Last week 9to5Mac‘s own Michael Steeber wrote about his idea for an Apple Watch-inspired home screen interface for the iPhone. Within a few days a developer had created a standalone app that simulated the interface, but due to Apple’s restrictions on iOS, there was no way to make it work as a true home screen replacement.
Now, a new jailbreak tweak called WatchSpring has actually brought this functionality to the iPhone. The modification replaces the current iPhone home screen with a fluid grid of circular icons that can be zoomed in or out to show as many apps as you’d like. It can also open apps natively (no need for URL schemes or anything like that), though it doesn’t seem to support folders just yet…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgPuRcyBllw&channel=UCQi1oF9qs0tDP4mtDJxRaig]
In the video above you can see the tweak in action. It’s not currently available on Cydia, but can instead be installed manually by following directions posted on Reddit by the developer. The tweak is still very much in beta, and as mentioned above, still lacks certain functions like folders. There are also plenty of incompatible tweaks, including any tweak that modifies SpringBoard in any way according to some Reddit users.
To use WatchSpring, you’ll need a jailbroken iOS 8 device. You can use the recently-released Pangu jailbreak to achieve that, though there are still some issues being addressed with that software. You can also find the source code for the tweak on Github.
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I think this looks pretty cool, if they can make also to work with folders only just for those of you that doesn’t like it on the home screen, I meant like 2 different tweaks
looks ugly as predicted
can’t find it on cydia. any sources to add please?
There is no source. It’s not on Cydia, as the post notes. You need to follow the instructions linked on Reddit to install.
This must be one of those things that work better in person..
I’m not getting the attraction yet, maybe after playing with the watch it will make some sense.
For me it looks like this is really no option for the iPhone. For me it’s ugly.
IMO you will have not more than aprox. 30 apps on the watch. Remember that it needs an iPhone for most functions. So let it be 40, but nothing compared to the 150 I have on my iPhone. And I love the free space on the screens to see also as much as possible of the home screen (4 lines max). With this configuration you don’t need a background picture any more. But this is perhaps the idea behind for the watch to save energy.
I hope if it comes it comes as an option.
Looks absolutely useful concept!
You realise that the watch utilises this just because of the limited screen estate? I don’t think (I seriously hope) they won’t introduce this on devices with larger screens.
sorry, but these coloured bubbles look like sh** on the apple watch and also on iphone. It looks like a smarties gadget for kiddies! It doesn´t fit to the the somewhat elegant watch design and It´s definitely a reason to not buy this thing if there is no posibility to alter this to a more serious design.
what a crap.
I really don’t understand this interface at all. People organise their app icons either by using a folder for each category, or a screen for each category.
I don’t see a massive 2D plane of squashed-up, diagonally-aligned icons as an improvement. I haven’t played with an Apple Watch yet, but I don’t understand the conceptual model of how this interface is navigated using only a twisting dial.
You navigate on the watch via touch. The crown “dial” is used for scrolling and such things.
No, just no. Have people not heard of folders and Spotlight search?
Waiting for the implementation that allows the interface to roll around using the accelerometer and gyroscope as you twist the phone around in your hand.
I still like the idea but I think this is one concept that won’t feel quite as natural until Apple does it. They could be on the brink of an entirely new design plan for upcoming iPhones that will make an interface like this make more sense.
I can’t see this for big screens like the 6 plus and definitely nor for iPads.
Apple had a problem, this was the solution for a tiny screen.
It has no dock and is cumbersome.
The home screen needs a refresh, but this is definitely not it.
The current iOS home screen is a great design. It promotes spacial awareness, muscle memory, and the ability to glance at sets of information quickly. All of which is important when you are in a rush and on the go.
“The bottom left app of pg 2,” I can get there blindfolded because all it takes is a sloppy swipe and a tap to a gaged location my body can easily memorize. You don’t cover the screen with your finger like you do when you need to pan around. You just swipe and glance.
With this concept, your ability to tell where you are on the screen and where apps are in relation to each other is more difficult. Instead of being to the left or to the right of your screen, apps may be diagonal and in a less easily gaged location. You’ll need to keep your finger on the screen to control it and to stop it from sliding so you can actually read the icons.
I’m not sure why this would work better for the watch. It has the same problem that they said the digital crown is there to solve – your finger is on a tiny screen the whole time. With icons that size they could also have done a paginated design and it would have worked fine.
I think this may be in contention for stupidest creation of the day – right up against that Twelve South “stand” that ruins everything about the new Mac Pro.
As a dev, I’ve actually built this from source, made an adjustment (the labels had to go, makes it clunky) and in all honesty it actually works quite well. I found it faster than paging thru homescreens TBH. If you have lots of apps installed it makes more sense than it seems.