I can think of a lot of things that could use a refresh: the browser, the camera API, the inability to use BT other than audio with Android support, an easy way to change the hostfile, echo cancellation, VoLTE for ported devices, …
In my eyes, the appearance is not one of the important construction sites. SFOS is beautiful and extremely good and easy to use! Like others here, I would even rather like a return to older designs (SFOS 1 for example).
What would definitely drive me away from SFOS would be things like even more buttons (see the stuff like Angelfish or similar, whose presence I appreciate but they are extremely poorly usable compared to native apps) or skeumorphism.
If I want a Linux that is visually close to Android, I could go with UT (admittedly without good access to the system) or the Librem 5 after all. Why should SFOS be made worse by becoming more similar? One argument for Linux is always: freedom of choice. But if all solutions converge to the same visual point, the freedom of choice is no longer given.
I understood that the question is not about turning away from gesture navigation, and I find that reassuring But I think it’s not so easy to separate, as the discussion about pulley menus shows (which I don’t want to stifle by the way, it’s of course also legitimate).