{"id":747738,"date":"2013-04-22T19:16:41","date_gmt":"2013-04-22T23:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=633211"},"modified":"2013-04-22T19:16:41","modified_gmt":"2013-04-22T23:16:41","slug":"even-if-path-goes-astray-the-company-has-already-blazed-a-trail-in-mobile-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/747738","title":{"rendered":"Even if Path goes astray, the company has already blazed a trail in mobile design"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve expressed some skepticism<\/a> about Path’s potential reach as a social media network, at least in proportion to the amount of hype and funding that Dave Morin’s startup has gathered over the years.<\/p>

However, even if Path doesn’t make it as a long-lasting social network, it’s hard to ignore the influence the company has already had on mobile app design recently. Some of these concepts, like launching a full-featured messaging app, aren’t totally groundbreaking, but it’s remarkable how many features (like thematic search<\/a> or large emojis), we’ve seen come to Path first and then show up on more mainstream apps like Facebook with features like Graph Search<\/a> after the fact.<\/p>

Want to see which design features came to Path before the others? Take a look at just a few:<\/p>

Navigation<\/h2>

One of the most distinctive design features on Path<\/a> is the launcher button that brings up the navigation bar from the bottom left of the screen, with a series of options coming out of the primary button in a semicircle.<\/p>

Last month,\u00a0Tumblr announced a new version for its mobile edition<\/a> on Android, and the new navigation looks remarkably similar to the Path launcher:<\/p>

\"Path<\/a>\"tumblr<\/h2>

Stickers<\/span><\/h2>

One major feature in Path’s most recent release<\/a> revolved around the addition of stickers, or large chat emojis that let users communicate through pictures.<\/p>

While there’s nothing new about emojis (they’ve already become huge in Asia before they gained adoption<\/a> in the U.S.), the distinctive size of the Path stickers looked remarkably similar to the stickers Facebook just launched last week:<\/p>

\"Path<\/a>\"facebook<\/p>

Chat heads<\/h2>

Before Facebook called them Chat Heads<\/a>, Path already had bubble heads that popped up for individuals. Path launched a full-featured messaging component in the company’s last release<\/a>, allowing you to drop your current location, insert audio clips, and share photos. Facebook’s new messaging updates look similar too:<\/p>

\"Path<\/a>\"facebook<\/p>
\"\"

<\/a><\/p>

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