Apple's next iteration of iPhone software, iOS, is going to look tremendously different than all previous versions, Mark Gurman at 9 to 5 Mac reports.
Gurman, one of the best Apple reporters on the planet, says the new software is going to be overhauled by lead designer Jony Ive. It's going to strip out a lot of the gloss and glitz that has defined the iPhone's software until now.
In meetings with Apple employees, Ive has explained the decision to change the look of the iPhone by saying that some of the iPhone's current design elements will not stand the test of time, according to Gurman.
Steve Jobs and iOS leader Scott Forstall were big fans of creating digital replications of real life objects in the iPhone's software. Thus, we have a "Notes" app that looks like a notepad. And we have a "Game Center" app with an illustration of green felt, replicating a Vegas gaming table.
Ive thinks those elements will look dated in the long run, so he wants to create something that's cleaner, more true to the iPhone, and timeless.
He also told people that he thinks the iPhone's software lacks unity.
Using the aforementioned examples, you have a yellow notepad app, then a green and wood gaming table, then a calendar app that's silver, blue, and white.
Ive is going to unify the built-in Apple apps, giving them black, white, silver colors, says Gurman.
While Ive plans to redesign much of the iPhone software's design, he plans to leave the essential elements of how the iPhone works intact.
