A darkening of iOS7 Message threads

There’s also a subtle but noticeable color change in the blue bubbles, drawing attention away from them towards the new information coming onto the stage.

writes Khoi Vinh in his post about swiping from the right in iOS7 messages threads to get the time stamp.

While I love that time stamps are now available on demand – a bugbear in previous versions – the changes in the blue actually appear to indicate some form of context to help with focus.

The most recent message is always dark blue, but as you scroll back through the thread the incoming messages darken as they approach the centre of the screen.