iOS 7 is a huge change from previous versions of iOS – all the default app icons look different and the apps are much cleaner themselves as well. It’s been influenced by Jony Ive (very well respected designer at Apple). Of course with large changes come a fair amount of resistance and iOS 7 is no exception – designers are particularly angry and they think that iOS 7 won’t be as usable as previous versions. Developers are a bit more excited but are still a bit annoyed at having to redesign their apps.
So what are the designers saying? Well, they’ve found inconsistency in the apps that Apple has built – some still include real-world textures which goes against the idea of a minimalist design. They also don’t like the fact that all three major mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone) are ‘flat’ now. Other designers have found that when redesigning their apps, it results in a broken mess and that it’s very difficult to create a custom UI.
These complaints are to be expected of course – developers and designers don’t want to have to update their apps UI but they’re being forced to now, with Apple refusing to publish updates for apps that don’t meet iOS 7 UI guidelines.
