On June 16, Apple held the kickoff big event for software updates, WWDC. The nice part about this event is it doesn’t hit your wallet…right away. This one focuses on the operating systems: watchOS, tvOS, OSX macOS, and iOS. Here are some things you may want to know about.
TL:DR
- watchOS makes the Apple Watch better and is available in the fall
- tvOS makes the new Apple TV better and is available in the fall…and new remote app
- macOS is the new name for OSX…and will make your Mac better and is available in the fall
- iOS 10 makes the iPhone better (as long as you have a new one with 3D touch) and will be available in the fall
watchOS
Well, I didn’t get to see the start of the watchOS portion, so I will let the good people at Ars Technica explain it to you…I will wait for you to come back. Back? Here is what I am thinking- it makes me actually want an Apple Watch when 2.0 arrives. Not a necessity, but something that would be nice to have. Also, the mention of the Breathe app makes me think of this song (breathe in…breathe out)
tvOS
Since Apple released its new Apple TV, there are now over 6000 native apps for Apple TV. New apps coming soon include Sling, Fox Sports Go, NBA 2K, Sketch Party and more. They will be updating the Remote App for iPhone and iPad to work more like the Siri remote, which is great for those people who have the new Apple TV. Other changes include a Dark Mode and expanding Siri to search non-Apple apps. I do hope the single sign-on stuff comes to most of their platforms. All and all, not that exciting for me as I have the old Apple TV, but it makes the new Apple TV a no brainer.
OSX macOS
Apple has officially retired the OSX name (and it’s about time…it’s been great, but I cannot keep track of what OS I am running and what the name is….thanks to the About tab, I can see I am running El Capitan 10.11.15). With macOS now leading the way, Apple is sticking with special names and the new OS is Sierra. Sierra will focus on three things- Continuity, iCloud and the Mac Experience. There will be an auto-unlock feature coming to Sierra that will include the ability to unlock your laptop while you have your Apple Watch or iPhone. Also coming are a universal clipboard, an improved iCloud which will, in the words of Gizmodo “With a feature called optimized storage, MacOS Sierra will automatically make room for new files by moving old ones to the cloud. The computer will get rid of files you’ll never use again, like Safari web caches, old mail, Mac App Store inactive downloads, old iPhone backups, and other documents automatically.” Othe things coming to Sierra include Siri (which is AWESOME), Picture in Picture for video and Apple Pay will also be coming to the web. Seems like a great upgrade.
iOS 10
Lots of new things here. Lots. Here is the list of 10 things they focused on and some quick thoughts. For more, check out this Gizmodo article.
- Experience
- Redesigned lock screen
- Raise to Wake
- Siri will be open to Developers. This is huge. Will be a game changer.
- Siri intelligence coming to keyboard
- Photos
- advanced photo recognition
- Memories seems like Google Photos. A lot like it. Love Google Photos, but I may switch over to Photos.
- Maps
- open to developers
- Music
- new screens and appearance
- lyrics built in
- News updates
- missed that…kids woke up
- Home App
- lots of cool things here…need to start updating the house
- Phone
- Voicemail transcriptions
- automatically adding “phone spam” things
- VOiP integrated over lock screen
- integrate cell phone with work phone…(bye bye Google Voice)
- Messages
- rich links in messages
- improvements to the camera app
- Emoji 3x bigger
- emoji predictions
- tap to replace with emojis
- bubble effects
- tap back
- handwriting
- digital touch
- Full-screen effects
iLife? iWork?
I am guessing there will be update coming at some point, but there was no mention of the former iLife suite (GarageBand and iMovie) and iWork (Pages, Numbers and Keynote). I do wish they would keep these updated and continue to have them grow.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot there. Check out great articles across the internet on this event. And the best part- all free upgrades…unless you need an Apple Watch to run the new watchOS…or a new iPhone to use the 3D touch stuff…so good luck!
