Ever wondered why Apple’s stock Weather app in iOS 7 and above looks so much like the Yahoo Weather app? It’s not just a coincidence. According to a new book about Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Apple designer Jony Ive copied the app because he was “tormented” by its beauty.
The Yahoo Weather app for iOS is one of the projects Mayer first oversaw after taking the reigns at Yahoo back in 2012. It has received all sorts of acclaim since then, and even scooped up an Apple Design Award at the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2013.
Apple liked the app so much, in fact, that Jony Ive, the company’s Senior Vice President of Design, couldn’t help but copy it while overhauling Apple’s stock applications for its big iOS 7 redesign.
Ive revealed his jealousy to Mayer at an industry event, according to Nicholas Carlson’s new book, Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo. The excerpt reads:
On May 1, 2013, Marissa Mayer ran into Jony Ive, the famous Apple designer, at an industry event.
Ive sidled up to Mayer and, in a confiding tone, told her, “I’m tormented by the Weather app, Marissa.”
Yahoo had just released an app called Yahoo Weather. It drew from Yahoo’s photo-sharing site, Flickr, to show users photos of their approximate location in weather conditions similar to the day ahead. So a snowy day in New York would feature a picture of Central Park covered in white.
“I’m so jealous,” said Ive, in his British accent. “I don’t get jealous.”
Mayer replied, “Jony, if the Weather app made you jealous, we’ve got something up our sleeve on Flickr that’s going to make you want to die.”
“Oh, go to hell.”
Just a month later, Apple previewed its own iOS 7 Weather app at WWDC, and low and behold it looked just like Yahoo’s. But of course, Yahoo’s is made even more beautiful by its Flickr integration, which Apple’s app does not have.
