The iOS 7 impact on UX and apps

All this fuss over a pine bookshelf and leather calendar?

Fanboy angst over outdated icons was not the main reason Apple chose to reboot its mobile operating system, but it was a significant factor. Throw in a 30-per cent drop in share price and fierce competition from Google’s Android, and the virtual bookcase was out on the front lawn.

Last year’s ouster of iOS chief Scott Forstall and promotion of iOS 7 designer Jony Ive signaled Apple’s move away from a “skeuomorphic” design aesthetic, wherein icons resemble real-life objects, such as a bookshelf, yellow notepad, green pool table felt or a shiny pressable button.

“They went a bit too far there… it put details on things that should not have details,” said Martin Dufort, founder and CEO of Montreal-based software developer WhereCloud, which has designed mobile apps for clients such as Ubisoft, Canada Post, Bell Media and Yellow Pages. “Now they’re trying to put more emphasis on content.”

The latest iOS, launched this week in tandem with the new iPhone 5S and cheaper 5C, has a flatter, more minimalist look and feel. Icons are more seamless and blend with the background, and the whole user experience (UX) is subtler, as if in recognition of how ubiquitous smartphones and touchscreen technology has become since the first iPhone launched six years ago.

Judging by the endless giddy Twitter updates, Apple’s iOS facelift has excited both consumers and developers, but the switch from skeuomorphic design is “a small part of the story,” confided Reuben Hall, a UX/UI designer for Halifax iOS developer MindSea.

“Apple has always been a firm believer that metaphors are a great way to communicate how applications work,” said Hall, who has worked on iPhone apps for Postmedia newspapers and the Atlantic Film Festival. “On previous versions of iOS this was done very literally by simulating wood grain and other materials to represent physicality.

“In iOS7 they are still heavily relying on metaphors in the UI, but it is done in a much different way.”

The new system employs fluorescence, pastel colours, a sophisticated motion sensor and parallax mechanisms to provide a more enhanced experience.

Hall said iOS 7 will add a “physical” dimension to the way developers and designers think of their user interface, adding their apps will be more influenced by the effects of gravity, viewing angle, lighting and movement.

“We can’t just think of sliding from one screen to the next anymore, UI needs to be more dynamic and transitions and animations have to communicate relationships.”

The revamp will also mean more business for mobile app shops – well represented in Canada – as businesses look to stay current, but could provide problems over the long run, especially for small companies that were caught off-guard.

Tim Harrison, director of gaming for Toronto-based Brisk Mobile, said they had just completed work on a new social media platform for a U.S. client when the Apple news hit.

“We had to turn around and immediately launch into a total re-skin for iOS 7,” said Harrison, noting: “That was a real pain for them as a smaller-sized business.”

Dufort estimated that about 60 per cent of existing apps would be upgraded to iOS 7 by the end of October, but said if the adoption rate falls below that level it could reflect a general dissatisfaction with the software.

“The challenge that we have now is how are we going to migrate these applications to use the new metaphor, because there are still people who are going to be using the old one,” said Dufort. “It’s like two applications that you have to do.”

While most of the popular brands in the App Store announced new looks in conjunction with the iOS 7 launch, Harrison was interested to see how prominent gaming companies such as Rovio respond.

“It’s going to be a tough sell to tell Rovio to go and make a pastel, semi-opaque version of the Angry Birds icon,” he said. “That’s like asking McDonald’s to change their logo.”