| Cult of Mac

Brilliant iOS 14 concept adds multiple docks to iPhone Home screen

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We need this ASAP.
Photo: Alessandro Chiarlitti

A brilliant new iOS 14 concept shows how useful it would be to have multiple docks at the bottom of the iPhone’s Home screen.

The multiple-dock UI, published by designer Alessandro Chiarlitti over the weekend, would basically let you toggle between different widgets at the bottom of the screen. That would give you quick access to music controls and other apps without opening them.

Check it out in action:

A Realistic Idea Of What iOS 7 Will Actually Look Like

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iOS 7 concepts are a dime a dozen these days. Everyone is coming up with short video walkthroughs of what they think the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system will look like.

Rumors say that Apple is making iOS 7 “flatter” and less skeuomorphic (no pool table felt in Game Center, for example). That has led a lot of concept creators to what I think are, frankly, some overdone conclusions. Yesterday on Twitter I made the comment that, “My gut somehow tells me that all of these iOS 7 concepts are horribly wrong.” I haven’t seen a single iOS 7 concept that actually looks believable, well… until now.

Now That Jony Ive Is In Charge Of iOS Design, Apps Could Start Looking Like This [Concept]

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As part of the recent executive shakeup within Apple, industrial design guru Jony Ive has been put in charge of a new department that oversees the design of all hardware and software made by Apple. In essence, Ive is the quintessential tastemaker at Apple, a role formerly filled by the late Steve Jobs.

By now you’ve probably heard that Ive isn’t a fan of skeuomorphism, the make-it-look-retro-to-feel-familar design style that has been implemented in iOS under the guidance of Scott Forstall. That’s why Apple’s apps have so much Corinthian leather and stitching, or why the Compass app is designed to look like a literal compass.

Now that Ive is in charge of the overall look and feel of iOS, expect skeuomorphism to start fading away. Concept designer and Cult of Mac reader Adrian Maciburko sent us his take on a new iOS interface design that relies less on the analog aesthetic and more on the digital.

Switchy: A Rethinking Of The iPhone’s App Switcher Comes To Life [Jailbreak]

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It's the app switcher you know and love, only taller.
It's the app switcher you know and love... only taller.

The iPhone’s app switcher is where you go to quickly navigate between apps in iOS. Apple has added more features to the little switcher tray over time, like handy music controls. Double tapping the Home button on your iPhone reveals one row of recently opened apps to choose from, and you can swipe from right to left to see more icons. Without getting into the debate about whether the app switcher is a true multitasking environment or not, it’s safe to say that it does its job. But could the experience be improved?

When Brent Caswell detailed his rethinking of the iPhone’s app switcher a few days ago, he had no clue the concept would come to life. Thanks to the ingenuity of the jailbreak community, a new Cydia tweak implements Caswell’s ideas to extend the functionality of the app switcher.

Upcoming SlideWriter iPad App Brings Enhanced Text Editing Concept To App Store

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Editing text in iOS could be so much easier...
Editing text in iOS could be so much easier...

When Daniel Chase Hooper posted the concept for his simple text editing technique on the iPad, he most likely had no clue it would snowball into something so huge. After nearly every tech site on the internet posted the concept, a jailbreak tweak was made available a couple days later. Jailbroken iPad owners can use the editing techniques Hooper outlined right now (yes, they’re that good), and we’re hoping that Apple will add the functionality in a future version of iOS.

Now Hooper’s concept is making its way to the App Store in the form of an upcoming iPad app called SlideWriter.

Awesome iPad Text Editing Concept Now Available As Tweak In Cydia [Jailbreak]

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An innovate idea for iOS often gets introduced to high praises from the Apple community, and one of three things usually happens: 1.) Apple implements the idea, 2.) Jailbreakers implement it first and Apple eventually does the same, 3.) Apple ignores the idea entirely and jailbreakers enjoy it exclusively. We’re hoping that number 2.) will happen in this case.

Remember when we showed you the amazing concept video for easily editing text on the iPad? Put together by Daniel Chase Hooper, the concept showed how you could edit text with finger drags and gestures instead of the tedious ‘tap and drag’ method Apple currently implements. Many of us said we wanted to see Hooper’s concept in iOS 6.

As it is known to do, the jailbreak community has already heard our collective cry and answered with a new jailbreak tweak that just went live in Cydia today. Dubbed SwipeSelection, a new way of editing text is now available for jailbroken iPad and iPhone users.

Could This Be What iOS 5 Looks Like? [Thoughtful Mockup Gallery]

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Check out these thoughtful mockups of iOS 5, the next version of the iPhone and iPad OS, which Steve Jobs is due to preview at WWDC on Monday morning.

They were created by Federico Bianco, a graphic designer from Rome, Italy. It’s a “wishlist” of all the things he wants to see in iOS 5, and includes some interesting ideas about notifications, widgets, Home Screen organization and bringing iPhoto to iOS.

Check it out: