The release of iOS7 surprised many for its sea change in design.

Most notably, the three-dimensional effect of icons that we’ve grown to know and love across Apple products have been flattened into 2D primary color icons.

In other words, the gloss is gone.

But instead of having app developers redesign their icons for iOS7, “iOS 7 seems to have a hammer built-in that is flattening existing apps.”

What this means is that the software cannot translate the old style of apps and logos, and instead translates them to the new look—which is pretty cool.

It’s a subtle form of software evolution that is able to take 3rd-party apps that haven’t made the design change and bring them up to speed.

flat is the new black