A concept video of what a unified Control Center and multitasking interface would look like in iOS 8 has been created by designer Bill Labus and posted by TheTechBlock (via Cult of Mac).


The version of iOS 8 in the video shows the app switcher and user settings in one unified view accessed by a single swipe up gesture. Users are free to multitask or toggle preferences such as music volume and WiFi, as the buttons for the toggles themselves have been combined into one space to allow for more room. The video also shows a refined Notification Center that features a minimalistic look with more centered text, which is triggered by a swipe gesture down.

ios8_control_center2
Labus also noted his reasons for making such changes to integrate the multitasking switcher into Control Center:

Unfortunately, I find double-clicking the home button to be irritating- there's a noticeable delay between the second click and the multitasking view appearing, and in my haste I often accidentally triple-click the home button, forcing me to wait while the OS bounces into, and back out of, multitasking. Control Center's bottom edge gesture is far faster and easier to perform, however as I said I do use Control Center frequently as well, so I wouldn't necessarily want to swap the two and use the home button double click to bring up Control Center.

Apple introduced Control Center and a refined version of multitasking with the release of iOS 7 last fall. While an overhaul or unification of both is unlikely to happen with any immediate update to iOS 7, it is possible that Apple could make major changes in time for iOS 8, which will likely be released this fall.

Related Forums: iOS 7, iOS 8

Top Rated Comments

OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
148 months ago
These random concepts are so stupid. Waste your time looking at something some random guy came up with that has absolutely zero connection to what Apple is planning internally.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SpamJunkie Avatar
148 months ago
It's gorgeous. I think this is only going to make me more disappointed with the real iOS 8 :(
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
musika Avatar
148 months ago
Some of the UI elements look nice, but I'd like to keep Control Center and multitasking separate. The two have little to do with each other in my mind, and Control Center is clumsy enough already.

I really do appreciate some of the care that went into the UI concept, though. And they even made the home screen icons look decent.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
springsup Avatar
148 months ago
I like it; it's nice. I'm particularly happy that it means less of the blur effects (those are going to look really dated in a year or so).

I'm less happy with the multitasking panel. You end up seeing the earliest notifications first, which means you can't just peek at it.

While they're at it, they could reverse the direction in which the multitasking panels appear. The apps I opened longest ago should be towards the far-left end of the list (in locales with a left-to-right writing system). I always double-take when I open that screen; it feels like I'm reading book where the pages turn the wrong way.

The same is true of the lock-screen. This is an artefact of the pre-iOS 7 days, when there was a slider to drag along a track. Now that you directly move the lockscreen itself, it feels weird to drag the screen from left to right in order to go "forwards".
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nikaru Avatar
148 months ago
These random concepts are so stupid. Waste your time looking at something some random guy came up with that has absolutely zero connection to what Apple is planning internally.

Well, they are not stupid. Its how software designers look for a job. Apple is constantly checking the internet for ideas coming from the Apple community. Its not like Apple designers are cut off from every type of communication with the outside world. If Apple likes some of the concept images, they will contact the creator and offer him a job. Its a way for the designer to show his portfolio to the world.

I like concept images made by the community, even if they dont show in any way what Apple is planning. However, they are good example of what we can achive with the current technology and how the things can get improved.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macUser2007 Avatar
148 months ago
We'll probably see a launcher like this in the Android Play Store in a couple of months.... ;)

If iOS had the option of user-installed launchers like Android, we probably would have, too. :rolleyes:

I generally love Apple's esthetics, but the functionality and even the UI of iOS are a bit stale in a few areas. And the keyboards suck, too. :p
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...