Co-written with Janelle Ong
Today in San Francisco, Tim Cook and team kicked off Apple’s 26th Worldwide Developers Conference. They announced huge advancements in software including updates to their operating systems across all platforms and introduced the brand new Apple Music. Here’s the breakdown from the #AppleLive event.
OS X | El Capitan
El Capitan was announced as the successor to Yosemite, while Tim Cook poked fun at how an Apple team conceived the newest moniker for Apple’s desktop operating system.
- Safari: Pin sites as well as mute or find audio playing on a tab just by clicking a speaker icon
- Search: Navigating through ‘Search’ is now more fluid and comprehensive. i.e. Speaking to Siri “Mail I ignored from Phil”
- Multitasking: Split-view for all your apps and tabs on OS X
El Capitan is available to developers starting today with a public beta in July and will be available for free to the public in the fall.
Metal on OS X
Apple is bringing Metal to the Mac with a 40% reduction of CPU demand. Games run faster and there is an 8x improvement using Adobe apps.
Epic Games who demoed Fort Night indicated a 70% reduction in CPU demand using Metal on iOS.
iOS 9
New features:
- Suggested numbers (contacts) on incoming calls
- Siri is now more proactive and will know what you like to do at certain times. Siri can also play music when you plug-in headphones or suggest audiobooks when you get in the car.
- Spotlight searches now include videos from Vimeo, YouTube and more.
- API for search on iOS “When a user performs a search, we can find content behind the apps they have on their device…”
- “You are in control.” Apple is not mining our contacts or emails.
- Low-power mode is a new feature from Apple that enables a user to flip a switch and turn off services that are not in use to help your device last up to an additional 3 hours of charge.
- iOS updates now take less space. From 4.6gb to 1.8gb, so you won’t have to worry about deleting apps, photos, or videos.
iOS 9 is available for developers today, with a planned fall launch for the public.
Apple Pay
Apple Pay expands its merchants to more than a million locations. Some new merchants include Discover, Square, F21. Now you can buy your favorite pins on Pinterest via Apple Pay. They are working with certain retailers to make this happen. Starting in July Apple Pay will make its way across the pond and will enable UK residents to use the service at several UK businesses, including London’s transportation system.
Notes app
The native app that we all know and use has some new features in the iOS 9 upgrade. You can make checklists, add photos right from the app, and have the ability to draw or sketch right in the app.
Maps app
Apple Maps upgrade includes a Transit option showing public transportation routes, traffic, and more.
News app
A completely brand new native app from Apple brings together your favorite news content from The New York Times to Wired and mashes them into a curated cubby that is seamless and fluid. Flip through today’s biggest news stories or read up on an interesting piece about the Mars Exploration Rover all in one place. Built-in videos in the articles and crisp infographics bring your daily news to life. News app will be rolled out starting with the United States, UK and Australia.
Multitasking
Now on the iPad, innovative multitasking turns your keyboard into a trackpad and supports physical keyboards with shortcut commands and app switching. Other features include multi-gestures, split-view for apps, and slideover; swipe in from the side to bring in another app. Split-view is available only on iPad Air 2.
Swift 2
Apple’s programming language will now be Open Source.
watchOS 2
New features for the Apple Watch
- Watch faces allow the user to customize the watch face with photos straight form your camera roll.
- Time Travel allows the user to fast forward time to see what’s coming up, i.e. holidays in the future.
- Mini alarm with nighttime mode display available.
- You can now reply to email.
- Digital touch now comes with more colors.
- Play short videos and Facetime Audio is here.
- It will work with HomeKit to control more parts of your house including window shades, motion sensors, CO2, and other security features remotely via iCloud.
- Greater access to hardware features for developers; microphone & speaker, video, accelerometer, taptic engine, & digital crown.
- Siri can now start and end workouts.
- CarPlay is supporting more apps by automakers.
watchOS 2 is available for developer beta today with a public launch in the fall.
Apple Music
iTunes revolutionized the way the world purchased and listened to music many years ago, and now Apple plans to go head-to-head with music streaming services like Spotify and Tidal with their very own, all-in-one music platform. The updated Music app connects artists directly with their fans, boasts a 24/7 worldwide radio station, and human curated playlists.
Apple Music will be available on June 30th for $9.99/month, with the first 3 months free. Another option is $14.99/month for up to 6 family members.
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