The handset is touted as the most appreciable product in the iPhone series with face ID authentication, OLED display, larger screen size, Truth depth camera, super retina display, and pretty more which has caught the attention of Apple lovers and developer community.
Take a look at the things for which the developers need to be prepared to build the app for the Apple’s one-of-a-kind hardware.
You got more space to experiment
The major attraction of the iPhone X is the large screen size, that’s increased due to the removal of the home button and scalloped shape. As opposed to previous iPhone, now iPhone X is 145 points taller than a 4.7” display, thus providing 20% extra vertical space.It means the developers will get more real estate in the same package to work with.
It offers a great opportunity for the developers to make the most out of the increased space and use the provided margins and white spaces. However, it must be done precisely as Apple in its latest human interface guidelines stipulated that designs should fill the screen completely and round corners should not overshadow the content on the home screen.
Design layout
Adapting the new iPhone X layout will not be a daunting task for the iPhone apps that are using the system provided UI elements and auto layout that’s designed according to the Apple guidelines.
To offer the best user experience, it’s suggested to position the content symmetrically in order to avoid clipping from corners and device sensors in both landscape and portrait mode. The improved vertical height of the status bar enables dynamic positioning of the content and developers can rethink to hide the status bar in the app.
To fill the device screen, placing black bars at the top and bottom to disguise the users as a normal shape is not a good practice, instead, create the artwork for full screen. Also, make the design fit in the iPhone screen won’t work as in this event, either the content is letter boxed or cropped, which results in an aspect ratio mismatch.
Mind high-resolution display
The iPhone X has stunned the iPhone fans with another feature that’s a super retina display of dimensions 1125 x 2436 pixels and the startling scale factor of @3x, all wrapped in the 5.8-inch smartphone.
The high pixel density means a lot for the designers where they have to create resolution-free assets and provide @2x and @3x versions for rasterized artwork so that a fine balance between size and quality can be maintained without quality distortion.
The new design of the font
This time again, continuing the history of releasing a new font with every iPhone release, Apple has introduced a new font family- San Francisco as a default font. The SF font can be used by OS X based apps and the SF font for standard control’s text can be automatically applied by the OS depending on the point size. The designers don’t need to do anything in the context.
Additionally, Apple has made the suggestion for using the SF Pro Text for text 19 points or smaller and SF Pro Display for the text size 20 or more.
Get advantage of the color
Display P3 Color Space is one of the vibrant features that let iPhone X gain a new edge and the designers to take the advantage of wide gamut of color display for the best color management and create rich assets.
Moreover, to create the visual with impactful colors and make the display impressive, the six-channel light sensor is integrated that balances the white and black color based on the environment lighting conditions and temperature. It enables the users to easily differentiate the colors without muddying the water.
Screen edge gestures- avoid much interference
iPhone users have become used to the screen gestures like- a tap to make an action or a drag to move an element, and a change to the gestures that have become a standard is not easily accepted by the users.
iPhone X has provided a range of screen-edge gestures to access notification center, app switcher, home screen and control center as an option to the absence of a few buttons on the device. But, the implementation of the gestures is tricky as little interference may result in a bad user experience.
The developers can use the custom gestures only when they are necessary and boost the app experience, because it makes no sense to let the users do the homework before using the app. Also, the users must be educated right at the onboarding about the new gestures, if included.
Face ID authentication- an absolute change!
Who prefers to type a passcode when a touch ID is there for secure login. Similar is the event with iPhone X that has facilitated face ID authentication, replacing the fingerprint scanner, which developers can leverage and integrate with the apps for safer and faster sign-in process.
The face ID authentication analyzes over 30,000 dots on the iPhone to recognize the face of the users and then unlock the phone or provide access to the app.
Apple has advised using the feature sparingly only when it’s really needed like- in-app purchase, data synchronization with another device, personalize the app experience or make payment. Also, the touch ID won’t work anymore on the iPhone X.
3D touch interaction- the game-changing addition
The iPhones based on the touch technology is completely reinvented with 3D touch interaction. The 3D touch has added a new dimension to the way the actions are triggered when they are touched. Yes, now, the iPhone X has the capability to assess the type of pressure user has put on the icon and based on the type of pressure, the function will be performed. For instance, the app can either display set of menus or animation.
Mainly, the feature is incorporated to enable the apps to perform the tasks at speed, so the titles of the actions must be kept in an easy-to-understand form. However, 3D touch cannot be used for easy navigation or notification.
Augmented Reality on your way
Along with iPhone X launch, the iOS 11 release announcement was also made by Apple wherein the much-hyped ARKit will be baked into the OS.
Although AR technology is still in the nascent stage, but technology has a great potential which app designers can unlock and make the user’s lives smoother. What it all requires is how the developers and designers infuse their imagination and creativity to build the potential life cases embracing AR.
While engineering the AR experience, the visual and interaction pattern would vary from one app to another which will pop up the user interface, UI design, and interaction method issues as well.
App preview
With a ton of new additions, experimenting and developing the apps for iPhone X will certainly be challenging for the Apple developers. That’s the reason, app preview is facilitated.
It’s a vital asset for the iOS app developers and designers to improve the development efficacy as the app preview help the developers easily encounter the features, functionalities or designing issues in advance.