New iOS 7 Concept Design Shows New Lockscreen, Widgets

As the inevitable launch of iOS 7 draws near, designers are releasing concepts of what they think it should look like, adding in features like widgets that Apple doesn’t have in its current mobile OS.

The newest iOS 7 concept comes from designer Frederico Bianco, and unlike some other concepts it doesn’t completely reinvent iOS, it just adds a few new features. Bianco’s concept shows off an enhanced lockscreen, new notifications, widgets, a new Settings menu and a new Mission Control for multitasking.

Much of Bianco’s design borrows from concepts that are already in iOS 6 or OS X, it just brings them to more apps and the homescreen of the iPhone and iPad. The design also borrows a few details from Android phones, though not many.

Lockscreen

The new lockscreen in Bianco’s iOS 7 concept looks just like the lockscreen in iOS 6, but it has a few added functions. In the concept users can change out the camera shortcut to one of a few other apps. The example used in the video is the dialer. With it, users can simply swipe up to get to the phone app and make calls instantly. There are some security issues there, however, as it would leave the user’s contacts easily available.

The top of the lockscreen also has a few enhancements. The concept lets users swipe to the left to access a few settings including airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Do Not Disturb. The last one is particularly useful so users can set Do Not Disturb without unlocking a phone, exiting an app, opening Settings and then turning the feature on.

Notifications

Notifications in Bianco’s concept look very similar to notifications in iOS 6, though the pop-up is white instead of the clear blue Apple uses. The added feature here is the ability to reply without opening Messages. This method just opens a text field that looks just like the field iOS uses for Tweets and Facebook status updates.

There is a chance for improvement here (something akin to Facebook Home Chat Heads would be nice), but even this simple implementation is better than replying to SMS messages or iMessages in iOS 6.

Widgets

Bianco’s iOS 7 concept adds widgets to iOS, while still maintaining the current grid of icons. Widgets don’t take up space on the screen, but instead appear above or below the app like Newsstand currently does.

In the concept users can access widgets for the Music, Calendar, Weather and App Store apps by double tapping their respective icons. The method seems strange at first, as it may make opening apps a bit slower and average users may not realize the feature is there. Even with such an awkward way of opening widgets, they’re still a welcome addition to iOS which still looks and acts mostly the same as it did in 2007.

Mission Control

Multitasking is something every design likes to take a shot at redesigning. Like many previous concepts, Bianco’s iOS 7 concept brings the OS X concept of Mission Control to iOS for multitasking.

Opening multitasking on the iPhone zooms out to show apps laid over the iOS homescreen with options to open a particular homescreen above them. The view also gives users an easy way to quit apps, while the current method makes users tap and hold to quite apps.

Mission Control works much better on the iPad where users can see multiple apps at once in a grid of six. The method is very similar to the multitasking menu on the HTC One, though it adds the ability to see individual tabs in Safari and the option to just go back to the homescreen.