Apple kicked off WWDC 2014 developer conference with its traditional keynote. It is the 25th time that the event has been held. Here is how the WWDC 2014 keynote went down:
The event kicked off with a tribute to developers, the apps they create and the people that use them. It certainly set the tone for today’s event. And then it was time for Tim Cook to take the stage.- 9 million registered developers, up 47% from last year alone.
- Presentation focus will be iOS and OS X as well as the “mother of all releases” for developers
- OS X
- 80 million users with Mac shipments growing 12% last year while overall PC market dropped 5%.
- 40 million copies of Mac OS X Maverick, accounting for 51% of all OS X installations.
- Craig Federighi took to the stage to introduce the next version of OS X. Apple ruled out a few names like OS X Weed before settling on OS X Yosemite.
- OS X introduces a new interface, new and updated apps and a new concept called Continuity.
Design:
- Definitely influenced by iOS
- Consistent typography, updated icons, new dark UI mode, use of translucent materials
- Improved Notification Center with new Today view which can be extended with 3rd-party apps and widgets.
- Spotlight got a new interface and the ability to search both locally and on the Internet
- New and updated apps:
- iCloud Drive:
- Convenient way to work on content across devices extended to offer compatibility with Windows.
- Email:
- Mail Drop: For larger attachments, a link will replace the actual file to avoid issues where email bounces due to file size.
- Safari:
- Stripped down and cleaner look with a single omni-bar
- Easier private mode with private window tabs
- Improved multi-tab performance and Javascript compiler (6.5 times faster than Chrome)
- iCloud Drive:
- Continuity
- Apple believes in using the right device at the right time. But what about transitions between devices? They should be seamless.
- AirDrop now works between iOS and OS X.
- Hand-off: New feature that lets you pick up from work in progress on another device thanks to devices being aware of each other at all times (proximity awareness).
- For example, you can start an email on your iPhone and finish it on the Mac or launch a hot spot on your iPhone from your Mac without ever touching the iPhone.
- You can also take and make phone calls on your Mac. This includes dialing calls.
- OS X Yosemite will be available for download this fall for free.
- It is available to developers starting today. A public beta will also be available to non-developers with regular releases through the summer.
- iOS 8
- iOS device sales are setting sales records:
- iPod touch: 100 million
- iPad: 200 million
- iPhone: 500 million
- 130 million new iOS customers new to Apple in the last year alone, including many from Android.
- iOS 7 now running on 89% of all iOS devices (in stark contrast to Android – only 9% currently on Android 4.4 KitKat)
- iOS 8: Great new user features and new developer features to allow for even more impressive apps
iOS 8 user features:
- Refined notification center with interactive notifications (like Android offers). For example, you can pull down the notification to interact with it without leaving your app.
- Doubletap feature also lets you bring up the people you most often communicate with.
- Improved Safari tabbing
- Improved gestures in mail app
- Improved Spotlight with the same suggestions capability as on OS X.
- Improved keyboard with QuickType which offers predictive suggestions. It will learn how you type and adapt to your audience (eg, more formal with your boss). Privacy is maintained as none of the key types ever leave your device.
- Improved email app
- Continuity: Same functionality as is offered on OS X
- Enterprise
- 98% of Fortune 500 companies use iOS
- Continued focus on security and productivity with new features like per-message S/MIME and VIP threads.
- New focus on health
- HealthKit provides a single place to allow apps to store your health data. Comes with Health app that compiles and presents this information. Other apps and institutions can leverage this data (access is controlled).
- Family Sharing
- New feature to share content such as photos, calendars and media such as music and movies purchased through iTunes. Works for up to six family members. It includes purchase confirmations for children.
- Photos
- Integration with iCloud to make all photos (including edits) available on all devices
- New editing controls (light, auto-straightening and more)
- New Photos version, redesigned from ground up, also coming to Mac but only next year
- New pricing for iCloud: First 5GB for free, 20GB for US$0.99 per month, 200GB for US$2.99 per month and other tiers up to 1TB.
- Updates to Siri include integration with Shazam for song identification, purchasing iTunes content and more.
- iOS device sales are setting sales records:
- Focus on developers
- App Store:
- App store now carries 1.2 million apps
- 300 million visits to the App Store per week
- 75 billion apps downloaded to date
- App Store functionality enhanced with Explore, Top Trends and other tabs
- Developers can now bundle apps offering multiple apps at a discount.
- App previews with features
- New beta services called Test Flight allowing developers to invite beta testers to try out.
- New store will launch in the fall
New SDK
- 4000 new developer APIs
- New Extensibility: The ability for apps to offer services to other apps. Example: bring up a photo editor from within another app
- Widgets (only inside notification center from the demo)
- Ability to install third party software keyboards
- TouchID
- Touch ID used by 83% on iPhone 5S.
- Functionality now extended to third party apps
- Home Kit
- Lots of home automation apps and gadgets now available, each with their own apps and security
- Apple looking to consolidate that with a common network protocol to improve security while simplifying how it all works
- Cloud Kit
- Takes over cloud logic and brings it to the client to simplify overall process
- Will be free (with limits)
Graphics
- OpenGL has become a thick overhead layer
- Metal promises to be much faster (up to 10 times faster draw-call rates) by offering less overhead, precompiled shaders, efficient multithreading and is designed for the A7 processor.
- Impressive demo of its capabilities with a Zen garden
- SpriteKit and SceneKit
- For casual games
- Xcode
- Current version has been downloaded 14 million times
- New programming language called Swift (Objective-C without the baggage of C)
- Completely native to Cocoa and Cocoa Touch
- Playground previews code in real time
- Swift documentation available as of today
- Lots of other new APIs
- App Store:
- iOS 8 available in beta today. Final version to launch in the fall.
And with Tim Cook back on stage to conclude the event and recognize all that worked on OS X and iOS 8, the only thing missing from today’s presentation was that rumoured iPhone 6 announcement.
What did you think of today’s WWDC 2014 keynote? Thumbs up or down? Let us know below.
Thumbs down. Many users were waiting for updates in hardware, only to find themselves being shepherded into buying overstock of current models or continuing to wait it out.
When/where/what when it comes to a revised Mac mini? I thought this was coming out in February . . . did those rumors mean 2015’s February?
When is the next hardware revision announcement *really* likely?
Or are “one more things” a thing of the past?
At this point, it does appear that Apple has saved most hardware announcements for the fall so that iOS 8 and OS X are ready for the new devices. Whether a Mac mini is in the cards or not remains to be seen. It’s never been a device that Apple has given lots of love to.
Thumbs up, I would love to have seen some hardware, but this is enough for another sucky summer while I wait to get the new OS. I see how apple is tying things togather without trying the OS like Microsoft. It should work well.
Apple’s Continuity is definitely impressive – Especially as it extends to features like phone calls.