Check it out. The image comes from iDownloadBlog with the claim that it’s an authentic leak of an early build of iOS 7. As we all know by now, the UI of iOS 7 is getting a redesign to look more “flat” under Jony Ive. Gloss and shadows will be thrown out in favor of a more streamlined approach to design. Is this photo an accurate representation of what’s to come?
9to5Mac seems to think it’s a legitimate leak, but emphasizes that it was a very early build and does not reflect what the public release of iOS 7 will look like. As you can see, the icons do look more flat and the shadows behind them have been removed. Gloss for the most part is gone too.
Personally, I think it looks fake for a few reasons. For one, there’s a gigantic gap between the top status bar and where the wallpaper and icons appear on the screen. The icons are also angled a tad differently, which means they could have been photoshopped on from a separate image. They seem a bit too playful — reminiscent of Samsung’s style, but not so much of Apple’s. Lastly, Apple is supposedly tossing out the wooden theme of Newsstand in iOS 7, yet the wood remains on the icon in this photo.
It does remain possible that this is just an early build, though. Lots of mediocre design iterations usually come before the good ones. Not to worry, we’ll see the real iOS 7 on June 10th at WWDC 2013.