It has been over 11 years since Apple last overhauled the design language of iPhone software with iOS 7.
The tech community is increasingly suspicious a new era of iOS design is coming. Here's what it could look like.
A Concept Designed by Eli Johnson
A Quick Word on Concepts
It's rare for an online concept to come to fruition. This project is likely not among the lucky ones. Maybe a piece or two somewhere down the line, but I'm not promising anything.
Rather, this is a thought experiment to ask a simple question: What would iOS look like if it adopted the UI/UX elements present in visionOS and Apple's recently released first-party apps?
Some of these ideas would be controversial if implemented, others objectively bad. But the vast majority are not unrealistic—they come directly from software Apple has shipped to real users.
Let's Break it Down.
There are four significant deviations from iOS norms in these new apps, and almost all of the "new" solutions are at least partially taken from visionOS.
Layers
Rethinking Materials
Components with a 3D, glassy effect are the most frequently cited opportunity for a visionOS-inspired design on iOS.
It's important to note that visionOS does not apply this effect to all UI elements. On the contrary, "glass," as Apple creatively calls this material, is used in only one layer of the hierarchy that defines apps.
Components exist on three planes in visionOS, each nested within, and atop, the other: the background, container and content layers.
Let's take a closer look…
BACKGROUND LAYER
CONTAINER LAYER
CONTENT LAYER
72º
Sunny
Updating Layers on iOS
Until now, the edges of the container layer on iOS have been the bezel of the phone, negating the need for a digitally-rendered plate on which to place content.
However, the new Sports and Invites apps have redefined the bezel as the boundary of the background layer, and the container layer as "boxes" underneath primary content, navigation buttons, and more.
Buttons
Containers Everywhere.
visionOS displays buttons within a circle or pill-shaped container. While also appearing in iOS for years in select apps, it hasn't yet been widely adopted.
The redesign of the Photos app in iOS 18 was a notable example of a first-party app on iOS to use containers for (nearly) all buttons. The Invites app further adopted this approach, using the glass effect on button containers.
Navigation
Re-Train Your Muscle Memory.
Across Apple OSes, navigation components have two variables: an icon and a title. However, each OS has a wildly different idea(s) about how these should be presented.
It's not a bad thing that different devices use different navigation paradigms, it's a good thing. But the question is, what will be the navigation paradigm that prevails in a new design era for iOS?
iPadOS Floating Tab Bar
iOS Tab Bar
visionOS Tab Bar
visionOS Focused Tab Bar
macOS Sidebar
Farewell to a Friend
Apple has not launched a new or redesigned major default app with a classic tab bar since Translate (in 2020), and has since embraced single-view apps or other solutions in the nav bar.
Invites and Sports both showed off a new tab/menu solution in their nav bars. These components are wildly different and likely to be ergonomically controversial.
*The Good:
- Could be configured to switch tabs in a single hold and swipe-down to desired tab motion.
- Preserves space on the right side for one-tap nav buttons.
*The Bad:
- Less reachable than a tab bar.
- Less intuitive.
*The Good:
- Highly customizable
- More compact & pretty
*The Bad:
- Less reachable than a tab bar.
- Requires 2 taps to switch tabs or reach other actions.
Materials
Navigation & Toolbar
Buttons in nav bars and toolbars across the entire system now use a container with the glass effect.
Navigation
Close Button
Apple recently added a "zoom" animation for opening media views, such as an album in Music. The "back" arrow no longer makes sense with this motion and has been replaced with a "close" button.
Search
Dedicated Button
Until now, in-app search has lacked a standardized point-of-access. Now, search appears as a button in the nav bar within all relevant apps.
New Search View
When opened, in-app search now appears as a full-view experience overlaid on the rest of the app with a beautiful blurring effect.
Visual Design
Input Field Style
Taking a cue from visionOS, input fields like the URL and search bars use a recessed style.
Refreshed Keyboard
The keyboard has been updated to subtly match the style of visionOS.
List Style
Drawing heavily from visionOS, lists have been redesigned to float on top of the app's background. Each item also now has more room to breathe. Icons on the left side now appear alone or in a circle container when not featuring an app icon, rather than the classic squircle.
New App Icons
Updating the Notes and Settings icons to match visionOS is long overdue.
Customization
Summary Views
Like Fitness, Control Center and Home, the Summary tab widgets in Health are now fully editable.
New Maps View
Maps now displays categories like Favorites, Recents, and Guides as a stack of containers that can also be customized with favorite routes, hikes or locations. Swipe up or down to view items in the stack.
More
Camera
The leaked design does match…
Toolbars
Toolbar buttons take on the effect of the glass containers as they float above an app's content.
Thank You.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this project. You can find my Threads profile below. Drop me a comment and I'll try to get back to you.
This project involved a massive amount of hours to research, design and assemble. If you found it thought-provoking, please consider sharing with a friend.
About Me
My name is Eli Johnson, I'm a self-taught designer living and working in New York City. I'm passionate about technology and design as well as exploring the art, architecture and live-theatre that the city has to offer.
