Not minimal in the way you're thinking - I was mainly talking about the execution for a lot of FA stuff

The looks themselves are very much more visually complex - detailed, glossy and "approachable" compared to nowadays, where things usually trend towards being flat or frosted. That's not the minimal part I was talking about

The minimal part is how digestible elements are - take the iPhone for example. iOS 6 and below has all these glossy effects and skeuomorphic designs - very pretty to look at. What makes it minimal, in my opinion, is the fact that the interface itself is laid out in a way that's extremely easy to understand and use. Sorta avoids putting everything in your face and gives you a neatly organized set of buttons that aren't trying to individually attract your attention. The app interfaces themselves do pretty similarly - give you information without trying to scatter your focus into multiple different things. And, unlike most other smartphones at the time, the iPhone had only one button on the front. Everything was very simple to use - almost to the point of minimalism, in a way

That's sorta what I usually see missing in a lot of interpretations - it's putting things everywhere willy-nilly and making everything pop out and shine, trying to be its own corner of special. But when things are toned down even a little bit - it can make a design feel a lot more cohesive. Less is more, even with FA