Thinking of the next big app? According to Apple Inc., it better be optimized for the iOS 7 mobile operating system.

The Cupertino-based company released new guidelines for all Apple developers for its app store. The new guidelines go into practice Feb. 7. 

"Starting February 1, new apps and app updates submitted to the App Store must be built with the latest version of Xcode 5 and must be optimized for iOS 7," wrote Apple on its News and Announcements for Apple Developers webpage.

App developers can follow Apple's iOS Human Interface Guidelines for what to expect when developing for the iOS 7 platform, which launched worldwide for Apple mobile devices on Sept. 18.

The iOS Human Interface Guidelines features instructions for the Apple mobile operating system from animating, branding, color and typography, layout, navigating, and integrating, to name a few.

The announcement comes as Apple released iOS 7.1 Beta 2 to developers. As Latino Post reported, the beta update features changes to the Touch ID, Passcode, and Safari Internet browser, to name a few.

According to data provided by Chitika Insights, 74.1 percent of iPhone devices featured the iOS 7 platform based on data collected between Oct. 25 and Nov. 18.

"It's no wonder Apple is in a hurry to point developers to optimize their apps for iOS 7, as it's vastly different from previous versions of the company's mobile OS," reported Mashable's Stan Schroeder. "Apple claims iOS 7 embodies deference (meaning the UI helps users understand the content, but doesn't compete with it), clarity and depth, with legible text at every size, precise icons as well as visual layers and transparencies."

"With the upcoming iOS 7 optimization requirement, Apple is aggressively pushing for a unified ecosystem that works smoothly with its latest devices," noted Apple Insider. "Aesthetically, developers will most likely deprecate vestiges of the previous skeuomorphic iOS 6 from which iOS 7 is such a vast departure."

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