tech2 News StaffMay 31, 2019 18:50:03 IST
Apple’s annual developer conference — Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) — kicks off on 3 June, at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. There are plenty of reasons to be excited — especially since the Cupertino giant’s focus on hardware has been slowly diminishing, making software and its services more vital.
Apple WWDC 2019 invite
While WWDC still remains a developer focussed event, the opening keynote has always been more about Apple’s annual public software refreshes, one that touches upon all of Apple’s latest developments. Now, the spotlight will continue to be iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 but there a few other major announcements expected which, at least as far as leaks go, appear interesting, and here’s all we know about them.
iOS 13
The next iOS update is clearly going to be the most important topic at the conference. From a Bloomberg report, iOS 13 is codenamed ‘Yukon’ and it’s going to revamp the majority of its default apps including its keyboard, Health, Reminders, Apple Books, iMessage, Mail, etc. iOS’ default keyboard could get a swipe typing function where users can simply swipe across the keyboard’s letters to type. This is like the feature that already existed on Android and other third-party apps on iOS.
Another feature that is probably going to be huge is Dark Mode. The screenshots of this upcoming feature had already leaked out that showed full black backgrounds and grey interfaces. It will be accessible from the Control Center for quick switching between the standard and dark mode.
Apple will likely use true black backgrounds for better battery life on OLED iPhones. Image: 9To5Mac
An interesting feature that’s available on third-party apps like Duet Display will allow users to use an iPad as a secondary Mac screen. This second screen will also bring Apple Pencil support to the Mac (indirectly). Apple’s Health app is again getting a revamp and just like last year, it’s going to be the company’s focus as well, of course working in conjunction with the Apple Watch.
Apple is reportedly already working on iOS 14, codenamed as ‘Azul’. And it’s planned for a 2020 release with support for 5G and some new AR functionality.
macOS 10.15
In the upcoming version of macOS, Apple should start rolling out a feature for developers that will allow them to develop iPad apps, or rather, rework existing ones to run natively on the Mac. Codenamed ‘Marzipan’, it will not only simplify app development in the Apple ecosystem, but also open up an entirely new market for iOS developers.
For now, this feature is only for iPad apps, but Apple is planning to allow iPhone apps to be ported as well. Ultimately, the company plans to merge iPad, iPhone and Mac apps to run on any Apple device and maybe even merge the App Stores into a one-stop-shop for all devices.
macOS Mojave with the Dark Mode on. Image: Apple
A native Apple Music app is being developed along with more iPad apps coming to the Mac such as Podcasts and the merged Find My iPhone and Find my Friends app from iOS 13.
watchOS 6
As already mentioned in the report, it appears that health is going to be a highlight at the event. The App Store will be directly accessible from the Apple Watch, it seems, and users won’t have to rely on A connected iPhone to download apps anymore.
A few iPhone, iPad and Mac apps are coming to the Watch, according to the report. These include Voice Memos, Apple Books and Calculator. Some features such as Dose, which remind users to take their pills, and Cycles, which help in tracking menstrual cycles, are also coming, it seems. And finally, of course, new watchfaces should be making their way in to the Watch.
Other rumoured announcements include new things about Apple TV’s tvOS 13, a new Mac Pro desktop, and 31.6-inch 6K “pro” display.
We will be running a WWDC 2019 live blog on Monday night (3 June) to bring you all the updates as they are announced at the event, so do check back in for more updates at that time.
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