It's like being upset that the 2014 cars have the same steering wheel and pedal layout, or that a manufacturer "stole" the idea of using a USB port in a car.
My personal issue with this design is that it signals the coming of a boring lull in mobile design. Its the death of distinction. Android, Windows, and iPhone now largely look the same (to me). In fact I think the Windows stuff actually looks better. Its upsetting because there are surely more than just two possible designs ("flat" or "skeuomorphic"). Did iOS need a design overhaul? I don't know (I'm personally of the belief that it was missing key features and services more than a new skin). But if for the sake of argument it did, then this just frankly feels lazy on Apple's part. It was the most obvious direction to go in, and its been done. Aqua and iOS 1 were different, fresh, and represented an original vision for UIs. Even if you didn't like them it provided something to contrast to. This just provides something to compare to :/
Surely, that's not the case. And as I've been messing around with IOS7, I'm noticing a lot more than just a graphical redesign. This is also a usability redesign. Little things like including a contact button at the top of the Messages app itself rather than at the top of the message view. IOS7 is full of these little tweaks that have been standard fare in the jailbreak communities.
To boil it down to "a boring lull in mobile design" is to really ignore the quality of the IOS7 redesign.
I think the community in general has felt that iOS 7 was Apple's chance to respond to the criticisms (fair or not) that iOS was stagnating, and I feel that that is what Apple feels it has accomplished. I feel they have done so in the shallowest way possible. To me they presented a corporate image of playing catchup: catching up to Windows and Android visual design cues, catching up to jailbreak experiments that have been happening for years, catching up to interactions we saw in Web OS ages ago. I'm not saying they shouldn't have done this, I'm saying that in my eyes these are bug fixes and there exists an Apple that pushed further. There are a million things I wish Safari did every single day that I use it, and quite frankly "3d tab organization" is not one of them.
This is my point, I think people are not seeing the actual usability improvements that could have taken place. You think design is more than just visual stuff, its usability. I agree, I just think its more than making things take 3 taps less. Remember the original iPhone and iOS, it was a completely different way of interacting with your phone that allowed you to do NEW things you couldn't before. Google is now exploring real new territory with their excellent services like Google Now. If Apple wants to keep fighting services and infrastructure with "design", that's fine, but its going to require more than endlessly spinning its wheels trying to figure out the "best" weather interface possible and micro-optimizing insignificant interactions with the OS.
I see the jailbreak tweaks as the alpha version of features that will one day make it into the main source. People who are not afraid to test things out play with and refine the tweaks until they're ready to be official.
I love the fact that at least eight tweaks have been integrated into the main source!
Sometimes you need to step back in order to advance further. The Pentium 4 is a case in point.
I'm sure there will be ongoing refinement to the visual language, and will feel finished by the time iOS 7 ships. Then iOS 8 and 9 will be able to progressively layer new ideas into the new literal and metaphorical white space.
I didn't listen to Apples presentation, so I don't know if they tooted their own horn on this new design scheme, but if I was a designer who had been working on interfaces similar to what Apple is switching to, I would still be pretty pissed off right now. Because, once people switch to iOS 7, the general public will perceive your design as "Apple like" or "Apple inspired."
I guess that's the difference. If Apple implemented something I created in their products, I'd be super happy that my idea is doing well and will benefit more people. I care about the ideas themselves, not about receiving credit.
I dont get where people got this obsession from either.
I agree the whole back and forth is a bit silly from both parties.
Edit: missed a word
Frequently seen re: MBA and iMac knock offs as well. It's hilarious and worth pointing out in both directions although I think the popular notion that one cancels out the other is false equivalence.
Only this is not a copy. It's just a different flat design, just as Windows also uses a flat design.
It doesn't copy the look of Windows Phone -- it just uses a similar flat visual language.
We cannot say the same for, e.g., MBA look-alikes that you cannot tell apart from 5 feet away.
It's like the difference between two manga comics by different artists (of course there are similarities: they used the same visual language) and a cheap rip-off of an animated series (e.g Power Rangers vs Powerful Rangers).
Disclaimer: I'm not saying I personally agree or even think this viewpoint is entirely true; just offering some insight.
http://www.androidcentral.com/apple-s-ios-7-copied-everyone-...
Or did you mean when they took out a design patent for a touch screen device of iPad like dimensions with very specific rounding on their corners that is reflected in the rest of their product line as well.
I'm pretty sure, that particular patent of Apple's is EXACTLY what design patents were invented for.
Disclaimer: I don't believe in the patent system at all, but the system exists, so the players play it.