New iOS 7 concepts imagine Jony Ive’s ‘very flat’ iOS redesign [video]

Since we’ve posted our exclusive details on what Apple and Jony Ive has in store for iOS 7, there have been a ton of great concepts popping up that take into account the company’s new “very flat” approach to redesigning the OS. The first concept, above, comes to us from Simplyzesty.com’s  art director Philip Joyce who has imagined a flat iOS including a new look for Siri and the lock screen, a customizable home screen, and redesigned icons that all take the “flat” approach to heart.

Another new concept for iOS 7 was posted today by apfelpage.de, below, that shows off a flat look for shortcuts, a new multitasking experience, widgets, and much more: Read more

Bloomberg: Jony Ive’s new software design role could lead to delays for iOS 7

Jony-Ive-Excited-on-stage

Not much news coming out of a new Bloomberg piece today on Sir Jonathan Ive’s new software design role. Earlier this week, 9to5Mac first reported on some big upcoming changes to iOS spearheaded by Ive based on multiple sources who have seen or been briefed on the new “flatter” OS. While echoing most of what we already reported, Bloomberg adds that Ive’s new role will provide potential delays for iOS 7:

The introduction of new features, along with an emphasis on cooperation and deliberation, comes at a cost for Cupertino, California-based Apple. Engineers are racing to finish iOS 7, the next version of the mobile software, in time for a June preview at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. While the company still expects to release iOS 7 on time as soon as September, internal deadlines for submitting features for testing are being set later than past releases, people said… Bigger shifts, to such features as e-mail, may not even be ready this year and may be introduced in future releases, people said.

The report from Bloomberg doesn’t go into specific details about features which it claims “remain secret”, but earlier this week 9to5Mac shared details of other new features planned for iOS 7 including further Maps and Siri integration in vehicles. Apple is also toying with additional features that could possibly make their way to iOS 7, including new “glance-able” information and settings panels, such as the ability to access new panels via swipes from the left and right side of an iOS device’s display.

Bloomberg adds that Ive has met with companies behind gesture control technology that sounds similar to the Leap Motion controller. The report also noted that Ive led a two-hour town hall meeting in March to discuss upcoming changes, while pointing out that he now regularly attends meetings with Greg Christie and the software design team and has provided them with “an earlier look at what future hardware products will look like” Read more

iOS 7 running behind, Apple pulling Mac OS 10.9 developers to get it delivered?

Screen Shot 2013-04-02 at 8.43.27 PMSome rumblings from Daring Fireball’s John Gruber on a Branch thread this evening point to possible delays in iOS 7 and perhaps subsequently OS 10.9.

What I’ve heard: iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it.

As he points out, Apple had this problem/solution before. In 2007, Apple had to devote some Mac resources toward getting the iPhone out the door. The press statement at the time read:

“iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team. As a result, we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned. While Leopard’s features will be complete by then, we cannot deliver the quality release that we and our customers expect from us.

However, the Wall Street Journal says:

Apple is also expected to ship the next version of its iOS mobile operating system around midyear, other people familiar with the matter have said.

MG Siegler adds: Read more

New quick app switching & other concepts show options on the table for iOS 7 [Videos]

With the recent departure of longtime iOS chief Scott Forstall, many expect some big changes in iOS 7. Not only is Jony Ive taking over design responsibilities related to iOS, but also Apple is increasingly coming under criticism for its aging core iOS apps and highly requested features already available on other platforms that it has yet to implement. We discussed some of the big software features iOS 7 might have in store, but today we present a roundup of the best iOS 7 concepts we could find starting with a new one from the creator of jailbreak tweak Auxo.

Sentry, the original designer behind the popular Auxo jailbreak tweak, yesterday posted the new Quick App Switching concept above (via iFun). While Auxo provided a screenshot of running apps integrated into the iOS multitasking tray, the concept above takes a different approach and aims to add speed to the app switching process.

This next concept comes from YouTube user imjeanmarc and shows a tray accessible from the lock screen, providing quick toggles for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.:

Read more