Frank Chimero On iOS 7

Luckily, things like icons, colors, and typography are easier to iterate than userflows, information architecture, and features. They’re also the elements that take more time than expected to craft, so I can see all of these refinements being the most likely to be cut from a tight deadline, and the first up to be revisited by the design team before the official release, or quickly thereafter. If that awful Safari icon bugs you, imagine how the designers at Apple must feel.

I do think that some aspects of iOS 7 beta 1 interface are, indeed, poorly put together. Others simply look odd right now. And I agree with Frank: when you have to introduce a working demo on stage (multiple ones, in fact) and release a developer beta on the same day, refinements are likely cut. The problem is that the Internet will notice inconsistencies; the upside is that Apple designers use the Internet, too.