Concept Video Demonstrates Apple Watch-Style Interface on iPhone

Monday October 27, 2014 2:24 PM PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's upcoming wearable, the Apple Watch, takes advantage of a unique interface that arranges apps with circular icons in a cluster-based design for quick and easy access with the device's included Digital Crown, or scroll wheel.

YouTuber Lucas Menge has created a mockup of what the Apple Watch interface might look like when translated to a larger device, like the iPhone. As with the Apple Watch, Menge's concept lets users zoom in and out on the app landscape, viewing one small cluster of apps or all the apps installed on the device.


The interface incorporates app names, which deviates from the design on the Apple Watch, and simple swipes allow users to scroll through the apps installed on the phone. Tapping when zoomed out will zoom into the area that's been tapped, and when zoomed in, a tap on an icon launches an app.

Menge, whose design was inspired by a mockup post created by 9to5Mac's Michael Steeber, has published his prototype code for the design on GitHub. Apple Watch, with its unique Watch OS operating system, will be available beginning in early 2015.

81 comments


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pscl
59 months ago
this is not handy. way too confusing... one must remember every position of their apps.
Rating: 17 Votes
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cmChimera
59 months ago

anything is better than the current setup.

who's going to swipe to page 9 to launch an app that they barely use?

Folders are your friend.
Rating: 8 Votes
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slicecom
59 months ago
Change for the sake of change is stupid. This looks cool, but it doesn't do anything better than the current grid, infact it does most things worse.
Rating: 8 Votes
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mw360
59 months ago

this is not handy. way too confusing... one must remember every position of their apps.


I disagree. With this, you can potentially lay out your apps in a more irregular shape, which takes much better advantage of your evolved ability to memorise the layouts of natural landscapes. Grids are for computers, not human minds. I bet tests would show users able to find their apps far quicker in this layout.
Rating: 8 Votes
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farewelwilliams
59 months ago

Doesn't suit it so well without a digital crown.


hmm? the whole point of digital crown was to not obstruct the screen when zooming. the phone has plenty of screen estate, so it should be fine.
Rating: 7 Votes
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Rogifan
59 months ago
No, just no. The only reason people are liking it is because it's different.
Rating: 6 Votes
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JUiCEJamie
59 months ago
This NEEDS to go on Cydia.


PLEASE.
Rating: 6 Votes
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sshambles
59 months ago
Did anyone else notice when he kept on pronouncing icon, iken?
Rating: 6 Votes
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Glassed Silver
59 months ago
Still not sold on it.

I like pagination and folders a lot more, it's just closer to how I think and how I mentally sort and find my apps.

My games are on page 2, there you find folders like Arcade, Strategy, Action, Racing.
My most commonly used ones are on page 1, some in a folder in my dock, because at some point that felt natural for me, also nice to access them from any page I'm on in Springboard.

The mandatory folder of stuff I never open except when apps or links link to it/now as well extensions/Swift (or any potential keyboard), that's called "Silent Existence" and is on my last page of course.

Just some examples of pages and folders rule my world, the Apple Watch layout seems okay for the device it's made for and the limited space available and possibly not reaching the amount of apps that I have on my iPhone or iPad.

Glassed Silver:mac
Rating: 5 Votes
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Icaras
59 months ago

not sure if trolling

1. when you press the home button, you are returning to a central point.
2. can you remember every single app on the 6th page? unlikely.


I don't know. I user folders heavily and only have 3 pages of apps: Apple Apps on page 1, all third party, non-game apps on page 2, and all games on page 3. It's easy enough for me to remember, but I'd also like to see folders implemented in the Apple Watch layout to see how efficient that could be.

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who's going to swipe to page 9 in their folder to launch an app that they barely use?


That's a very unlikely setup for a user to have a folder with 9 pages. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus screens now add another row of icons so it's even less likely. As I said before, I use folders heavily myself on only 3 pages, and my iPhone 6 128GB has 419 apps on it, and I don't have a single folder with 9 pages on it. In fact, I only have one folder that goes up to 4 pages. Every other folder is 1-3 pages each folder, mostly 2 pages.
Rating: 4 Votes
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