The origins of iOS 7 design

iOS 7 design, a completely redesigned compared to the previous versions of iOS, it seems, did not leave anyone indifferent. Apple has created an entirely new in terms of product design, and as an all-new, iOS 7 and causes admiration and reproach. But whether iOS 7 really created "from scratch"?

Lane Alex (Alex Layne) from GigaOM published interesting arguments about the origins of the design of the new Apple's mobile operating system, we offer a translation of his articles. Next - the author's text Alex Lane.

In this article I will try to trace the origin of the design of some of the most notable elements of the new OS, such as the Control Center and the new multitasking interface. Many of the new items in the "seven" borrowing ideas from Apple's competitors (in particular, Google and Palm), and nothing wrong with that: so do all.

But let's get down to specifics.

Parallax

Even the very first iPhone had a built-in accelerometer, making it possible to control by tilting the device. In iOS 6, Apple's first time experimenting with the use of movement not only for management, but also for decorating the interface. "Metal" design elements in the application "Music" twinkled when bending device, change the appearance of the gray control panel.

On iOS 7, the same method used to obtain the parallax effect. Interface components are separated into layers and are displaced relative to each other in accordance with the position of the device in space. But now the effect is used throughout the OS, unlike iOS 6, where it took place only in the "Music".

multitasking

In iOS 6 multitasking interface was rather primitive. Double-clicking the Home button bar appears at the bottom of the screen with four icons of recently run applications. Icons panel you can scroll through, a long press on one of them appeared stickers, by clicking on that closes the application. In iOS 7 with a double tapas at Home opens tile previews of running applications with icons underneath. To close an application you need to whisk up the tiles.

The pioneer of such implementation on mobile devices was WebOS from HP, the heiress of the PalmOS. All kotseptsiya this OS has been built around the application tiles and gesture "swipe" to close the program in iOS 7 was also borrowed from them.

network indicator

In iOS 6, and previously used a traditional indicator of cellular network in the form of strips. In iOS 7 was replaced by a row of five circles, the filling of which displays the signal level. This type of network lights used in early prototypes of iPhone, images of which were presented in the course of litigation between Apple and Samsung in 2012.

Transparency

Blur and transparency - one of the main components of iOS 7 interface. For example, in the new application "Music" when scrolling through album covers their blurred moved behind the translucent control panel.

Apple uses a similar effect for many years in their "desktop" operating systems OS X. Dock, Launchpad, the top menu, QuickLook - these are the most striking examples. You see blurry desktop wallpaper behind the application icons in Launchpad - and you see a blurred wallpaper panel multitasking iOS 7.

Today

Bookmark today at the Center for iOS 7 notification provides brief information about current weather conditions, scheduled meetings, stock prices, and so on. All the same, only in a more expanded form in 2012, offers a service of Google Now.

Control center

One of the advantages of Android over iOS many consider widgets on the home screen. One may agree with this or not, but the widgets are given the opportunity to realize quick access to key settings, while in iOS 6 to enable / disable the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi needed to open the "Settings" and choose where the corresponding item menu. In Android 4.2, these settings are combined in a single panel, and as admitted and Apple's, creating a control center.

Safari

Safari in iOS 7 got a new realization of the tab - it is now vertical instead of a horizontal list, and tabs are presented in the form of inclined pages. Flipping them, certainly more convenient than ever before, but in Google Chrome for iOS is a mapping (although not tilted) was implemented in June of last year, when the browser appeared in the App Store. Pro combined with the search for the address bar and say nothing - the first time she appeared in the "desktop" Chrom'e back in 2008, and to the mobile Safari got just now.