Screenshots pulled from Chinese microblogging website Sina Weibo suggest that iOS 8 will offer a similar design to iOS 7 but throw in some new applications too.
Are these the first screenshots of iOS 8? They’d be easy to fake, but as ever, we can’t completely overlook what could potentially tell us what to expect from the next major release of iOS.
Apple’s mobile operating system underwent the most dramatic redesign since its creation with the release of iOS 7 last year. The company’s Jony Ive turned his hand to software rather than the hardware with this update, giving users a cleaner, lighter, fresh take on the experience that initially didn’t gel with some iPhone/iPad owners. With these new screenshots, it would appear that visual tweaks in the 2014 release will be minor at best instead focusing on introducing new apps and services.
The second screen grab shows new icons for Healthbook, Preview, TextEdit and Tips. Whilst the first and last of these apps use icon designs in keeping with the latest iOS aesthetic, both Preview and TextEdit match their desktop counterparts exactly, leading us to believe that there might be something fishy going on with these ‘leaked’ images.
With a Notes app already implemented in iOS and more powerful mobile offerings like Pages also available, there seems very little need to introduce another text creation/modification application. Preview too seems to be a redundant inclusion as images and videos in most applications currently enter a full screen mode and the Photos app does a perfect job of letting you peruse your snaps.
The Tips app will best serve users new to iOS, potentially linking to the help pages Apple already offers. The Healthbook feature could hold serious weight, following talk of Apple acquiring medical professionals and rumours of the upcoming iWatch integrating with some sort of native Apple fitness/lifestyle.
Expect the official release of what could be called iOS 8 sometime around June later this year. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for more leaks and rumours. We will be.
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