Apple will announce iOS 18 on the first day of its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. The next iteration of its mobile operating system could see its most significant design changes in years — multiple recent rumors suggest that VisionOS (the software that runs on Apple’s Vision Pro headphones) will have a lot of design inspiration.
Today we got our first look at what’s in store for iOS 18, as purported design resources for the mobile operating system leaked. The iPhone frame template you can see below was sent to MacRumors by an anonymous source who claims to have obtained it from an iOS engineer. These are all anonymous, so take them with a grain of salt.
According to reports, this will be included as part of Apple’s iOS 18 design resources to help developers design apps intuitively using software such as Sketch and Photoshop. Of course, it’s completely unclear if this is true, but the design here does line up with the aforementioned rumors that iOS 18 will see a visual overhaul inspired by VisionOS.
Then again, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman doesn’t think that will happen. full iOS design is getting an overhaul this year, so VisionOS-inspired elements may not permeate the entire UI.
Visual operating system design
VisionOS has a lot of translucent buttons built into it, as well as glass-like buttons with reflective edges. Every time we see it, we can’t help but be reminded of Microsoft’s Windows Aero design, which first appeared in Windows Vista. Of course, that was a long time ago, so these aren’t quite the same, more like distant relatives? what do you think? Do you wish iOS was more like visionOS? Let us know in the comments.