iOS 7 vs iOS 6 – Side By Side Visual Comparison [IMAGES]

So, after much deliberation, rumor, concept and a little bit more rumor, Apple has finally shown the world what exactly Jony Ive’s vision of software design is with the introduction of iOS 7. It’s clean, crisp, and certainly a great deal brighter than ever before, but, new features aside, does it actually look better, and how does it compare? Here, we assess whether the clean lines and anti-skeuo approach is as much of a step forward as Apple has portrayed.

As noted by my colleague Oliver in his post: ‘iOS 7 on iPhone 5 – First Impressions’, it certainly is bright, and echoes John Gruber’s pre-WWDC utterances that iOS 7 would be polarizing. Some seem to love it, others are completely bemused, and while the features offered inarguably represent the biggest version leap hitherto, the look is proving fairly divisive.

Although I wouldn’t say I loathed the old look as much as Jony Ive is reported to have, I did personally feel the old look was becoming dated. Aside from a minor shake-up of the Music app and a few other mundane alterations, iOS was becoming a rather tired rhetoric; a mere re-hash through the generations with a few rather uninspiring features jumped-up and decorated as ‘marquee.’

iOS 7 is none of that. Apple has really worked at changing just about everything, but like the Windows 8 OS to which iOS 7 is now drawing comparisons thanks to the bold colors and straight lines, it feels a little too much, too soon.

I am of the opinion that iOS 7 is an improvement on iOS 6 in terms of features, but the look is not selling itself to me at all. In-app, the clean-up job is plain for all to see, and while there are some stand-outs (the Weather app, for example, is quite delightful), it would appear as though Apple has gone from cruising, coasting, and relaxing on one look and taken things too far the other way, bringing an altogether offensive, rather vulgar brightness that users without Ray Bans cannot turn off in preservation of their eyesight.

Take a look at the screenshots below and have a peek for yourself:

Home Screen

Phone App, with incoming notification banner.

Phone Calling

Stocks App

Settings.app

Spotlight Search

Weather App

Game Center

Clock App

Folders

Apple Maps

Compass App

Notes App

Reminders App

Newsstand App

Calculator App

Calendar App

Sharing Sheet

Sharing Photos via Twitter

Lock Screen with Notifications

Mail App

App Store

Notification Center

Multitasking Switcher

Music App

Camera App

Siri

Messages App

Overall on the whole, iOS 7 may look better than its predecessor, but I think Apple has tried way too hard. It would be nice to see things toned down through the next handful of betas before the final release, bringing back some of the reserved charm which has helped iOS rise to such prominence.