Video reveals changes coming to iOS 19 and one nice new feature for the iPhone 17 Pro camera system
Late last month we showed you a mock-up of what was claimed by FPT's Jon Prosser to be the Messages app redesigned for iOS 19. Among the changes, softer, rounded corners for the word suggestion boxes are found on top of the virtual QWERTY keyboard, and round "bubbles" encircle the back arrow on the top left and the FaceTime/Share Screen menu icon on the top right of the screen. Additionally, there are menus that ape the look of visionOS, and the iOS 19 mock-up includes translucent camera controls.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman questioned the authenticity of the leaks, especially in light of his previous statement that iOS 19 would be "The most significant update" to iOS in years. But now Prosser has returned with more images of the next major iOS build. He says that app icons are not exactly round like in visionOS, but are shaped somewhere between the current design and the circle used in watchOS and visionOS.
It looks as though Apple will add more depth and shadows to menus and moving the iPhone screen will make some elements shimmer. As Prosser notes, this helps the elements look as though they are made of glass. The App Store bar will float as a new UI surfaces when you tap the Search tab. The search field on the Messages app will move to the bottom of the screen.
A video released by Prosser shows what he calls "the most complete build of iOS 19 yet." He adds that it is the closest thing to a final build that you'll see before Apple previews the new mobile operating system at WWDC 2025 coming this June. Before you click on the video, be warned. The first few minutes continue the ongoing battle between Prosser and Gurman. Actually, it always appears to be Prosser against Gurman as the latter has never left any indication that he knows Jon is alive. But that's another story for another day.
What is important is that Prosser did update his new mock-ups to include the rounder (but not totally round) app icons that he says Apple was hiding behind the old-style app icons in previous test versions of iOS 19. Apple did this to prevent the new look from leaking out in the case that someone leaves a device with a test version of iOS 19 at a bar in San Jose. But I'm just babbling; something like that could never happen. Or could it?
Away from the revamped operating system, Prosser's video notes that there is one big change coming to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max camera. It is a feature that Samsung first released in 2013 on the Galaxy S4. It allows users to record video from their back and front cameras simultaneously. This is what passes as progress sometimes by Apple.
Did Prosser and his sources nail it this time? We might know by the time the Keynote is over.
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