[tlb]

The change to non-skeuomorphic style at least made it faster. Liquid Glass makes it simultaneously harder to read and slower.

[frankhsu]

You are absolutely right. This is the core spirit of "Forms Following Functions"

What lies beneath the surface of subjective aesthetics should be the functionality of information acquisition efficiency.

[r00fus]

Non-skeuomorphic style simply allowed for easier adaptation to varying screen sizes that iOS devices were beginning to adopt at the time.

[cosmotic]

In what way was it faster?