Apple's next version of its mobile operating system, iOS 7, will sport a very flat look, according to a report. While it may be attractive to new iOS users will it unsettle long-term users of the platform?
The new interface will be "very, very flat" and will shed the "gloss, shine, and skeuomorphism" seen across the current and previous versions of iOS, 9to5Mac reports. One of site's sources compared the new interface's flatness to the Microsoft's recent Windows Phone Metro UI.
iOS 7 is codenamed "Innsbruck" and, "the interface changes include an all-new icon set for Apple's native apps in addition to newly designed tool bars, tab bars and other fundamental interface features across the system. Flat design is based on simplicity and pushes aside heavy textures and digital metaphors of real-life objects found in skeumorphic interfaces. "Flatness" could also point to a more streamlined interface across the entire system that can stand the test of time," the report says.
Apple is also reportedly looking into developing additional methods to access basic information with gestures, something similar to the one-finger swipe used to bring up Notification Center or the iPad's four-finger swipe to pull up the multitasking menu.
Apple is not changing everything. iOS 7's core apps and system fundamentals (like the Lock and Home screens) will mostly operate in a similar fashion as its current model, according to the report.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is expected to introduce iOS 7 at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June and the redesigned interface will be the work of Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Jony Ive, who now spearheads human interface design across all of Apple.
