Apple kickstarted the first week of June with a fantastic “software” event and revealed their groundbreaking updates to their operating systems in the WWDC event. With updates to all the major platforms and sneak peaks to exciting technologies, Apple is a step closer to the incredible future we all anticipate for.
iOS 12
With all our handheld and portable devices, we want to get things done quickly and have a seamless experience. iOS 12 shows Apple’s consideration towards the importance of performance. The new OS, that is expected this fall (beta is already available) supports devices as old as iPhone 5s and iPad mini 2 and delivers a much faster performance to the devices. With up to 2x faster app launches and responsiveness, iOS 12 is already an attractive software to be installed.
Apple announced updates to some of the existing apps including, News, Photos and Facetime. They also introduced a collection of new features and apps to truly transform simplicity in the use of technology with iOS 12. While the Photos, News, App Store, Stocks and Books apps get exhilarating updates, Apple rolls out a pack of extra features to really strengthen the use of the wonderful built-in apps. For example, Facetime now has ‘Group Facetime‘ which lets you talk with up to 32 people at once and keeps you on track by enlarging the tile of whoever is speaking. Additionally, ‘Grouped Notifications’ are now official and are a perfect way to organize your notifications. You can easily control what notifications you receive, directly in the notification centre. Oh and this means you can finally start using that notifications menu that you never used.
Siri also gets a major update and Apple are clearly hinting at big news for Siri in the future. The new Shortcuts app lets you create routines(as termed by Alexa) which works similar to IFTTT(an app that lets you create scenarios by connecting devices). It’s essentially a way to carry out loads of procedures collectively by saying one statement. For example, by saying “Hey Siri, heading home!” it can(depending on what you customised) set up your smart home, give you directions and send a message to someone all at once. Now that’s cool.
The announcement of a new Screen Time app and Voice Memos shows how far software has come and with these new apps, you are perfectly under control of your activity. The Screen Time app has a ‘better than ever’ detailed analysis of how you spend your time on apps. Best of all, you can limit the usage of your apps natively in there. The most popular voice recorder on iPhone also comes to iPad, finally, which means you don’t need any of the annoying third-party apps to record voice. Apple generally doesn’t always improve accessibility in apps however they have really pushed the limits and have suggested that they are working on approaching with its ‘ecosystem’ to as many people as possible.
Obviously, Apple loves their emojis. They announced Animoji last year with almost perfect features, however, by not only updating it with even better facial detection and new animals but also by adding tongue detection, Apple demonstrates why iPhone is the 21st-century phone. It doesn’t stop there though, Apple introduced a new version called Memoji which as the as the name suggests is an emoji of yourself! It is highly customisable and creates a very funny and accurate(better than ARemoji) cartoon face of you. You can spend hours playing around with it and really enjoy the meaning of having a phone in the 21st-century.
MacOS Mojave
Next up is, of course, Apple’s new MacOS. Every year, Apple introduces us to a new MacOS with one major update. This year, they really take it on and make the new MacOS a completely powerful operating system with many new features.
Similar to iOS, MacOS Mojave(pronounced mo-ha-vé) has both feature and app updates. Let’s begin with the features. Boy has Apple ever made life easier! Starting from the origin, the design of the new MacOS is a perfect build for complete focus. The new Dynamic Desktop and Dark Mode turns your Mac into a powerful machine capable of doing anything. As the name hints, dark mode is a mode that allows you to make all your apps and UI widgets dark themed further making it easier to focus. Combining this with the Dynamic Desktop, which changes the stunning desert wallpaper based on the time of day, you are perfectly set to focus on what matters to you.
It doesn’t stop there. Managing your files and carrying out actions is ever so easy with Mojave. The new Stacks, Finder, Quick actions and screenshots make it even easier and faster to do all the common things we used to do. To simplify exactly how each of the features is better, here’s a breakdown. The new Finder makes it simple to manage your files with complete information along the side and some quick actions, that lets you edit them or share them instantly. Screenshots, in a similar way, has an organised window that pops up and gives you a list of options to carry out instantly! Lastly, cleaning your desktop is a hectic problem when it’s loaded with files. The new Stacks feature gathers all the files and organises them into the file type seamlessly with just one click. Isn’t that cool!
Similar to iOS 12, Mojave also updates FaceTime with the Group Facetime feature. On top, Apple finally rolls out a redesigned and improvised App Store with some interesting features for the future of Mac apps. Firstly, the new design that looks similar to iOS’ App Store, makes exploring new apps so easy whilst making them more attractive. With so much detail and perfectly summarised information, the new App Store would encourage more app downloads and visits due to the new design. Looking into the future, Apple mentioned that they will be updating a few of their app kits, for developers to easily update their iOS app and make it compatible with MacOS. This would eventually mean that the Mac will have more apps(thank goodness) and also that more apps would be available on both iOS and MacOS.
Obviously, the true power of a Mac is increased when the Mac has more apps enabling you to achieve greater things. “Four apps people love on iOS are ready to shine with new Mac versions” as Apple puts it, shows that Apple is getting closer to a connected world and is tempting people more into the Apple ecosystem. The four new apps – News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home allow you to explore even more whilst simplifying your experience with integration across your devices; you can enjoy the same content across all your devices. Packing all of this into Mojave truly enriches the experience with a better user interface on a larger screen.
Apple and for that matter, every other company needs to and does consider your privacy especially with the new GDPR in place(as of June 2018). With Mojave, Apple strengthens your trust in their privacy with significant updates. Now it comes down to the easy pieces of hardware that are being protected from use by applications or web pages. For example, if an app is trying to get your fingerprint, the new Enhanced Tracking Prevention compresses the characteristics of the fingerprint and makes it impossible to hack it. It’s these minor details that make the privacy more stable.
These are the main features however there is so much more packed in Mojave. Apple is heading in a perfectly futuristic approach and the new MacOS is the only one of its kind; nothing is close to its power. I am excited about the announcement this fall and I look forward to exploring more with Mojave.
WatchOS 5
Ever wondered how much you can actually do with watches these days? I do because they’re just getting better and more intelligent year upon year. At the event, Apple announced some exhilarating features to the Apple Watch making it ever so appealing to purchase. The best feature, in my opinion, is the new Walkie Talkie feature. When your iPhone is connected to the watch, all your contacts are synced and you will have the option to call them in the Walkie Talkie app. You just tap the contact and you’re done. That’s how easy it is!
Alongside, Apple announced some updates to the Activity feature by adding competition with friends to promote exercise and competitiveness. Additionally, with new workouts and advanced running, the watch can automatically track your activity and give a better insight into the statistics. Now, you have a new buddy to help you out with your workout; meet Apple Podcasts(finally) that helps you learn and workout simultaneously. You can be racing with the world with the new WatchOS 5. Just imagine.
Lastly, minor features to Siri and Notifications have changed the way you interact. With Siri, you can now raise your wrist and it will be triggered so you can ignore the ‘Hey Siri’ phrase. Additionally, with notifications, you get an advanced user interface that loads web pages(yes, you can now view websites) and apps directly and smartly on the watch itself.
tvOS 12
Whilst there isn’t much to say or much that happened with regards to tvOS, Apple still showed improvements and hints to better updates in the future. The main feature that stood out in the event was Dolby Atmos. This 3D sound technology provides a fantastic atmosphere for movies and tv shows and now that Apple TV supports Dolby Atmos, it is the only Dolby Vision and Atmos certified device. Other features including Apple TV integration and updates to Aerials make the TV a more comfortable and relaxing experience, however, Apple didn’t show off much, so that was quite disappointing.
Every year Apple make huge announcements and this year was no exception. Some may say it was the best software year, although, for me particularly, I am very excited to try out iOS 12 and MacOS Mojave. Thanks again Apple for the incredible announcements.
Leave a Reply