iPhone App Developer, iPhone App development

iOS App Design and how it has changed over the years

Rushik Shah User Icon By: Rushik Shah

Like every other device the iOS devices like iPhone, iPod, etc have also improved over the years. Although the first iPhone was released 2007 and they wisely did not try to pack a great deal of new features into the new device. Instead of this they spent a great deal of effort in getting the basic and core features and experience of the user right.

The result was that they developed a device that had a new operating system at the core, the iOS. This had several good features like multi-touch gestures, mobile safari, visual voice mail and even itunes and maps. At this point time of time the iPhone device did not have any feature to execute any Apps of any kind.

The Apple devices like the iPhone, iPod, etc have changed over the years and are have more features that were ever imagined when they first started out. The list of features that were sequentially introduced into the devices are mentioned here. The hardware capabilities the device have a lot to do with the features of the Apps and the App design.

iOS App Design and how it has changed over the years

Hardware Features by iOS:

iOS1 features

Location

Multitouch keyboard

Multitouch keyboard

iTunes music store

iTunes music store

Core iOS User interface

The iPhone's home screen showing it's core user interface includes icons for Clock, Camera, Maps, Weather, Notes, and Settings.

Visual voicemail

Map

iTunes sync

iOS2 features

Native 3rd party apps

App Store

iPhone App Store Logo

Support for Microsoft Exchange

Contact Search

Smartphone with magnifying glass icon over Contacts search bar. "Search Contacts" above; list of contact names below.

iOS3 features

Find my Phone

Voice control

iBooks

iOS4 features

Multitasking

FaceTime Video Chat

Retina Display support

Game Center

iOS5 features

Siri

Notification Center

iMessage

iCloud

iCloud logo

iOS6 features

Facebook integration

Passbook

iOS7 features

Visual overhaul

Control Center

AirDrop

iOS8 features

Widgets

iPhone Widgets

iCloud Drive

Healthkit

Family Sharing

iOS9 features

Enhanced multi-tasking features

Split view

iPhone's Split View Feature.

Picture in picture with FaceTime

An iPhone displaying a video call using FaceTime in picture-in-picture mode.

The iOS App design has been directly influenced by the features available. This includes the features of the devices as well as how the operating system has been optimised to exploit these features.

For example:

The multi-tasking features were only introduced after the launch of iOS4, thus till that point in time the Apps designed did not include such functionality and nor did the design of the Apps bear such a user interface. The multi-tasking feature was later optimised, but that is not all, a new feature like split view has also been introduced thus completely changing how the Apps can operate. This too has brought about a big change in the iOS App design.

If the feature progression of the iOS versions mentioned above were looked at carefully it is easy to notice that there have been enhancements at every level. The ones that most affected the App design are:

  • Quality of display, with introduction of retina display and further enhancements.

  • Multi-tasking

  • App touch features

  • App display with split view feature

  • General enhancement of the user interface with new style operating system.

Alakmalak always incorporates and stays ahead of the changes:

Alakmalak have been helping businesses and other organizations establish their online presence since long time now. It was quite an achievement for them to develop over 2006 websites in their first 10 years as a Web Development firm.

However Alakmalak is more than a Web Development firm, they have also developed some stunning apps and are actively involve iOS Apps Design and iPhone App Developments projects. Thus Alakmalak is capable of handling almost any kind of project, from dedicated iPhone developers to large iPhone projects that may require additional resources. Being a firm that offers multiple technology solutions has it benefits since then there are always plenty of skilled resources to get the task done on time.

  • How the iPhone and iOS have changed over the years
  • iOS App Design and how it has changed over the years

What’s Next ?

I know after reading such an interesting article you will be waiting for more. Here are the best opportunities waiting for you.

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap