Designers and developers are reimagining how apps might look on the home button-less iPhone 8 (AAPL)

iPhone 8 VHB [2]

Developer Steve Troughton Smith has been digging inside the leaked iOS code Apple inadvertently released with the HomePod software, and found proof that the "iPhone 8" will replace the device's signature home button with a virtual key.

Now, designers and developers are using Apple's schematics to recreate the iPhone 8 software's supposed appearance, as well as how apps might look when the virtual home button's area is added to the device's screen real estate at the bottom.

How some of your fav apps might look like on iPhone 8. #iPhone8 #ui. Based on leaked info by @stroughtonsmith @Spotify @instagram @twitter http://pic.twitter.com/9511Haj0Fh
— Maksim Petriv (@talkaboutdesign) August 10, 2017

Maksim Petriv, an Interactive UI and UX designer at New York firm Design Hunt, tried to reimagine popular apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Spotify, as well as Apple's own Music service.

In addition to that, he recreated the iOS lock screen, which hides the virtual home indicator entirely, as well as Siri, that makes use of the space with its redesigned iOS 11 look.

Updated iPhone 8 UI based on latest leaks from @stroughtonsmith Downloadable file coming soon. #iPhone8 @9to5mac @macstoriesnet @viticci http://pic.twitter.com/HGZp06O2pA
— Maksim Petriv (@talkaboutdesign) August 10, 2017

Another Twitter user, Rutherling, posted a video — retweeted by Troughton Smith — in which he shows a virtual mockup of the iPhone 8 version of iOS 11.

The home screen is familiar to the one all iOS devices use now, with apps stacked at the top and a dock at the bottom. However, the presence of a virtual home button underneath makes it look as if the dock is sitting on top of it.

When the user taps on an app, the mockup software opens it up as a card, which seemingly floats above the home screen (you can still see the wallpaper underneath, at the sides of the home button's area).

@stroughtonsmith embrace the cutout with the wallpaper. Could explain why the wallet app isn't translucent in iOS 11 http://pic.twitter.com/aFzX56L6iD
— rutherling (@Rutherling) August 11, 2017

This, however, doesn't match with what Troughton Smith was saying yesterday; he claimed that the APIs he scanned showed evidence that apps would open full screen, potentially making the home button disappear entirely (like in games, for instance).

If the home button does stay in place, the surrounding area should bleed with the navigation tabs immediately above it, but developers may have to tweak the app's code manually in order to achieve the seamless look. Rutherling's solution could show how an app might look by default before any change is made.

In addition to that, Troughton Smith posited yet another solution to the new iPhone's interface conundrum, which however seems unlikely.

"Apple does like symmetry. If it weren't for the iPhone glyph I might even suggest that the home button could look identical to the notch," he tweeted. "A notch on the top, and a notch on the bottom. But I'm against blacking out the home button area entirely, personally."