People started praising Apple for finally adding quick control toggles for the basics such as Bluetooth/WiFi/Cellular, updating iOS' out dated user interface with a fresh new look, and for modifying/adding a few system settings people have been asking for since the beginning of iOS.
Then comes the critics who pour in their hate (not that I don't share some of em'). Hate's a strong word, 'dislike' would be more appropriate. Critics disliking the new icon designs. Disliking the new theme. Disliking the new colors. Disliking the upgrade for the better. Disliking change, and disliking Apple for not improving 'enough' in iOS 7.
And, word is - iOS 7 copied Android! [Read it here] While I do find similarities in many cases [Watch this video explaining where iOS 7 features come from], and also did not really liked the new icon designs, initially, I'm starting to understand what Apple is trying to show us in this latest iOS installment, or give us. And why.
First off, the starkest complain people have of iOS, is the limited ability (near to non) for customization, compared with the counterpart OS - Android. If you did notice, Apple is trying to introduce a kind of 'gloss-like' transparent layering across the new OS, whether you're pulling down the notification center, control center, or opening a folder, a glossy layer forms the backdrop with a tint of blurry colors abstracted from your wallpaper and icons. This 'gloss-iness' extends across the whole system, effectively allowing you to customize your own color scheme for your iDevice. Also, a 'parallax' effect is introduced to work on all wallpapers you set for your device. [See the parallax wallpaper here] Fyi, parallax is the 'moving' effect while observing a single object with alternating left and right eye. Try it! It's long been used as a method for observing stars by astronomers. Anyway, parallax effect-ed wallpaper coupled with glossiness should set a very personalized theme - imagine setting a panoramic picture as your wallpaper. Moving the phone will actually move you 240 degrees around just like you standing there before that beautiful scene, [See the panoramic wallpaper here] and the glossy layers actually change colors according to the moving backgrounds. This, I believe, is Apple's answer to customization.
About the new default apps and icons, 'skeumorphism' which people 'disliked' so much, is gone. What we expect : minimalistic simpler, clean design. What we got : Minimalistic simple, clean design! When I first watched iOS 7's preview at WWDC I thought everything was perfect, right until I saw the app icons. And I too, irked. Response was : Why didn't Apple make a more unified design for the icons? Some were made up of strokes of color, while some still have shades, and others with still with a little bit of the so called 'skeumorphism'. Everything felt like a mess. The Music app with a 'music note' icon, Videos app with a 'video cut' icon, Calculator app with calculator buttons, fair enough. But going on is the Calendar app without a 'calendar design'? Game Center app with just 'blobs of color'? Photos app with a 'color palette' icon? How does all of this match up as a single unified minimalistic theme we were all expecting? Well apparently it does. I figured Jony Ives [See his profile here] could've decided that it is not what we see that matters, in this case - the icons, but how the icons represent themselves to us. The old design was about using textures and shades from real world objects to relate the apps to us, such as using typical yellow notepad paper for the Notes app icon, a 'flower' icon which looks like a portrait drawing for the Photos app, or gameboard pieces to represent Game Center. The new design however focuses on a more minimalistic representation of the app functions. Notes app still has a notebook styled icon, but gone are the detailed ledger lines. Photos app shows only color strokes which makes up a picture of a flower. Color blobs are used to indicate playfulness of the Game Center, and everything else just became simpler : No more 'lens' icon for the Camera app, replaced by just a camera icon. No more multiple cogwheels for Settings, replaced by just one cogwheel. Everything is designed to be as minimal as possible, and to use as little objects as possible to represent any app function. Simplification.
And I'm happy with it, after all. Going through multitude of iOS 7 videos and reviews of the beta version just made me fall in love with it more. The changes are welcomed and I await the all new, sexy lookin' iOS 7 to cleanse my iPhone spirit with a new soul! ;)
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