.     This,  Arment  argues,  opens  up  an  enormous  opportuniIes  for  new  developers  ready   to     create   "iOS   7   naIve"   apps.   Even   in   established   categories,  newcomers   can   take   advantage   of   the   legacy  players'   flat   feet   and   rush  into  the  App  Store.

Established  developers,  in  other  words,  can't  afford  to  hesitate.  They  need  to  go  all-­‐in  on  iOS  7.  The  dilemma,  however,  is  that  even  if  they  do  go  all-­‐in,  they  might  sIll  be  outgunned  by  a  newbie  who  has  beGer  adapted  to  the  new  design  principles.      

What iOS 7 mean for Developers and Designers

The  core  philosophy  driving  iOS  7  is  a  refocus  on  content.  No   longer  can  developers   rely   on   embellishments,   colors,   and   visual   effects,   Gemmell  writes.   The   iOS   7   style   is  more   stripped-­‐down,   and   focused   on   funcIon  rather  than  form.  

Apple  wants  apps  to  succeed  or  fail  on  their  core  offering  —  the  quality  of  their  content  and  services.

How Developers and Designers can succeed?

Credits: https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/ios-7-will-create-new-iphone-hits-2013-6

You  can  also  reach  us  on:   Facebook  -­‐  www.facebook.com/TechAhead     TwiGer  -­‐  www.twiGer.com/TechAhead     LinkedIn  -­‐  www.linkedin.com/company/techahead

At  TechAhead,  we  have  helped  many  clients  incorporate  mobile  payments,  be  it  through  SMS,  Web/WAP  based,  NFC  etc.  Mobile  payments  and  mCommerce  are  on  a  boom,  and  every  business  should  make  best  out  of  this  opportunity.  If  you  are  a  business,  we  can  help  you  in  this.  For  any  mobile  apps  development  requirement,  get  in  touch  with  us  on  info@techaheadcorp.com  for  FREE  30  minutes  no  obligaIon  consultaIon  with  our  mobile  experts($200  Value).