On the contrary, I prefer if an app brings a unique and purpose-built UI. For example, 'Clear' the to-do list app is quite amazing. 'Paper' by 53 is another incredible interface. 'Figure' by PropellerHead is another awesome example.
Why do games get a pass, but everything else is expected to re-use the same library of controls and fonts?
I don't want all apps to look the same, they just have to be intuitive.
The examples that I listed seem to me to be developed more like a game engine... They are graphical environments, not drag & drop layouts.
I love Clear and Paper and there are more examples (Tiny Piano, Apple's utilities). But I think the difference is this: It is great if an app "becomes the device" and does its task better than UIKit could do it. But if an app does 'boring' stuff like drilling down into forms to send them, or giving the user a table of settings, then what's the reason to leave UIKit? There is absolutely no UX advantage here, to the contrary, it even has the typical "designer's back buttons" again that don't show where they lead to.
Why do games get a pass, but everything else is expected to re-use the same library of controls and fonts?
I don't want all apps to look the same, they just have to be intuitive.
The examples that I listed seem to me to be developed more like a game engine... They are graphical environments, not drag & drop layouts.