With iOS 13 shaping up to be the largest change to iOS since iOS 7, I’ve decided to give you my own wishlist of small (and large) scale changes that would make the iOS experience all the better.



Naturally, since things like Dark Mode are all but guaranteed, I’ve decided not to add them to the list! Additionally, while I’ve used some of the great concepts from the likes of Asaad Sabouni,Pranav Chaparala, and ,Stijn van Oosterwijk their concepts for iOS 13 are even more fleshed out and detailed than what is below – I’d suggest checking them out!

Concept by Asaad Sabouni﻿

1. A New Volume HUD

Anyone who’s used an iPhone since 2007 knows the volume HUD that appears on top of your content when you need to change the volume is ugly.



Even if you’re a firm believer in the fact that it isn’t, it’s still long overstayed it’s welcome – minimal design is currently trending and there’s a reason volume HUD jailbreak tweaks are incredibly popular.



Like a ton of other iDevice users, I’m hopeful that iOS 13 changes the incredibly intrusive HUD into a minimal, sleek, volime slider.

Concept by Pranav Chaparala﻿

2. Better InBound Call & Siri Handling

Arguably even worse than the volume HUD, yes worse, is the fact that every time you receive an inbound call or want to access Siri, suddenly, the entirety of your screen is unusable.



While you can close Siri, or deny the call, it just seems strange that Apple is actively blocking out aspects of the user experience in order to get you to take a single action that you can take at any point in time. It would be understandable if an urgent system update took over your screen and urged you to update – but not a phone call, and certainly not Siri.

Concept by Asaad Sabouni﻿

3. A Powerful Control Center

Control Center, since it’s introduction , has been incredibly useful. Useful, however, doesn’t always translate to powerful – and that’s what I hope to see in the next iteration of Control Center.



New features like Siri Shortcuts have been incredibly popular and have helped iOS users improve their workflow – additionally, it seems Apple is getting ready to get rid of 3D touch entirely. A more powerful Control Center would help to carry over that improvd user experience from Siri Shortcuts and, ideally, help to replace some of the featues lost with 3D touch’s departure.





4. A Home Screen with Purpose

I frequently use the ‘Widget Page’ (located when you swipe left from your first page of icons) on my iPhone to check the battery life of connected devices and check my daily activity. I’d also love the freedom to build a home screen that makes my experience as easy as possible.



Giving the home screen, or all screens in general, a bit more freedom would certainly benefit iOS users. Imagine having the ability to build a screen for your workout applications specifically (apps, activity widget, etc.) and your business (apps, stock widget, maybe your business email) – that certainly sounds like a great experience for every user.



Concept by Asaad Sabouni﻿

5. Improved UX [In Multitasking]

There are a number of user experience related tweaks that Apple could and should make in iOS 13 – chief among them, the ability to close all of your applications with one swipe or press in multitasking.



A few other user experience related tweaks that could be made are customized gestures (what if I want to swipe from the top left to make my Control Center appear) as well as the ability to quickly add keywords, emojis, etc. – to your own choice of placement on the keyboard.

Concept by Stijn van Oosterwijk﻿

6. A Customizable Lock Screen

“Wow, an endless list of notifications, a flashlight, and my camera – how useful”



While not a huge change, Apple giving the user control over what the two hotkeys located on the lock screen do would be incredibly useful to the user experience. I personally never use the camera application from the lock screen – and I assume the same holds true for others – what if you could decide what that button did?



Concept by Asaad Sabouni

7. All New Icons

When iOS 7 rolled around, people immediately noticed a change – even before any of the new features were showcased. Why? Gone were the skewmorphic icons that had existed since the launch of iOS and in their place were newer – clearly different – icons.



If Apple really wants to push the fact that iOS 13 is truly a big change (even if it isn’t) rolling out a new set of icons entirely would be incredibly smart. Add to that the fact that if Apple updates it’s design style, most apps will likely follow suit – which means the design community gets to have a field day with potential redesigns.



Concept by Stijn van Oosterwijk﻿

8. Give.Me.My.Battery.Pecentage!

Quite possibly the strangest and laziest change made to iOS over the past few years was Apple’s choice to remove the battery percentage from the status bar. While this was an option that could be toggled on and off, many users left it on as it was the easiest way to quickly and accurately see just how much battery they had left and when they needed to charge.



While space has been reduced in the status bar due to the notch, adding the battery percentage back (inside of the battery icon…) is hardly a difficult feat. It’s also much more conveniant than having to swipe down to Control Center (or left to the widget page) to check your battery’s health.

Concept by Asaad Sabouni﻿

9. All New, All Different, Apple Mail

I love Spark – it’s hands down the best mail application. Spark is amazing because it makes the user experience within the app incredibly simple, gestures and beautiful user interface make me excited to check my mail.



Apple Mail, on the other hand, is another story entirely. It’s clunky and feels like a remnant of iOS 6. I’d personally, gladly, switch back to using Apple Mail if they were to make updates bringing them both more in-line with Spark and just more up-to-date.

Concept by Stijn van Oosterwijk﻿

10. Reminders, But New

Reminders is another app that is in dire need of an update. While it’s great to be able to make a list of things you’d like to be reminded of – the app seems incredibly dull and it lacks features that would help it to stand out.



The Notes application also received an overhaul a few years ago which added a ton of great features, including checklists, that negates some of Reminders very few features.

Concept by Asaad Sabouni﻿

11. Alarms That Work

Alarmy, like Spark, is a great replacement for Apple’s stock application. Alarmy makes it incredibly easy to set alarms and allows you to set barriers to turning those alarms off if you’re feeling particularly stubborn.



Apple’s Clock app is, like reminders, a very basic non-essential application that barely lives up to it’s name. Like Mail and Reminders before it, the Clock app is in dire need of an update that would likely deter people from seeking out alternatives.

Conclusion

In the end, it’s unlikely that iOS 13 will include most of the features and updates listed above but hey, there’s always iOS 14?..