“The changes have been staring you in the face for a year,” says Lou Miranda

May 7, 2014 13:20 GMT  ·  By

Don’t look at iOS 7 for any clues as to what OS X 10.10 will look like with flat graphics. Instead, point your attention to Xcode 5, the latest version of Apple’s digital toolset aimed at developers.

Refreshed in 2013 and handed to paying devs as a free download at WWDC, Xcode 5 is probably the best indication as to what OS X will look like with flat graphics.

Although it does share some common traits with iOS 7, the flatness in Xcode is nothing like the touch-centric design of the mobile operating system powering iPhones and iPads, as Lou Miranda points out on his blog.

Setting two screenshots side by side showing Xcode 4 and Xcode 5, the visual discrepancies become quite visible, pointing to the direction that Apple is currently embarked on.

“...if you’re an iOS or OS X developer, the changes have been staring you in the face for a year,” Lou writes.

“That’s because when Apple debuted Xcode 5 at last year’s WWDC, it came with a much flatter UI. The screenshots above (Xcode 4 on the left; Xcode 5 on the right) show how some–but not all–features have been flattened by removing drop shadows, gradients, and borders.”

He points out that, because OS X is not touch-centric (at least not yet) and the final design is still in testing, “buttons and text fields haven’t been appreciably flattened, but segmented controls and tab bars have–not because buttons won’t be flattened in OS X 10.10, but because either Apple just didn’t get around to it in time, or they’re just testing the waters (more likely).”

Something Apple will borrow from iOS 7 is the “single highlight color for controls [something that] tells the user that the control is a control and is clickable, much as colored controls in iOS 7 are a clue for users that they are tappable,” Lou explains.

It certainly seems that Lou is right in his prediction. More evidence comes from Apple gradually implementing flat graphics across its web services and apps.

Perhaps not coincidentally, 9to5mac’s sources revealed earlier this month that OS X 10.10 would have “similar toggle designs to iOS 7, sharper window corners, more defined icons across the system, and more white space.”

The sources, however, noted that key elements like Finder, multi-window multitasking, and Mission Control, would remain almost unchanged. All will be unveiled in due time (WWDC kicks off June 2 at San Francisco’s Moscone West).