Over the past few weeks we’ve seen a variety of concepts regarding what the upcoming iPhone 8 will look like, both in terms of iOS updates and hardware changes. The latest concept comes from John Calkins who has considered the direction Apple might take for iOS 12.
Calkins’ concept might also be applied to the iPhone 8, which is set to be released next month, as it focuses strongly on an OLED display, bezel-less design and virtual Home button. Instead of the Home button, it imagines a new “HomeBar” that will house notifications, shortcuts and widgets:
With the new HomeBar, you can launch notifications, swipe through widgets and shortcuts, and go back home. 100 percent customizable. 100 percent easy.
The new virtual Home button is new but familiar – and will even change colors based on your wallpaper. You can also choose to hide it and resize as you wish.
According to the concept, this HomeBar will be contextually-aware and be able to change throughout the operating system, for example in Siri and in certain apps.
Notifications have seen a makeover too. They are now grouped by app and accessible from the bottom of the display.
The concept imagines an always-on display to show the time, date and notifications at all times.
Thanks to the nearly bezel-less design that is expected of the new device, the concept identifies how apps and interfaces might be designed to take advantage of the added screen.
Due to the OLED screen, most of the concept has been created with a dark interface and although Apple have remained reluctant to establish a “dark mode” in iOS, perhaps the launch of the iPhone 8 will change this.
The full set of renders can be viewed here.