WWDC 2018: Uneventful but thoughtful

WWDC always leaves me with mixed feelings and this year was no different.

Given the scope of WWDC, it is inevitable that some wishes be fulfilled and others neglected. This year was no different and I'm left with mixed feelings.

I shall begin by addressing the elephant in the room. Despite early rumors that they would be no new hardware, I was secretly hoping that Apple would announce new Macs, especially since Intel recently launched new 8th generation Core processors that were well suited Apple’s needs. After all, last year’s WWDC 2017 saw Apple not only introduce the iMac Pro but also the HomePod and new iPad Pro tablets. Could this mean that the new Macs that are inevitably coming will have more than just a processor upgrade? One can always hope.

Memoji looks fun!

Memoji looks fun!

Though iOS 12 saw a couple of new features, it was resolutely focused on improving performance. For example, apps will launch up to 40% faster on an older iOS device like the iPhone 6s, which is a significant improvement. Nevertheless, I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that there’s no real wow factor as most of the other updates are incremental ones. Group FaceTime is nifty if you have a use for it; more intelligent searching and organizing in Photos is definitely welcomed; and I guess the new Memoji function will keep iPhone X owners entertained.

The biggest update in iOS 12, in my opinion, is Screen Time and enhancements to Siri. Screen Time provides analysis on your iPhone usage and lets you set restrictions and reminders if you think you have been using it too much. For parents, Screen Time also provides an analysis of your children’s usage patterns and allows you to set parental control restrictions to manage your children’s device usage. Sounds like a potential lifesaver for parents. Siri also gets Siri Shortcuts, which allows users to create their own Siri commands in a way that is similar to IFTTT. It has the potential to make Siri infinitely more useful.

On the Apple Watch front, watchOS 5 gets some nice quality of life updates such as auto-detection of workouts; no longer having to say ‘Hey Siri’ to activate Siri, raising your watch will suffice; and the ability to preview web content. The Workout app also gets new modes in the form of yoga and hiking, and the ability for runners to track cadence. Oh, and there's the pretty fun-looking Walkie-Talkie mode.

watchOS has always received smaller incremental updates over the year as compared to iOS and macOS, so these announcements are not all that surprising. Still, I think most users would like to see more. Spotify users, particularly, were hoping that the Spotify app would come to watchOS, thereby allowing owners of the Apple Watch Series 3 Cellular to stream Spotify over the watch. But it is clear that Apple wants to keep this exclusive for Apple Music right now, which I can’t blame them. Oh, and I know a lot of people are disappointed that we still aren't getting custom third-party watch faces.

Behold the new systemwide dark mode.

Behold the new systemwide dark mode.

macOS has felt neglected at times, especially with High Sierra last year, so it is nice to see that the new macOS Mojave will have a couple of pretty important updates. The new systemwide dark mode is something that many users, myself included, have been clamoring for and we are finally getting it. I find a darkened interface easier on the eyes and I can’t wait to try it. The redesigned Mac App Store is significant too as it brings it in line with the new App Store that was introduced in iOS 11 last year. Apple also announced that Microsoft and Adobe will be launching their apps on the Mac App Store later this year and hopefully this will breathe new life into the Mac App Store and encourage more users and developers to use it.

macOS Mojave will be more secure, which is always a good thing.

macOS Mojave will be more secure, which is always a good thing.

Safari is getting some nice security and privacy updates too. Intelligent Tracking Prevention will enable Safari to block social media buttons to prevent sites from tracking users without their permissions. On top of that, Safari will also only present simplified system information to sites to stop sites from tracking users based on their system configurations. Finally, Safari will also be able to generate and save secure passwords like a password manager and favicons in tabs is finally making a return.

Overall, a rather uneventful WWDC, then. But on the bright side, many of the new features announced were thoughtful, and will likely be appreciated by most users. Personally, I’m looking forward to Screen Time on iOS, not having to say ‘Hey Siri’ every time I raise my Apple Watch, and a more secure Safari web browsing experience. That said, here’s to hoping that Apple has more up its sleeves to show off later this year.

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