You might have been aware of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference taking place this past week. And although I couldn’t be there physically, I of course followed the whole thing on the WWW. A lot of the comments on the internet about this conference have been “mehh”, and I kind of felt like I was the only one excited about the announcements. I know Apple hasn’t brought out new hardware or super cool new innovative features, but the things they have shown this past week shouldn’t go unnoticed.
I have a Macbook and iPhones, and I know for sure I don’t use them to their full potential. For example, I have never used Siri. I believe with the new updates Apple has announced at the WWDC, I will definitely be more open to use Siri, or even look into Homekit. I am a loyal Spotify user, so not sure about Apple Music…but who knows!
Let me list the things Apple has announced that sounded really cool to me!
- Apple Pay – for the entire internet! Buy things with your TouchID! I think it’s safe to say I will be broke soon.
- Siri – coming to your desktop. I’m not a big Siri user, but with all the developing around going on around her (for home, phone and now desktop), I might have found my new PA. I’ll have to give in. You can hail an Uber, start and stop apps like Runkeeper, and use her to start up your home.
- Swift Playgrounds – an iPad app where kids can learn to code. I wish I had this when I was younger. Although, Lego was the sh*t back in my day.
- iMessage – FUN! Emojis show up big and beautiful, pictures, videos, handwritten messages, special effects, iMessage apps. I’m all over it. Move over, WhatsApp.
- Predictive AI – this is something I find especially interesting. Predictive AI can automatically detect the right place in a text to put emojis. By itself. So, if you were to type in the word “laptop”, the laptop emoji wil appear.
- iOS 10 – Duh. There will be more functionality to the 3D touch, such as previewing messages on your lock screen. I love the idea of the lock screen functioning as the new homescreen. Hopefully I’ll unlock my phone a lot less. Also, a more advanced keyboard is on its way. Maps has improved. And you can now fi-nal-ly delete those awful standard iPhone apps. My life without the stock exchange app isn’t going to be the same…
Further updates include:
- Voicemail transcriptions and spam detection.
- Homekit gets a big upgrade where Siri can start up your house.
- A redesign of Apple music.
- A lot is being openend to developers (iMessage, Maps).
- MacOS Sierra – the new operating system, with many features including auto unlock, copy and paste functionality across all of your devices, better iCloud storage.
- WatchOS 3, some cool updates that make the watch more functional.
- Privacy features (encryption everywhere)