14 DAY TRIAL // Ceding to customer demands, Apple has added an important option in the Settings pane of iOS 7.1, an upcoming software update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users.
The ability to turn on button shapes may not sound like much when you read about it, but when you come around to using this option, you’ll instantly feel the difference.
Business Insider points to an opinion piece by Christa Mrgan who detailed the problem with Apple’s UI inconsistency across iOS 7 apps and services in July.
Mrgan wrote, “Action sheets in particular feel too austere to me in their current form; with button borders gone and the only indication of the 'preferred' choice being ever-so-slightly bolder text, I worry about user confusion. It’s impossible to tell at a glance what the least destructive option is, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s content and what’s UI.”
Developers who are actively testing the new iOS 7.1 Beta 2 from Apple are already noticing a change in the right direction.
A trio of screenshots (above, click to enlarge) shared by 9to5mac shows that users will finally know - with a higher degree of certainty - what is a button, and what is plain text.
With the arrival of iOS 7.1, users will also notice some visual tweaks in the Calendar app (a list view), as well as in Control Center. The dark keyboard is gone in this beta, something that customers might not like very much. Apple still has time to put it back in, though.
Animations are speedier throughout iOS 7.1, developers say. This change will undoubtedly be welcomed by the masses.
Unfortunately there isn’t a definitive release date for iOS 7.1, but if things progress smoothly in Apple’s development, we could see the finalized software drop before Christmas. Everyone keep their fingers crossed.