Apple’s WWDC in San Francisco

Jonathan Sagorin (Mobile Product Delivery at LOKE) is attending the Apple developer conference (WWDC) in San Francisco this week. Here are some highlights of what’s getting him excited about Apple’s upcoming software releases. He also included a longer summary of the first day’s keynote and platform talks.

Developer preview software is currently available, with a public beta to launch in July. Apple software release updates expected to users in September/October this year.

Highlights

·         Siri SDK for app integration — “Hey Siri, order me a coffee with YOUR APP HERE”

·         Map SDK. Better context usage of your app with Maps. Custom actions from maps.

·         Custom notifications. Expect your lock screen to get a whole lot busier. Custom layouts with data too.

·         Message SDK. Stickers, stickers, stickers. Custom app actions too. This is the start of the bot generation!

·         Swift Playgrounds for iPad. Teach your kids to code!

·         Text recognition via Scribble on your Apple watch.

·         Siri on your Mac.

·         Apple Pay on the web with some seamless authentication via iOS devices.

·         Visual memory debugging. Yes — visual.

watchOs 3 (beta)

·         Quicker app launch times.

·         A new feature called ‘Scribble’ — turn handwriting into text.

·         Easier integration with Apple Pay.

·         Breathe — A new app for meditation and health.

tvOS 10 (beta)

·         Siri support for: Searching by topic, searching YouTube, ‘Watch’ stations — live streaming content in one place.

·         Single Sign On. Multiple apps can be authenticated with a single login.

·         App synchronisation. Apps downloaded on iOS will automatically download their tvOS app too.

macOS (Sierra)

·         Auto-unlock feature. If you have an authenticated device (eg. iPhone), mac will automatically unlock the passcode screen.

·         Universal clipboard. Copy and paste across devices.

·         Picture in Picture. For watching video.

·         Siri on mac — “Siri, show the files I was working on last week”

Apple Pay

·         Now available on the web on Safari (mobile and desktop).

·         Purchases can be authenticated via TouchID on iPhone approves payment. (similar to Apple Pay). Unfortunately for us in AUS we’re limited to one bank, hopefully that will change in the future.

iOS 10 (beta)

·         Siri SDK: Custom development for apps — “Order a coffee from Cafe Tazza”

·         Lock screen to redesign and usage: Custom notifications (eg. widgets) that provide full functionality and custom UI for notifications.

·         Lock screen redesign and phone interaction when device is lifted up

·         Multilingual typing support. (multiple languages in the same message)

·         Phone: VOIP API — skype, WhatsApp. Full integration for calling, contacts, favourites. Use 3rd party vendors for making calls etc.

·         Messages: Message SDK for rich app integration such as actions, custom methods

·         Maps: Context-sensitive app usage. Provide app data via SDK for usage by maps. Custom actions too eg ordering from a nearby restaurant, making a reservation

Other

·         Support for iPhone4S dropped in iOS10, which for designers and developers is a huge win

·         Swift playgrounds app for iPad. An app for teaching kids to code using Swift. I am very excited about this. App will be free, with ongoing content releases available. Available today as a Developer Preview

·         SiriKit. SDK for app integration with Siri.