iOS 6 iPad home screen

Going through the beta of iOS 6, I’ve started to notice more and more changes to the user interface. For example, the status bar now changes color depending on what app is open, the phone dialer now has a sleek white theme, and the Settings icon is updated to match the System Preferences icon in OS X. I love these design changes for the same reason that jailbreakers like to apply themes to their devices – they takes things I’ve seen a million times and makes them new and exciting again.

Some of the biggest UI changes in iOS 6 include the look of the App Store and the Music app. Both are totally revamped and look brand new, which is excellent. However, possibly the most recognizable element of iOS – the home screen – hasn’t seen any major updates since Apple allowed us to use custom wallpapers. I find this really disappointing. With the home screen being the portal to all the amazing things that our iOS devices can do, I would have loved to see Apple clean it up a bit.

Boring!

I’m not asking for anything major here. I wasn’t naive enough to think Apple would ditch the gridded icon layout, nor did I expect widgets to start living on the home screen, but a simple UI change would have been really cool. Judging by the changes to the Music player and the App Store, a slightly different texture or even a tweaked color scheme can really go a long way. If Apple had added the ability to blur the home screen wallpaper, changed the shiny skin on the icons or even thrown in a redesigned dock, it would have taken iOS 6 to the next level. As it stands now, I’m getting pretty tired of staring at the same home screen day in and day out. I mean, most of the stock iOS icons have barely changed at all since the first iPhone!

Am I the only one that thinks even a minor tweak to the way the home screen looks would have done a lot in the way of refreshing the look and feel of iOS? Or are you happy the iconic (pun intended) home screen has stayed relatively untouched since ’07?  Let me know in the comments section below or hit me up on twitter!