 I'm Ellis with The Verge here at the Soho Gallery for Digital Art at the Art of Apps event. What we're going to see here is some apps like Path, Tweetbot, Paper. The designers and makers of the apps are going to be showing how these things function as art in the 21st century on touchscreen devices. So let's go check it out. What exactly are we doing here and what threads do you see between the seven apps that you picked to display here? We really tried to gather some of the most interesting user interface designs going on on iPhone and on iPad. I think the common thread is that everybody's still figuring it out. It's a really young platform. If you go back to the beginning of the iPhone, it's five years, but the iPad is certainly only about two years old or so. So people are really trying to figure out what makes sense for all the really different kinds of creative uses that they're putting these multi-touch devices to. Why do you think a lot of these apps are using this kind of bottom navigation bar? Is that functionally the best way to organize things, you think? I don't know if that's necessarily the best argument. I think people are always trying to push the boundary, but it's a visual metaphor that everybody's familiar with. That's the design template that Apple came out with, and I think that people became accustomed to it. I mean, it's hard to remember what phones were like before the iPhone. They were not very capable of showing really, really beautiful user interface design. Now all of a sudden you've got this beautiful screen that in many cases has got more resolution than we had on our desktops five years ago, and you're carrying it around with you all the time. On top of that, Apple did this terrific thing, this terrific favor for designers in fixing the resolution so you don't have to design an umpteen number of screen sizes and so forth. That's huge. What I like with all of these apps is an obsessive focus on the user experience. In all of these cases, the engineering fades into the background, and that's when you know from an engineering standpoint that you've done a fantastic job. The key for us was taking this very complex concept and making it so it just was stupid simple. And so I think when people use it, they'll say this is a really simple, this is a very elegant app. But behind the scenes, there's so much going on. I do think things are going to move in that direction where apps are going to become a lot smarter with a lot less buttons, a lot more intuitive, a lot more easy to consume. I think more photos, less words. I think we're still going to have this variety of interfaces out there, but I think things are definitely moving more towards new types of interaction models, gesture based, and how can we make things more natural? It's really constantly an effort of trying to do the least that can have the biggest impact. What are you seeing that kind of inspires you in an art gallery for apps? I think the first thing that inspires us just from the crew here is that everything is very creation based. It's part of that whole shift that I think we're sort of on the cusp of moving from this consumption experience more into how do we actually create the world that we're in. This is the future and doing anything for the web, doing anything even just for the computer anymore doesn't feel like the kind of focus we want to have. These apps are more integrated in our lives than desktop apps ever were. It's a great opportunity to do really focused design but also to have a great impact on people's lives and to sort of meld with their usage patterns and just the way they think about the world. I think mobile is all about taking everyday experiences and making them look incredible. Do you think there's time in our lives for all these apps or do you think over time, let's say in 10 years, things are going to be distilled down to the point where, or is it really just like, you know what, everybody likes different books, everybody likes different video games? I think there's not enough time for all of the books that will be published this year or all the movies that will be released this year. But having that variety and especially with digital media, with the web, creating these apps where people who have passions that otherwise would be unmet can go and meet other people and engage in it and get sort of encouraged to indulge those passions, I think that's incredibly valuable. You know, when you look at like the 19th century, it was all about literature and novels and that's how you told stories. And then the 20th century was all about filmmaking and I think the next thing, the next way that we'll tell stories is really through interaction. Apps at this point are like, I guess, hit songs and hit music, so you're just really getting influenced by them week after week. Except this is paying your rent. I'll also be really excited to start seeing more and more artwork that was generated with apps in galleries. That would be very cool. A whole generation of people are focusing their energy on apps and they're doing amazing work and I think it really deserves this kind of showcase. It really deserves people looking at it more closely and having a dialogue about it.
 I'm Ellis with The Verge here at the Soho Gallery for Digital Art at the Art of Apps
 event.
 What we're going to see here is some apps like Path, Tweetbot, Paper.
 The designers and makers of the apps are going to be showing how these things function as
 art in the 21st century on touchscreen devices.
 So let's go check it out.
 What exactly are we doing here and what threads do you see between the seven apps that you
 picked to display here?
 We really tried to gather some of the most interesting user interface designs going on
 on iPhone and on iPad.
 I think the common thread is that everybody's still figuring it out.
 It's a really young platform.
 If you go back to the beginning of the iPhone, it's five years, but the iPad is certainly
 only about two years old or so.
 So people are really trying to figure out what makes sense for all the really different
 kinds of creative uses that they're putting these multi-touch devices to.
 Why do you think a lot of these apps are using this kind of bottom navigation bar?
 Is that functionally the best way to organize things, you think?
 I don't know if that's necessarily the best argument.
 I think people are always trying to push the boundary, but it's a visual metaphor that
 everybody's familiar with.
 That's the design template that Apple came out with, and I think that people became accustomed
 to it.
 I mean, it's hard to remember what phones were like before the iPhone.
 They were not very capable of showing really, really beautiful user interface design.
 Now all of a sudden you've got this beautiful screen that in many cases has got more resolution
 than we had on our desktops five years ago, and you're carrying it around with you all
 the time.
 On top of that, Apple did this terrific thing, this terrific favor for designers in fixing
 the resolution so you don't have to design an umpteen number of screen sizes and so forth.
 That's huge.
 What I like with all of these apps is an obsessive focus on the user experience.
 In all of these cases, the engineering fades into the background, and that's when you know
 from an engineering standpoint that you've done a fantastic job.
 The key for us was taking this very complex concept and making it so it just was stupid
 simple.
 And so I think when people use it, they'll say this is a really simple, this is a very
 elegant app.
 But behind the scenes, there's so much going on.
 I do think things are going to move in that direction where apps are going to become a
 lot smarter with a lot less buttons, a lot more intuitive, a lot more easy to consume.
 I think more photos, less words.
 I think we're still going to have this variety of interfaces out there, but I think things
 are definitely moving more towards new types of interaction models, gesture based, and
 how can we make things more natural?
 It's really constantly an effort of trying to do the least that can have the biggest
 impact.
 What are you seeing that kind of inspires you in an art gallery for apps?
 I think the first thing that inspires us just from the crew here is that everything is very
 creation based.
 It's part of that whole shift that I think we're sort of on the cusp of moving from this
 consumption experience more into how do we actually create the world that we're in.
 This is the future and doing anything for the web, doing anything even just for the
 computer anymore doesn't feel like the kind of focus we want to have.
 These apps are more integrated in our lives than desktop apps ever were.
 It's a great opportunity to do really focused design but also to have a great impact on
 people's lives and to sort of meld with their usage patterns and just the way they think
 about the world.
 I think mobile is all about taking everyday experiences and making them look incredible.
 Do you think there's time in our lives for all these apps or do you think over time,
 let's say in 10 years, things are going to be distilled down to the point where, or is
 it really just like, you know what, everybody likes different books, everybody likes different
 video games?
 I think there's not enough time for all of the books that will be published this year
 or all the movies that will be released this year.
 But having that variety and especially with digital media, with the web, creating these
 apps where people who have passions that otherwise would be unmet can go and meet other people
 and engage in it and get sort of encouraged to indulge those passions, I think that's
 incredibly valuable.
 You know, when you look at like the 19th century, it was all about literature and novels and
 that's how you told stories.
 And then the 20th century was all about filmmaking and I think the next thing, the next way that
 we'll tell stories is really through interaction.
 Apps at this point are like, I guess, hit songs and hit music, so you're just really
 getting influenced by them week after week.
 Except this is paying your rent.
 I'll also be really excited to start seeing more and more artwork that was generated with
 apps in galleries.
 That would be very cool.
 A whole generation of people are focusing their energy on apps and they're doing amazing
 work and I think it really deserves this kind of showcase.
 It really deserves people looking at it more closely and having a dialogue about it.