[NewsPoster]

Apple has published its iOS Human Interface Guidelines for iOS 7 as an e-book available for free on the iBookstore. Previously, the guidelines was only available to developers through Apple's developer portal. The e-book itself is a good representation of Apple's emphasis on design and the overall experience, featuring inline videos, built-in annotations, font and color controls that were optimized for the iPad.

The e-book can be viewed in full, two-page layouts on both the iPad and Macs running iBooks. By making it available publicly, Apple is inviting interested users to gain a fuller understanding of the thought process that goes into designing the interface of apps, perhaps sparking an interest in learning more about the development process.

The e-book has arrived with just less than a month to go prior to the Worldwide Developer's Conference, being held in San Francisco in early June. This year, the conference is expected to highlight the next round of incremental OS updates for both platforms, with sneak previews of both iOS 8 (which is expected to further refine iOS 7's revamp) and OS X 10.10 (which is presumed to offer new features and further integrate with iOS 7 and 8).

[Inkling]

It's not only a marvelous idea, it's one that Apple should use with the manuals for all of its products. Make them freely and easily available, with revisions when needed.

[tehwoz]

Maybe the people who designed the hideous Mavericks version of iCal should read it ...

[elroth]

Thank you Apple for doing this. We were having a hard time figuring it out.

--Samsung CEO.