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At an as-yet-unknown date sometime in 2013, Apple’s Senior Vice President, iOS Software Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple. Forstall’s role is being reduced immediately, and Jony Ive will be taking over leadership and direction for Human Interface. The other aspects of Forstall’s position will be doled out to various other members of Apple’s existing executive team.
Forstall had been primarily responsible for Apple’s increasingly skeuomorphic UI design, and his departure could very well mean that drastic changes in the look and feel of Apple’s software aren’t far behind. If you’re attached to your virtual leather calenders and lined legal pad note applications, get ready to start letting go.
Forstall was never particularly popular with the rest of the Apple crowd. Former associates of his have commented (anonymously) that he was “maddeningly political” and that he never quite got along with other executives, such as Ive who will now be taking his place. Many went so far as to say they pointedly avoided meetings with Forstall, unless Tim Cook was around to mediate.
It’s worth noting, too, that Forstall was in charge of Apple Maps, the release of which was a fiasco on a level uncommon for a company that prides itself on products that “just work.” The company formally apologised, and there were no immediate internal repercussions, but you can’t help but think that failure had something to do with this move.
Receiving second billing on the Apple exec musical chairs was the move of Bob Mansfield to a new Technologies group, that will combine all of Apple’s wireless devices—and semiconductor interests—into one seething mass of profitability. Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X, tipping the march Cupertino has been making towards convergence since OS X Lion.
Apple’s timing for the announcement, incidentally, couldn’t be better; a hurricane threatens the Northeast, Google and Microsoft made some of their biggest announcements of the year, the World Series just ended. If there was ever a time the world wasn’t going to notice a major ousting at a high level in Silicon Valley, it’s right about now.
Ideally, the executive shake-up here will ultimately result in a better unification between Apple’s hardware and software sides, especially considering Ive is effectively now in charge of both. We’ll just have to wait and see what kind of effects this will have in the ecosystem as a whole. One thing’s for certain: there’s going to be a whole lot less leather. [Apple via The Next Web]
Awesome! I wonder how quickly we’ll see changes?
Not quick enough probably ! Im still waiting for ios 6.01 to fix the brick that is ios6
Why does that Ive guy always look cross eyed?
http://www.wheninmanila.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/0bb69f87_954-not-sure-if-serious.jpeg
If Ive fixes these god forsaken apps he would’ve earned that knighthood all over again.
Bold move by apple and one that shows they are worried by the competition.
ios is stale, you know it, i know it, steve jobs knows it.
jellybean is getting there, windows 8 is beautiful and barring the abomination that is their app store they are catching up. Apple need to provide something new., not incremental, not a rip off of something that android or wp has done, something genuinely new.
One could argue with apple selling so many devices they don’t need to do much at all? Personally on the phone front I like the simplicity that iOS brings, easy and quick to use, no messing about.
Something new in terms of features on the iPad with its larger screen perhaps would be a good thing, but then again with 90% of tablet we traffic belonging to Apple, they don’t need to do much anytime soon.
Personally I would like to see multiple application windows opening at the same time, it’s been done on cydia, would be nice as standard in ios, especially as cydia apps for iPad will dwindle away due to it becoming illegal to jailbreak the iPad in the US..
“One could argue with apple selling so many devices they don’t need to do much at all?”
Yes because if history has shown one thing, it’s that remaining static in a dynamic market with innovative competitors is the best way to hold on to your market share. That’s why Kodak is leading the pack in the photography market today.
Since when has Apple ever considered resting on its laurels? Whatever happened to designing the next big thing that no one knew they needed and now want as standard?
They’re just a little bit thrown by the fact that the competition has caught up with them and they need to find a great new idea to work with and makes sure that everything they ship now (iOS, maps etc) works as it should (hence firing the guy who released broken products).
While I’m glad Forstell won the whole “build an OS for touch screens” rather “than building down Mac OS X”, I’m glad someone else will be taking the reigns. It needs a fresh set of eyes.
With the designs Jony as come up with hardware, I wonder what he can do to the software.
Apple’s hardware designs have been playing it far too safe lately, too, though. The iPhone 5 is barely distinguishable from the 4S at first glance – it’s only the back that actually has any real attention paid to it (and it pays off, ‘cos the iPhone 5 has a pretty back… it’s just a pity literally NO-ONE will see it behind all the ugly cases they put over them…).
Chances of this meaning anything meaningful for the look and feel of iOS in the next one-two years is… well, basically none. Certainly, it’s never likely to get past the biggest bone of design-based contention for me, which is the wall of app icons that makes up its entire base UI.
I think the similarities between the new nexus phone and the last one from Samsung are far greater than those between the iPhone 4s and 5.
Personally I like the 5 better..
If you want a pretty case for an iPhone 5, splash the cash and get the Sector 5.. That thing is nice.
The wall of icons is fine. That is iOS. Sure they could add widgets but I really see no point. They need to sort out some of the functionality. Having to go to the settings menu for something like WiFi is a lot longer than having it in the notification menu.
Personally, I like the iPhone 5 (I don’t have a case for mine). How would the front change? The whole point in the iPhone from the beginning was to change from having a ton of buttons plastered all over it to having a sleek looking front with just 1 button. The rest is done through software and the touch screen.
Mac design hasn’t changed very much, they just look sleeker with every iteration. No one complains that the iMac needs a complete design overhaul.
The difference between the SII and SIII is more than enough to make them visually different and appeal differently as a result (this is a good thing). Honestly, it’s just a bit hypocritical for Apple to turn around and say to companies like Samsung that a design other than a black rectangle with rounded corners, a screen and a button would make for a great, new innovative design when it doesn’t seem that they can come up with an alternative to the basic form themselves. (Made all the more galling that they claim sole ownership of such a basic form, but I digress).
The Nokia Lumia is the most interesting piece of phone hardware design in a number of years – at least since the iPhone 4 and Galaxy S2 set their benchmarks – and that’s because it really is something completely unique, new and vibrant. The Nexus 4 is playing it safe just as much as the iPhone 5 is – but Google aren’t the ones claiming to be the great innovators of style and fashion that “we invented the rectangle” Apple are.
Short of the possibility that Ive will bin the skeumorphic design of the apps for a more utilitarian look, I’d say this is no real reflection of a new paradigm brewing for iOS – which kind of makes it fall behind what WP8 and Jelly Bean are managing in the other corners of the ring. Certainly for me and anecdotally a number of other people I know (of varying brand loyalty), at least.
Multiple app windows
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NKFHxgQ9YBc
Widgets on iPad
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KbLMqesQhSQ
Customisation on iOS via cydia is far more advance than most folk would believe.
I cant stand the iPhone 5 Johnny Ive is basically procrastinating over a 2 year old design and as for the go faster stripe its like a 14 year old has mocked up a iPhone 4, iPhone 1st gen hybrid, the only other things to have changed is that horribly narrow longer (not bigger) screen and the superlatives Ive has come up with to describe the shininess, cant tell you how disappointed I was when all the rumours turned out to be true.
So on the basis of Johnny Ive’s recent procrastination Im not sure how good a job he’ll make of re-designing iOS or indeed if the extra work load will make his undeniable industrial design talent slip further.
Great news and even better news that Browett has gone.
Good. Now hopefully we see an OS like the hardware, sleek and simplistic.
i am crying at home, because deep down in my heart i am an Apple fanboy, and i know that when things like this happen it can either make or brake a company, and also the fact that one person will be leading both software platforms is quite striking seeing as Tim Cook did not like the idea of putting two different things together. This may be the end of apple’s dominance, i know it was bound to happen someday, but i just never knew how the news would come or when it would happen.
Only one way to go once you reach the top, after all.
Not a major loss then.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Forstall was asked to resign after refusing to sign his own name to Apple’s Maps apology, leaving Tim Cook to sign his name instead.
Once again, awesome header image.
It will be interesting if with Ive at the helm there is a major UI redesign. I don’t think it will be a complete UI overhaul all at once, Apple wouldn’t want to alienate consumers with bold moves but hopefully iOS 7 will lay some foundations.
Interesting to see where the skeuomorphic-ness ends up, an article once commented that it makes more sense to have it going on for a small touch based device because it creates a feeling of similarity, but doesn’t make sense for a desktop. Not sure I agree with that statement myself, but I can understand the position.
I’ve been saying since the death of Jobs that Jony will be running the company in a few years. Looks like this is a step in the right direction. The prophecy is unfolding
People don’t seem to be commenting that the Dixons guy who went to Apple as head of retail (and then screwed it up BIGTIME – shocker) is out too.
Maybe it’s because that one isn’t so surprising…
This is where apple gets it’s finger out and starts to perform again! iTunes/iPhoto and a lot of of the ancillary Apple software has been lost for a good while now – I mean having to click several times just to get the different edit panels up in one of the recent iPhoto updates has always seemed so un-Apple – even other seemingly simple actions like trying to print several images onto one sheet of paper while controlling their size involved google searches galore….Roll on Jony at the Helm