iOS7: Innovation? Maybe. By iGoogle

By @iGoogle
POSTED: 10 Jun 2013 20:35
CATEGORY: Technology
FEATURED: Yes (@BanMan)
(Go to comments)

Today was the Keynote at WWDC for Apple.
Let's get right into this:
There was a lot announced like the new OS X but the most talked about is iOS7.

New Look:
iOS7 brings a new and refreshed look to the same design since 2007. This is probably one (if not the biggest) of updates and renewals we've seen since the original iPhone! It looks nice in my opinion, because it's long overdue. The iOS7 reveal video says that they've used precise measurements to make sure the text is right size. I'm not sure if this is true but I definitely can say that if it is, it shows. There's also a new feel with the 'layers' and how you can see everything behind the next.

There's a new way to multitask by showing the apps' cover and updating live so you know what happening all the time. The weather looks nicer with bigger and easier text (I know how cluttered it looks right now).
Everything just looks and feels better but I'm not sure everyone will like it.

iOS7 Bashing:
Just after the keynote, I began seeing Android Fanboys bashing the new iOS. I'm not a fanboy, I just prefer it over iOS, that's it. I knew that Apple really doesn't care but "haters gonna hate" you know? I'll admit, from an Android user's point of view, it looks nice and makes me appreciate Apple more hate Apple less.
Yes, it does look somewhat like Android and I know people are talking about it, but if it really wasn't intended then I'm applauding for you Apple because you didn't have to go through lawsuits to get this new look! Yay!

IMO:
It looks great, but very familiar, say what you want, as do I. This image below is in an article I'll link at the end but you can really see similarities. Not to mention that iOS7 has a transparent notification status bar at the top. Something that the Galaxy S4 also has. Don't believe me? Google it. I really hope that people realize these small things, and maybe Google will too. It's about time for Google to sue back, but because of their slogan for workers is, "Don't be evil."
I won't get my hopes up.

iOS7 is available for Developers, and will be released publicly this Fall!
Thanks for reading! I tried being as unbiased as possible. That's why I included a 'IMO' section. Any ideas of what I should cover? Comment!

Sources:
Droid-Life: That moment when iOS7 became Android
Official iOS Page
iMore on the new iOS

Related:
iOS7 worth the wait?
Is Android about to lose the exclusive on a top-ranked keyboard to iOS?

Recent Blogs:
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"Holo Cards" Android Theme Review

+2 -0

Monstercat
30 Jan 2014 21:34

Android was literally a ripoff of iOS. Google was working on it's own mobile OS since 2003, "borrowing" some code from Nokia's Symbian at the time. When the iPhone was introduced, they threw all of that out of the window and borrowed from iOS which is what made Android what it is today.

Anyway, my point is that iOS 7's design is unique and looks nothing like Android. However, there are some features that were borrowed from Android. I'm not being blind. So iOS 7 can't really be innovative at all in that aspect, but just as fandroids such as yourself saw iOS 7 and blamed it to be a ripoff of Android, take a look back at the origins of Android.

Needless to say, both iOS and Android are excellent operating systems regardless and I like them both, but I personally enjoy using iOS more since I enjoy the design, sleekness, and usefulness.

star wars
11 Jun 2013 14:55

Control center looks ugly, why so much transparency????? +_+ Everything else looks good though. Love the lock screen

HullBreach
11 Jun 2013 11:40

I've been playing around with iOS 7. It will take some time to get used to it. The changes go beyond just the superficial, but the core interface is in place for the apps themselves.

Developers will be relieved to know that all the old interface elements still exist: navGroups, tables, cover flows, etc. I can't tell how different they are on anything except the stock apps because there seems to be a legacy mode that automatically kicks in for 3rd party apps made for older iOS versions.

The typical obsessive compulsive attention-to-detail UI details are very apparent in iOS 7. For instance, the springboard (home menu) has a new parallax effect that uses gyro/accelerometer sensing to move the wallpaper (traditional, panoramic, or "dynamic"

on one layer, icons and their translucent folders (which now support scrollable "pages" of apps) on another layer, and both badges and progress bars on a top layer. It gives a pseudo-3D effect, while navigating through the menus.

Menus are packed with considerably more details and settings to get jobs done faster. You can see this on the springboard, weather app, whatever the task manager is called, notification center, and the quick settings menu.

As far as Jony Ive's new flat appearance over Steve Job's old skeuomorphic appearance, I will take some time to get used to it. At the moment, it think it looks too plain. I think that modern Android and Windows interfaces look too dated, and iOS is taking that direction for interface components. BlackBerry used to be the most modern (albeit clunky) UI about 6 years ago (when I owned a Window Mobile 5 phone - horrible interface). Maybe I will think differently when developers begin releasing new apps in the fall.

jsa005
15 Jun 2013 09:04
In reply to HullBreach

Protip: make a version of the SDK Comm app for iOS 7. Bam.

lilwayne1556
10 Jun 2013 23:24

Innovation, Yes. New, No. But when people get this update they will think it's very new and nothing else can do it. Glad to see that Apple is trying to change stuff up some more in their OS.

FancyPants
10 Jun 2013 22:55

Where the hell is iOS6, and 3?

GuitarGodAnth
11 Jun 2013 03:54
In reply to FancyPants

Get out from under your rock, iOS 6 is the current public release of the operating system.

FancyPants
11 Jun 2013 13:55
In reply to GuitarGodAnth

I don't live under a rock. I live underground, inside of a rock, not under it. Get your facts straight.

iOS7: Innovation? Maybe.

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