As Talk of Apple Opening up API's Goes on, Keyboard Maker MessagEase Wants You to Wrap Your Fingers Around Their Offering

Serious disruption might be on the way to the touchscreen text input space. If Apple opens its API doors a tad bit more to permit developers to produce system global keyboards that might start the revolution of the true keyboard invention on iOS. (I for starters hope so.) I am not saying that novel  keyboards aren't currently on the market, they are, but usage is limited on Apple's iOS devices because of how apps interact with the system. We have now started to see signs that Apple wants to be a bit more open on that respect, which may provide the development of alternative keyboards some major traction.

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Apple's iOS 7 Team in Deadline Panic Mode, Recruiting Engineers

Apple’s iOS 7 is so significant a re-imagining of the mobile operating system that the company is mustering additional engineering resources to get it out the door in time for a preview at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which is June 10-14 in San Francisco.

Sources who declined to be named because they are forbidden to talk publicly about Apple’s plans tell AllThingsD that the company has been “borrowing” engineers from the OS X 10.9 team as part of an effort to double down on iOS 7. “Yes, yes — it’s essentially a repeat of the iPhone/Leopard scenario,” one source said, referring to Apple’s 2007 decision to pull engineers from OS X 10.5 to work on iPhone. “Not as much of a fire drill, though. It will ship on time.”

News of Apple’s iOS 7 scramble was first reported by Daring Fireball last month, and reiterated today by Bloomberg.

So what is it about iOS 7 that has caused Apple to rally additional engineering resources? It’s a pretty big update. With SVP of Industrial Design Jony Ive now oveerseeing interface design, sources say Apple has adopted a unified approach to software and hardware design. And evidently the spartan, elegant aesthetic that Ive has developed around Apple’s hardware is now being brought to bear on its software, as well. Last week, 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman reported that iOS 7 would feature a “flat” design that favors simplicity over flash. I’ve heard similar descriptions from sources who say iOS 7 is iOS “de-glitzed.”

“Put it this way,” said one source who has been briefed on iOS. “You know Game Center’s green felt craps table? Well, goodbye, Circus Circus.”

Not a surprise, really. With Scott Forstall — an advocate for flashy, skeuomorphic design and its stitched-leather and faux-wood-grain flourishes — now gone from Apple, and Ive in an expanded role, the current and former Apple employees I’ve spoken to say iOS 7 was destined for a new coat of paint. As one said, “Sounds like a much-needed ‘de-Forstallization.’”

Which is not to say that the design of iOS 7 is entirely about removing skeuomorphic gloss. Fact is, Apple hasn’t much changed the operating system’s look since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. If the company has good ideas for design tweaks, it’s about time it implemented them. With new mobile operating systems like BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone proving that there’s plenty of room left for innovation in the market, Apple can ill afford even the risk of the perception that iOS might be getting dusty.

Apple’s challenge, then, is to overhaul the look and feel of the OS while retaining the intuitiveness that has made it so popular. “The key question here is whether those changes deliver on the core Apple promise of improving customers’ ability to make productive use of the device and deliver a clearly superior experience,” Forrester analyst Charles Golvin told AllThingsD. “Presumably they don’t need the flashy stuff to realize that vision.” [Source]

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Apple Might Delay The Release of iOS 7 Due to Jony Ive's Design Overhaul

Over the past several months, rumours of Jony Ive's influence on iOS 7 as part of his new role overseeing user interface design in addition to hardware have surfaced, indicating that Ive is pushing to adopt a "flatter" design that will modernize the look of iOS.

In a lengthy report, Bloomberg now notes that this major effort to remake iOS puts Apple at risk of delaying the launch of iOS 7. While a public launch is said to currently remain on schedule for "as soon as September", Apple's internal deadlines have been pushed back as Apple's software teams race to complete their work and ready a preview for next month's Worldwide Developers Conference.

Ive, 46, has begun revamping iPhone and iPad applications, shunning realistic images, such as wood bookshelves for the Newsstand feature, and he’s exploring more dramatic changes to the e-mail and calendar tools, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.

Ive is also methodically reviewing new designs, seeking to avoid a repeat of last year’s release of map tools that were widely panned, and he’s encouraging collaboration between the software and hardware divisions, which operated in silos under co-founder Steve Jobs, people said.

The report also corroborates previous claims from Daring Fireball's John Gruber regarding engineers being pulled from OS X projects to bolster the iOS 7 effort, as well as his claim that the software changes in iOS 7 are significant enough that testers are using devices with special films over the screens to make it more difficult for those around them to see their displays.

Sources indicate to Bloomberg that Apple may ultimately have to push back to a later iOS version some of Ive's desired changes such as a complete remake of the iOS email app in order to have iOS 7 ready on time, and that Ive is also exploring some future concepts such as gesture controls that do not require touching the device's display.

Finally, the report briefly describes a March town hall meeting at Apple in which Jony Ive uncharacteristically took the lead to preside over a two-hour presentation about the changes that are underway. As previously noted, Ive is also sitting in on Apple's software design meetings, reportedly offering his input without forcing his ideas, and also giving software teams greater access to his hardware plans in order to increase collaboration. [Source]

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