Now that Apple has released iOS 12, iPhone XS, etc, I wanted to share my theory on Apple's design choices, those choices I know many have questions about. After a little pondering, I think I have figured out Apple's logic, and it makes me all the more excited for next year's iOS 13.
The iPhone X was originally suppose to be released in 2018 ( https://mashable.com/2017/10/31/how-apple-built-the-iphone-x/#bEVBGz5toSq7 ), but instead they released it in 2017 ahead of scheduled. This would have limited the ability for the software team to complete a full redesign ahead of the iPhone X launch. Instead, they made minor changes to iOS design language to tide them over for a major redesign.
It was widely rumored that Apple was going to do a redesign/introduce dark mode in iOS 12. This was, as we know, later pushed to iOS 13 (to much fan fare with the focus on speed and stability!).
Now, they could have added dark mode or redesigned Volume HUD this year. People would of loved this, but after careful consideration, I am happy they delayed the redesign. It would have been a major waste of resources to simply push dark mode on iOS 12 (It isn't as simple as just inverting colors). The general iOS 11 changes for the X easily carried over to iOS 12 (and the XS), and thus there wasn't the impetus for a major redesign since the iPhone X was already released.
I believe iOS 13 will be designed with the iPhone X and XS as a major focus, rather than iOS 12, 11, and before, which were designed for pre-notch devices. This *I hope* will solve many problems, include control center, the always present visual indicator, massive amounts of wasted space at the top and bottom of the iPhone X interfaces. I know it's 8 months away, but I believe it is going to be a significant improvement to the visual inconsistencies and design of iOS.
I haven't seen anyone else really make this connection, so I hope it helps relieve some peoples frustrations on the lack of progress with iOS design!
The iPhone X was originally suppose to be released in 2018 ( https://mashable.com/2017/10/31/how-apple-built-the-iphone-x/#bEVBGz5toSq7 ), but instead they released it in 2017 ahead of scheduled. This would have limited the ability for the software team to complete a full redesign ahead of the iPhone X launch. Instead, they made minor changes to iOS design language to tide them over for a major redesign.
It was widely rumored that Apple was going to do a redesign/introduce dark mode in iOS 12. This was, as we know, later pushed to iOS 13 (to much fan fare with the focus on speed and stability!).
Now, they could have added dark mode or redesigned Volume HUD this year. People would of loved this, but after careful consideration, I am happy they delayed the redesign. It would have been a major waste of resources to simply push dark mode on iOS 12 (It isn't as simple as just inverting colors). The general iOS 11 changes for the X easily carried over to iOS 12 (and the XS), and thus there wasn't the impetus for a major redesign since the iPhone X was already released.
I believe iOS 13 will be designed with the iPhone X and XS as a major focus, rather than iOS 12, 11, and before, which were designed for pre-notch devices. This *I hope* will solve many problems, include control center, the always present visual indicator, massive amounts of wasted space at the top and bottom of the iPhone X interfaces. I know it's 8 months away, but I believe it is going to be a significant improvement to the visual inconsistencies and design of iOS.
I haven't seen anyone else really make this connection, so I hope it helps relieve some peoples frustrations on the lack of progress with iOS design!
