I do adore the cleanness of that look. Sadly iOS7 feels too inconsistent to be any good. But I made a little Hubski thing in the same style: Would love to hear what someone with a more solid design background thinks of this 'trend'. insomniasexx?
Sorry for the late reply... This has been a trend for a bit now. Designer news switched their logo and icons over a while ago - that's the first I saw it. I personally avoid using trends at all costs because they will quickly look outdated. Instead I try to see what I like about it or others like about it and use that information to improve upon my designs. Unless I want to be constantly updating a design or website for someone, using trends in your own design is usually a bad idea. I do using subtle long shadows work well with flat or minimalist design, as long as it is subtle. It simply gives a bit of dimension and can make certain elements pop. A site I did a couple months ago has long shadows on the icons and I think it looks alright. Better than just plain old icons. I've also found that greens and blues tend to work best - yellows and oranges look worst.
I enjoy replicating things I like for exactly that reason. I couldn't quite nail the subtlety of the shadow, so I just went all out shadow with this one. One of the smaller things I learned from this little exercise is that subtle gradients give objects that 'soft' feel that I quite like. This guy agrees. Maybe it's not as useful as I thought it was.Instead I try to see what I like about it or others like about it and use that information to improve upon my designs.
using trends in your own design is usually a bad idea.
Once again, nice work, veen! BTW, if you add hubski.com to your home screen, we have this icon: Maybe we should update it, and get ahead of the trend. :) sounds_sound is another resident that I know has design chops.