Apple’s Jonathan Ive Pushing For A More ‘Flat Design’ To iOS 7
Back in October, iOS leader Scott Forstall was, along retail SVP John Browett, removed from Apple. It was a surprising decision, even after the nightmare iOS 6 Maps issue, but it quickly emerged that Forstall, in particular, had stepped on more than a few toes within the Cupertino executive ranks. Jony Ive, head of Industrial Design and credited with molding the vast majority of the company’s recent success stories, was said to strongly disagree with Forstall’s rampant skeuomorphism within the iOS UI, and since the Englishman has taken on the role as leader of Human Interface following Forstall’s departure, it now looks as though he plans to remove all remnants of the former iOS Senior Vice President.
Jonathan Ive is pushing for a more ‘flat design’ to iOS 7, reports the WSJ.
In the past, most of the iOS designers were cut out of the loop on specifics relating to the hardware of the devices they were designing for. On prototype projects, Ive used a stealth group of software developers. However, that is slowing starting to change, says the Journal.
The Human Interface team led by Greg Christie is being briefed about industrial prototypes earlier. A source described the change as “a thawing”. Ive now sits in on the team’s review sessions to vet new designs and despite Christie being a blunt talker the sessions are described as “pleasant and cordial”.
Some suggested that in Apple’s next mobile operating system, Ive is pushing a more “flat design” that is starker and simpler, according to developers who have spoken to Apple employees but didn’t have further details. Overall, they expect any changes to be pretty conservative. For the past few years, Apple has unveiled versions of its mobile operating system in the summer.
While this report makes it sound as though there won’t be any earth-shattering changes made to the next version of iOS, a slight makeover could be in the cards. That obviously isn’t going to sit well with anyone that’s hoping for a major overhaul of iOS
[Via WSJ]
