WWDC - Apple Event Recap

Software

iOS 14

• More customization for the iPhone, mainly the Home screen and Today View. Widgets from the Today View page can be resized and can be dragged anywhere on the home screen. A widget gallery has been added to show all available widgets and their various sizes.

• App Library arranges apps based of “Suggested apps”, “Recently added”, “Social media”, “Games” and others.

• Picture-in-picture mode has finally been included. The video’s audio can be heard even when it is shipped to the side and hidden.

• Revamped Siri and Call screen for both iOS and iPadOS (making them compact). Siri results appear like a pop up notification at the top of the screen. Siri can also send audio messages.

• A new Translate app would be introduced to translate up 8 different languages to your supported default language. The app works offline as well. Siri can also auto translate different languages.

Maps has Cycling added. Maps is extending to the UK, Ireland and Canada. Guide suggests places to users and gives a short description and rates (sort of like what Google has)

• Car key has been implemented to allow users to unlock and start their cars using their iPhone with the ability to share virtual car keys with other iPhones with the UI chip.

• App Clips allow you to find apps for various devices and services that you may need (less than 10MB in size for fast launching). It’s easy to discovered and launched without having to download it on your phone.

• Up to 9 contacts can be pinned in iMessage. In groups, you can now reply to specific texts and @mention people directly. New Memojis.

• If an app is using your mic or camera, it is indicated by an orange dot to let users know when they are being recorded (for all software)

• Safari has updated web tracking that lets users know what websites it blocked in the background. Data websites are taking from you and whether they are sharing it is shown to you (this applies to app stores as well).

iPadOS 14

• Sidebars added to Photos, Files, Notes and Music.

• Control buttons added to Calendar, Files and Mail adding more functionality.

• Redesigned Music app that fully utilizes the large screen of the iPad.

• Siri gives suggestions in its compact form with pop ups.

• Search on iPad is now like that on the Mac. Can be used as an App launcher, search directly in apps, web searches, etc.

• Written phone numbers can be called directly from notes. Addresses can also be searched directly from handwritten texts.

• Handwritten text can be copied and pasted into Pages as typed text.

• New Handwriting experience with Apple Pencil. Scribble converts hand-written words to type text in search bars. Converts drawings to the conventional shape (not sure exactly ho to put it). Handwritten text can be highlighted just like typed text. Scribbling over typed text can delete it, circling words can highlight it. Scribble can recognize different languages in the same line.

AirPods software

• Automatic switching between devices (probably only Apple devices).

• Spatial audio for AirPods Pro.

WatchOS 7

• Siri language translation.

• Complications (basically a way to add personal watch faces).

• Face sharing for sharing watch faces from third parties as well as share your own watch face.

• Like iOS, cycling is added to Maps.

• “Dance” is a new workout that has been added. Accurately tracks calories for core training. “Cooldown” has also been added.

• New summary page for the Activity app on iPhone (the app is now being renamed Fitness).

• Sleep tracking has been added. The Health app has been updated to accommodate “Sleep”. Non-Watch users can still utilize it by setting a bedtime which would activate Wind Down on their iPhone and may give a less accurate sleep description.

• Detects how long you wash your hands so that you wash your hands for at least 20 secs.

Home & TvOS 14

• Home Kit is now open source.

• Automations have been added.

• Adaptive lighting adjust colour temperature for smart lights.

• Cameras: Activity areas and face recognition.

• Integrated to tvOS 14.

• Multiplayers supported on Apple TV (User profiles can be changed from the notification center). Compatibility for Xbox Elite 2 and Xbox Adaptive Controllers.

• PIP extends to Apple TV.

• Airplay now supports the full resolution of media that is being shared.

• Apple TV+ has new original movies and series.

- macOS

• Mac Catalyst helps developers make Multi platform apps. Mac Catalyst utilized the specs of the Mac you’re using when making apps

• iMessages is now made to behave more like that on iOS and iPadOS.

• Redesigned app icons.

• Some stock apps have been redesigned (Finder, Mail, Photos)

• Newly designed Maps on Macs. It is now more like those on iOS devices. Maps on Mac also allows you to see the progress of friends who have shared their ETA.

• Control center to the Mac. Easy to make adjustments and customize the menu bar.

• Redesigned symbols and buttons.

• New sounds.

• Updated menus.

• The notification center has been tweaked. Like iOS, notifications are now grouped and widgets with different sizes can be added.

• Safari has built in translation which translates web pages dynamically (as you scroll down).

• Web extensions come to Safari with settings to allow extensions for a day, only for that tab or for all tabs.

• Safari has been tweaked in looks and functions. Frequently visited websites load 50% faster than Chrome with better power efficiency. New look for tabs. Privacy reports lets users know how the website they are on is treating their privacy and the full privacy reports for that website. Passwords saved are checked to ensure that they haven’t been involved in a data breach.

• Safari now has a customizable Start Page (changing background photos, adding and removing sections).

• Working with a lot of tabs has been made easier by adding images for the various tabs and having a pop up preview of the tab when the mouse is hovering over it. All tabs can be closed in a single click.

Hardware

- Apple Silicone

• Transitioning of the Mac processors to Apple’s custom silicone chips (using the same chips shipped with the iPad Pro; the Z Bionic chip).

- What does this mean for the Mac?

• A boost in performance and power efficiency. This is possible because Apple would now have full control over both the hardware and software of Macs.

• Custom technologies integrated into the chip (eg. Neural Engine, Advanced power management and high performance GPU, etc).

• Unique SoCs (Systems on Chip) for Macs.

• Unique features coming to the Mac.

• Common architecture to make it easy for developers to create apps that can work on all devices in the ecosystem.

- How does this affect macOS?

• Final cut pro and logic pro come as native apps now.

• iPhone and iPad apps can run natively on Macs.

• Universal 2 allows developers to create apps for Macs with both Apple Silicon and Intel processors.

• Videos can be edited in Final Cut Pro during live playback with no lags.

• Rosetta 2 enables apps that haven’t yet been updated to run smoothly on macOS Big Sur.

• Virtualization allows developers running other environments to launch apps in macOS from within their VM.

- How long would this transition take?

• 2 years to fully transition to Apple Silicone.