Jony Ive Reportedly Pushing Flat Design with iOS 7

With iOS 7 just around the corner, people have been talking about how Jonathan Ive will influence the highly anticipated mobile operating system. This time the juicy information was from multiple sources. 9to5mac has a lengthy article detailing what we can expect from iOS 7, codenamed “Innsbruck”.

If you were wondering what connects Innsbruck to Apple, here is a list of iOS codenames and you will understand it immediately:

• iOS 1.0 Alpine
• iOS 1.0.2 Heavenly
• iOS 1.1 Little Bear
• iOS 1.1.1 Snowbird
• iOS 1.1.2 Oktoberfest
• iOS 2.0 Big Bear
• iOS 2.1 Sugarbowl
• iOS 2.2 Timberline
• iOS 3.0 Kirkwood
• iOS 3.1 Northstar
• iOS 3.2 Wildcat
• iOS 4.0 Apex
• iOS 4.1 Baker
• iOS 4.2 Jasper
• iOS 4.2.5 Phoenix
• iOS 4.3 Durango
• iOS 5.0: Telluride
• iOS 5.1: Hoodoo
• iOS 6: Sundance

Yes, all of them are ski runs and resorts. Innsbruck is located in Austria, Europe and it is known as a ski paradise for winter spots lovers.

According to the anonymous sources the upcoming OS will surprise users with a redesigned user-interface, which is said to be “very, very flat”. Apple is about to lose the sign of skeuomorphism which has been one of the main characteristic of the current and previous version of iOS.

While the look of the updated system may be surprising to some, iOS 7 is reportedly not more difficult to use than earlier versions of software platform. There is apparently no new learning curve in the same way there was no learning curve when the iPods went color. While iOS 7 does look different, its core apps and system fundamentals (like the Lock and Home screens) mostly operate in a similar fashion to how they do today.

iOS 7 is codenamed “Innsbruck,” according to three people familiar with the OS. The interface changes include an all-new icon set for Apple’s native apps in addition to newly designed tool bars, tab bars, and other fundamental interface features across the system. iOS devices running the next-generation software reportedly have polarizing filters to decrease viewing angles of on-lookers.

You may recall the executive shuffle that resulted in Jony Ive becoming the head of interface design. Scott Forstall was ousted from the company when there was a debate in the blogosphere about skeuomorphism. Earlier this year the Podcast app update gave us a hint about a flat design, but we are eager to see the result of Jony Ive’s and his team’s work.

Both Paris Lemon and John Paczkowski have confirmed Mark Gurman’s report saying that with iOS 7 we will likely see fewer heavy textures.

@markgurman hearing same. Fewer heavy textures.

— John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) April 29, 2013