The iOS 7 Review
by Brian Klug & Saumitra Bhagwat on September 19, 2013 1:25 AM ESTLike any major design change, iOS 7 definitely takes getting used to. My initial reaction to a lot of iOS 7 was honestly more surprise and aversion than I thought it would be, but over time the changes have grown on me. I like to think that we're pretty open to change, especially as enthusiasts, but it's a natural human response to want things to be familiar and closer to what came before. Considerable time spent running the beta and watching parts of the platform change over time in response to feedback from developers and other third parties makes me optimistic that the new iOS 7 UI will continue to change and evolve the same way previous versions did.
The flip side is that I can't shake the feeling that some of the iOS 7 design is reactionary. Pundits lambasted Apple with iOS 6 and the iPhone 5 release for being pretty much the same OS with minor tweaks and very few stylistic changes. Those vocal members wanted dramatic change in visual appearance just for the sake of having it, and like the idiom goes, be careful what you wish for because sometimes it actually does come true. No matter how you sugar coat it, iOS 7 is a dramatic departure from the visual style that came before.
I like the use of translucency and transparency, and the new eye candy and visual effects in iOS 7 did initially solicit a bit of the same "wow" reaction that I had the first time looking at iOS on the original iPhone. The use of parallax and the translucency really does convey a sense of depth and order without being as garish as drop shadows or the shiny faux-3d buttons of yesterday's iOS.
The downside is that after a few weeks of it, some animations are really just a lot more gratuitous than they need to be – after the thousandth time watching the tiles fly in or application zoom out into the multitasking interface you want it to just happen instantly. I have no doubt that iOS will go the route of OS X and Windows Phone and gradually increase the speed of these animations to make the platform feel faster. They're also bound to have a power penalty at some point.
I guess that's the ironic part – the flagship devices don't drop frames during the transitions, they just feel long. I can speak to iOS 7 performance which is good on the iPhone 4S and above and newest generation of iPads, performance however on the iPhone 4 and iPad 3 leaves a lot to be desired. The iPhone 4 stutters through all of its animations, has sparse use of transparency, and generally feels like it's on its last legs. The iPad 3 unfortunately is much of the same – sparse transparency, occasional stuttery parts throughout, although a lot more usable than the iPhone 4. I guess I'm just surprised to see the iPad 3 get to that point of feeling slow so fast.
Although a lot of iOS 7 is visual, the functional changes and new features that are standouts really do make a difference. Control center is a long overdue functional improvement that makes controlling a subset of commonly used settings very fast. There's still more Apple could do here to smooth over a few more friction points, but it's a welcome addition. Notification center also feels a lot more well thought out, with logical separation of information that's useful and notifications themselves, even if there's still no "clear all" button.
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Hinotori - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
How does iOS7 fare with iPad 2 and iPad Mini? One friend told me that he was under impression that his iPad 2 is faster with iOS7 than iOS6, but then I read here that iPad 3 is having a hard time running it...tipoo - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
I have a Mini, same SoC as the 2. It feels slower. The UI FPS clearly drops below 30FPS very often, and there's a general feeling of it having to think a bit longer about everything.tipoo - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
It seems a bit pudgy on my nearly new Mini, and presumably anything else with A5. UI clearly drops below 30FPS with the default paralex on.justaviking - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
Not a fan of "FLAT" UI themes.Call me old-fashioned, but I do NOT like the "flat" look that seems to be all the rage lately, whether on Windows8 or on a smart phone.
As Brian alluded to, widgets that give a "raised" appearance actually look like something you can push or slide. In Windows, for example, I mourn the change in something as simple as the vertical scroll bar in my browser. Gone are the "grips" I used to see. Now the scrolling handle and the vertical slot it slides in are visually the same. Ugh.
With no frames or borders, you don't know if it's a decoration within a window, or if it's a separate window.
It's a regression, in my mind.
At least on a smart phone, with limited screen real estate, I can understand saving some space by not having drop shadows and stuff. But I'd be happier if things I'm supposed to push actually look like things I'm supposed to push.
I'm also not sure about the translucency. I'm looking at the picture of the keyboard in this article. This is better? Why do I want a translucent keyboard? It's probably not horrible, but I'm not sure I see that as a value-added improvement.
In the interest of full disclosure, I tend to roll my eyes at all the holographic or transparent computer displays in the movies too (like "Minority Report" or "Iron Man"). Wouldn't it be a bit distracting and confusing to have text and images floating in front of a distracting background that consists of windows (made of glass, in the wall of the building), people walking, and other people's displays? Looks cool, but try using the window in your office instead of a white board for a while, and let me know how you like it.
Lastly, I'll echo another poster's comments about animations. AGREE, I do not need icons and things to "fly in" and entertain or dazzle me. Just do what you're supposed to do, without the fanfare please. It's only cool once, and after that you're just wasting my time.
Impulses - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
I think they typically use animations to mask load times and other waits, though many seem unnecessary on the new hardware and they're actually having the opposite effect on older hardware. Jobs definitely wouldn't be happy... :sDaniel Egger - Friday, September 20, 2013 - link
> Not a fan of "FLAT" UI themes.> Call me old-fashioned, but I do NOT like the "flat" look that seems to be all the rage lately, whether on Windows8 or on a smart phone.
Actually I really do like Metro UI but only because it is *completely* flat and has been so from the start; no crazy trying to make everything flat and then giving it back some depth by adding layers and parallax effects as Apple now does. Or said short: I think Metro is an improvement compared to class Windows and a fresh new start for WP but for iOS I totally agree that it's a step back because they already had a very good UI concept.
beepboy - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
It seems like Apple is copying but in reality SBSettings and Cydia has been out since the first days of iOS - and these settings have been available, just not through the approved channels.prophet001 - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
There's definitely some Kool-aid drinking going on here. You mention:"The core of the interface hadn’t really changed in either visual appearance or function. With iOS 7, those pundits get their wishes granted, as almost every part of the OS gets some kind of change."
However, if you had not told me which screenshot was iOS 7 and which was 5 in the second picture on the first page I would not have known.
solipsism - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
How does your inability to tell two things apart mean that 1) nothing has changed, and 2) Brian and & Saumitra are "drinking Kool-aid"? As noted in the very sentence you quote the /core/ of the OS design hasn't changed but almost every aspect of it does get updated.Was Apple suppose to no longer have icons that open up apps? Was Apple suppose to not allow personal background images or let 3rd-party developers choose their own icon images so you would be able to tell the new and old OSes apart more easily?
Guspaz - Thursday, September 19, 2013 - link
You're misreading Brian's statement. "The core of the interface hadn’t really changed in either visual appearance or function." refers to iPhone OS 1.0 through iOS 6, the statement isn't referring to iOS 7.