iOS 7: redesign rumors gain steam as Jony Ive takes control

Apple may deserve more credit than anyone for the way our smartphones look and work, but six years after our first glimpse of the iPhone a lot has changed. Google continued to design and re-design Android; Windows Phone introduced a colorful, vibrant operating system; yet iOS stood mostly still. Until this June, that is, when CEO Tim Cook announced Apple had been working on “the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone.”

That change is iOS 7, a complete aesthetic overhaul of the interface millions of iPhone owners have known for years. From the moment you turn on an iPhone running iOS 7 through nearly every interaction you have with it, it’s different. This free update changes every menu, every option, every app. Even Siri has become an entirely new person, with new thoughts and a new voice.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed what many have long assumed — that Jony Ive is working on a new version of iOS, and that it will be revealed at WWDC next month. Speaking at the D11 conference, Cook said that Apple "recognized that Jony had contributed significantly to the look and feel of Apple over many many years and could do that for our software as well," calling the designer "absolutely incredible."

Ive is the creative force behind many of Apple's most iconic hardware designs, but was handed an additional role in "human interface" last year following the removal of Scott Forstall as iOS senior VP. Recent weeks have seen rumors that iOS 7 will feature a "flat" UI that removes much of the glossy, realistic sheen currently seen in Apple's software.

Rumors have been flying around about a major visual redesign to Apple's iOS ever since Jony Ive took on an interface design role following the departure of senior VP and mobile software head Scott Forstall. Most of those rumors have focused on a new, "flat" design that would remove many of the skeuomorphic aspects of iOS that have cropped up over the years, and now 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman has been tipped off to a number of new features and design elements in iOS 7.

For starters, Ive will reportedly banish the mismatched "heavy textures" found across iOS in favor of a unified scheme largely featuring more simple black-and-white tones. It sounds like the wildly divergent visual styles of many default apps like Notes, Game Center, Mail, and Maps would be much more closely linked in this redesign. The apps will apparently be mostly white, but will each have a unique color theme. Ive reportedly has stated that software designs that mimic real-world elements (like iOS Notes and Calendar apps) don't age well. While the huge installed base of iOS devices means Ive needs to be careful not to alienate users with his new design, he has apparently "made his mark on every corner of the operating system" while still managing to make it familiar to longtime users.

Apple's iOS mobile operating system gained integration with Twitter and Facebook in recent years, and a new report from 9to5Mac claims that the next version of the platform will likely add similar integration with Flickr and Vimeo. Citing unnamed sources familiar with Apple's plans, 9to5Mac claims that users will be able to sign into their Flickr and Vimeo accounts through iOS 7's settings menus — much in the way you can integrate Facebook and Twitter accounts right now. Additionally, it is likely that third-party apps will be able to access Flickr and Vimeo services using the native integration with iOS. Earlier reports have claimed that Apple and Yahoo (owner of Flickr) have been in talks to develop a deeper partnership for iOS 7.

Users will allegedly be able to upload photos and videos directly from the iOS Photos app to Flickr and Vimeo, similar to how you can share photos or videos directly to Facebook or Twitter now. Apple already offers integration with both Flickr and Vimeo in its OS X desktop platform, so it's not a far-fetched idea that this could come to iOS, as well. 9to5Mac notes that there is the possibility that Apple could decide not to launch the integration when iOS 7 is announced if the services are not yet ready for prime time.

Bloomberg is echoing previous reports that Apple's iOS 7 risks being delayed thanks to a significant "software overhaul." Along with the widely-expected UI refresh, Bloomberg says that Apple is "exploring more dramatic changes" for the iOS 7 Mail and Calendar apps, so different in fact that these apps may come in a later release. Jony Ive, who is overseeing the development of the OS refresh, is reportedly shunning "realistic" images and UI elements in favor of a flat UI.

As well as redesigning the overal aesthetic of the OS, Jony Ive has been exploring new ways for users to interact with their devices. Ive has apparently "met with makers of gesture technology" to discuss the possibility of adding such features to iOS. The designer is interested in "altering how people control their computers." Bloomberg stresses that these drastic interface changes are not likely to arrive with iOS 7. Despite rumors of a delay, Apple promises that it'll get both iOS 7 and a new version of OS X into developer hands at its WWDC conference this June.

Just a day after it announced its second-quarter earnings, Apple has finally published the schedule for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), commencing on June 10th and running through June 14th at the Moscone West in San Francisco. This year, the company isn't being shy about its plans, with SVP Phil Schiller promising that developers will be seeing brand new versions of both iOS and OS X. "Our developers have had the most prolific and profitable year ever, and we’re excited to show them the latest advances in software technologies and developer tools to help them create innovative new apps. We can’t wait to get new versions of iOS and OS X into their hands at WWDC," he said in a press release.

Apple has also pre-announced ticket sales for the first time, opening sales on April 25th at 10AM PDT / 1PM ET. Last year, tickets sold out in under two hours and with consumers and developers eager to see Apple's latest iOS and OS X developments — the first major changes since former Apple iOS VP Scott Forstall left the company and Jony Ive became responsible for interface design — we expect to see even bigger demand this year.

Back when we learned that Apple’s VP of industrial design, Jony Ive, would be leading human interface development across the entire company, many hoped it would mean some big changes for iOS, after years of iterations that appeared minor compared with the major overhaul of Android 4.0 and beyond. With the Worldwide Developer Conference looming just months away, all eyes are on iOS 7, and according to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, the push to meet its development targets is requiring the company to repurpose resources from the OS X team.

This wouldn’t be the first time Apple had to shift engineering resources around in order to meet a deadline. Gruber points to Apple’s 2007 announcement that Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard would be delayed because of the decision to reallocate engineers to the iPhone project. As a consequence, the iPhone made it to market on time in June, but Leopard was pushed back, from June to October.

Late last October, iOS VP Scott Forstall left Apple and Jony Ive assumed the role of human interface manager across the entire company — including iOS, which some feel is in major need of a design refresh. Now, several months after that executive shake-up, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple's software and hardware design teams have indeed gotten closer and are collaborating in ways that mark a pretty major change at a company well-known for having internal secrets. According to the WSJ, Greg Christie, who formerly worked under Forstall, has been leading the iOS human interface team — but that team is being kept more in the loop on what the industrial design team (still led by Ive) is doing. Given Ive's role as overseer of all HI across the company, he's now sitting in on meetings with Christie's team and it seems that the two groups are sharing more of their work as a result.

While details about Ive's influence on the next version of iOS are minimal, the WSJ's source does say that he's pushing a more modern, "flat" design (an aesthetic that sounds similar to where Google has moved recently) — but overall, changes will be fairly conservative. That may come as a disappointment hoping for more radical changes, but it seems that Ive and Apple aren't willing to alienate iOS users who have become familiar with the software over the past six years. Despite the lack of major changes so far, the new working arrangement is exactly what CEO Tim Cook had in mind when he dismissed Forstall last year.

There's very little doubt that Apple is developing a new iPhone, and a new version of iOS, but today The Next Web claims to have seen the very first sketchy evidence of Apple's next handset and mobile operating system. According to the publication, one iOS developer discovered that a device named "iPhone 6,1" running iOS 7 was making requests from an IP address within Apple's Cupertino campus itself.

Now, it could be that the company that promised to "double down on secrecy" is merely toying with us by pretending to have a new iPhone, or it could be that someone spoofed an Apple IP address and the iPhone and iOS identifiers for fun. Or, it could simply be the honest truth that Apple's next iPhone is being actively tested right now. The company puts out new devices like clockwork every year. And in 2010, when Apple invited journalists inside its antenna labs, we learned that new designs are tested years before they're shown to the public.