Internet related News · 2016-06-14

All that was announced on Day 1 of Apple WWDC

wwdc2016

A string of announcements were made at the latest edition of the Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) on Monday. Our reporter Mauli Buch brings you some of the important ones straight from the venue, San Francisco, USA.

1 of the major announcements was the introduction of macOS Sierra, the next-gen operating system &  successor to OS X. In his keynote address, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook also announced a slew of other incremental updates, new software features & major changes to the OS for Macintosh computers, iPhone & iPad, Apple TV & Apple Watch.

Artificial Intelligence-aided photo recognition, greatly enhanced home controls, a Messages app with mutant emojis & animated effects were also part of the new package. However, it was a bit disappointing for the developers’ community & Apple lovers as there was no new hardware announced.

MacOS Sierra

Goodbye, OS X, hello, macOS. The Mac operating system has a new name, macOS Sierra, but most of the same great features, with some extras to boot—everything from Siri & Apple Pay integration to iCloud Drive desktop access & picture-in-picture (an iPad feature we love & can’t wait to use on the Mac).

macOS Sierra officially rolls out in September, but developers can beta test the software starting now, & a public beta launches next month.

iOS 10

Apple also previewed iOS 10, the biggest release ever of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, featuring a huge update to Messages that delivers more expressive & animated ways to message, like stickers & full-screen effects. iOS 10 introduces the ability for Siri to do more by working with apps, beautifully redesigned Maps, Photos, Apple Music & News apps, & the Home app.

“iOS 10 is our biggest release ever, with delightful new ways to express yourself in Messages, a native app for Home automation, and beautifully redesigned apps for Music, Maps, & News that are more intuitive and more powerful, making everything you love about your iPhone & iPad even better,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior Vice President of Software Engineering.

Siri

To make Siri work for more people, Apple opened it up to 3rd-party developers & also made  it accessible on the Mac. In the long run, it would mean that Siri can be connected to the apps you actually use.

Moreover, using Siri on your PC will make a lot of easier: adding things to your calendar, doing quick research & calculations, setting reminders, playing music, even searching your computer. The voice assistant can do more on the Apple TV as well: Siri has improved topical searches for movies & TV shows, (“Horror movies from the ’80s”) & you can now run voice searches for YouTube videos.

Apple Watch

Likely to fix the speed issues, this new version will come with an instant app launcher, background refresh, an app-switching dock, new fitness features like activity-sharing with friends & a meditative app called Breathe. It will also facilitate easier messaging with a new handwriting-to-text tool called Scribble.

WatchOS 3 is now available for developers to beta test, with a public launch this fall. No public beta will be available.

Apple TV

Apple TV is getting a big update with TvOS 10. The biggest feature is single sign-in, so you can enter your cable subscription information 1 time for all apps. Other improvements include live tune-in, dark mode, HomeKit control, & YouTube search.

Redesigned Apple Music

Apple Music app has been redesigned with new navigation features, making it easier to find music you like. New music & files stored locally on your phone are identified more clearly, & there are lyrics on the ‘Now Playing’ screen. There are curated playlists as well as ‘Discovery Mixes’ that take cues from music you already have.

Apple Maps

The app has also been entirely re-designed & can now show suggestions based on search habits & factors like traffic. It can show points of interest on your route. Maps also has 3rd-party integration so you can book rides and check in on social networks without leaving the app.

Apple News

Another complete makeover, the new version will make it easier to find & read Content specific to your interests. There is also a new focus on typography, & you can get ‘breaking news’ alerts as notifications.

Over 5000 people attended this year’s WWDC from 74 countries, 72% of whom were there for the 1st time. Interestingly, 120 of them were under 18, the youngest being a 9-year-old Indian origin developer from Australia, Anvitha Vijay.

Cook summed up the significance of the development community to Apple. For example, there were now 2 million apps in the App Store, which have been downloaded 130 billion times, with US $50 billion ($67 billion) paid to developers, he remarked during his keynote.

To watch the event ‘live’ click here.

 
 
Image Credit: Apple

 

 

 

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