As the dust settles around the WWDC Keynote for 2014, we can review from the weekend’s post and see what Apple have actually announced.
Firstly OS X 10.10 ‘Yosemite’
- User Interface changes – it won’t be any were near as drastic as iOS was, but there will have been some serious thinking about what a desktop OS should look like and how we interact with it.
Sort of CHECK – Some have been quick to react and say they do not like it. Looking beyond them, we can see the design choices Apple have made but for me the biggest move they have made has been in the perception of depth. The Aqua user interface brought us drop shadows and shiny buttons to create a sense of depth to the 2D elements on the screen. With 10.10, the depth is achieved with transparency, something Microsoft tried with Windows Vista and 7, but failed and gave up after making it too harsh. Apple seem to have gotten it right and I look forward to trying it out on a nice big display. - AirDrop transfers to and from iOS (I hope).
CHECK! But even more features to bring your iOS device and OS X devices closer together called continuity. - Better built in apps – Mail, Calendars, Reminders, Contacts. If those four apps worked better together and looked like they were made by the same team, we’d be off to a winner.
CHECK! - iLife apps on a diet – The new versions of iPhoto, iMovies and GarageBand got very, very large in Mavericks, lets see them lighter and faster. The same goes for iTunes there too.
CHECK! I went out on a limb with this one, but the death of iPhoto seems near (early next year) with a straight up ‘Photos’ app coming to the Mac. Mark my words, I doubt this will be the last of the iLife suite to get a kicking. - Lots of under the hood stuff that no-one will see or comment on but will make the OS the best one ever. Again.
CHECK! But I didn’t expect it would be a whole new programming language!
As for iOS 8?
- Updated icons and some subtly visual tweaks
CHECK! - Some customisation options to notifications and control centre
CHECK! - New ringtones and sounds
CHECK! - Big Siri improvements including acting more like Google Now in the Notification Centre
CHECK! – Mostly. Siri now shows you what you’re saying as it’s recognised and works with a ‘Hey Siri‘ just like an ‘Ok, Google’. - Healthbook, taking data from the M7
CHECK! – Ish, It’s just called ‘Health’ and takes data from lots of apps and devices, as well as the M7. - Multiple users on the iPad
NOPE! – Dang! They must be saving this for the 8.1 update to come with the new iPads with Touch ID in October. - Having two apps on screen at once on the iPad
NOPE! – Word is, this wasn’t finished in time and was pulled. Or as I like to put it on Twitter: Unannounced Product Feature Remains Unannounced. - Maps with public transport info
NOPE! – From what I can tell. In my experience with the beta 1 so far, as Maps just keeps crashing.
So there were a few misses when it comes to iOS but there was plenty more to get excite about: iCloud Drive, Continuity, Shazam in Siri, big enhancements to the Photos app and, well, a whole new programming language and 4000 new APIs to help developers build the next generation of amazing iOS apps.
And Hardware?
There were no hardware announcements at this event, as it was purely about software. I wouldn’t be holy surprised if that became a theme with future WWDC events, where Apple keep hardware for individual launched to help build their profiles.
What Else Was Missing?
There was something else missing, other than hardware? Why, yes. Do you know what it was? This:
iTunes. Now it may be a little brash to claim that the now Red iTunes logo has anything to do with the Beats acquisition, but given that it’s a close gradient to the one in iOS, the Beats buy couldn’t have been far from mind. iTunes was not even mentioned during the presentation, the App Store was but not iTunes. Keep an eye out for some big changes coming to iTunes in the next few months in the build up to OS X 10.10 going public or as the Internet would put it, “Brace yourself, Rumours are coming!”.