Tech giant focuses on user experience over new hardware
American technology giant Apple hosted their annual developer’s conference in San Francisco from June 13 to June 16. Unveiling incremental updates to their core software systems, this year’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) featured much-needed revisions, as well as tweaks aimed at easing the developer and end-user experience.
macOS X is now macOS
In the past several years, Apple has introduced a suite of new operating systems for their multitude of personal devices. iPhone and iPad software is the famous—or infamous—iOS. The Apple Watch’s software is similarly branded as watchOS. As for Apple TV, the digital media console launched in 2007 and rebranded last October, the company went with tvOS.
As of June 13, 2016, Mac OS X—arguably the most well-known iteration of the Apple personal computer interface—is now macOS.
The new name follows the brand aesthetics established by Apple’s other operating systems, and while the name might be different, Apple promises that macOS Sierra—the 13th major release in the macOS line—will be a familiar upgrade for users.
macOS SIERRA
Adding to the expansive list of things that an Apple computer can do, macOS Sierra adds picture-in-picture viewing for movies and videos, auto-unlocking with the Apple Watch, and tabs across every app in the system. Tab viewing was previously only available in certain apps—specifically web browsers like Safari and Google Chrome. With Sierra—available now as a developer preview, and available to the public later in 2016—apps that produce multiple windows, like the Mail app, will feature tabs instead.
Over the past several iterations, fans and critics alike have compared macOS’s updates to iOS. For a company seemingly obsessed with connecting its litany of devices, the claim that “macOS closely resembles iOS” might not seem like a criticism. macOS Sierra most likely won’t cause Apple’s most ardent critics to change their tune, as Apple plans on introducing an iOS staple to the desktop operating system: Siri.
Siri on macOS acts in a similar manner to Siri on iOS, with the addition that the digital assistant will be able to access messages, mail, websites, and almost any other app that supports her integration.
macOS Sierra also introduces greater continuity across multiple Apple devices. For example, a global clipboard allows users to access copied text and photos across all connected devices.
iOS 10
Not to outdo themselves by focusing too much on their desktop devices, Apple executives took the stage to unveil the latest iteration of their mobile operating system. Apple’s “Superman” and Senior Vice-President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, took the WWDC stage to talk about 10 updates to iOS. The messaging, maps, photos, phone, news, and music apps all received revisions. In the case of the news app, Apple completely redesigned the interface to allow for easier reading, as well as making it easier for users to find the stories they find important.
Federighi spent time discussing additions to the messaging app. Users can now resize Emoji, send handwritten messages, as well as share photos with a variety of different windows, including one that hides the photo until the recipient swipes their thumb across the message. Users can now also more easily access notifications from the lock screen, and can even respond to messages without needing to unlock their device.
The newest addition to iOS, however, is the Home app. Users with smarthome technology, like blinds, thermostats, or lights that can be controlled with smartphones can now bundle all of their separate apps into the individual Home app. Thanks to Home and iOS 10, users no longer need four or five different apps for four or five different functions. Instead, they can access every aspect of their smarthome directly through iOS devices.
watchOS 3
Renaming Mac OS X to macOS might seem like a grand change, but users have been referring to Apple’s desktop operating system as such for quite some time. Likewise, bundling multiple apps under one all-encompassing umbrella is a task that third-party developers have been working on for a number of years.
If there’s any one operating system that received the most revisions, it’s watchOS. Introduced as the Apple Watch’s user interface in 2015, watchOS has undergone two revisions since launch. With watchOS 3, Apple finally seeks to remedy the errors initially introduced last year. Apple now promises that differently abled users and differently abled athletes will be able to properly use the Apple Watch.
For the general end-user, Apple promises that Apple Watch apps will launch more quickly, allow users to use Apple Pay right from the watch itself, and easily connect with the Home app.
No new hardware
For those hoping that Tim Cook would take the stage and leave users and developers with “One more thing,” Apple did not introduce any new hardware at this year’s WWDC. No new MacBook Pros, no new MacBook Airs, and certainly no new MacBooks were unveiled at the annual developer’s conference.
Instead, Apple focused on small, incremental updates aimed at making the user experience that much more fluid.