Tag: WWDC

Zoom Announces Zoom Events to Tackle Virtual Experiences

Zoom has announced it will release Zoom Events this summer, in an effort to help companies of all sizes tackle virtual events.

The virtualization of in-person events has been just one of the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything from big events — like Apple’s WWDC and Microsoft’s events — to smaller companies’ sales summits have gone virtual. For many companies, however, it can still be a challenge to successfully pull off a digital event.

Zoom hopes to change that with its upcoming Zoom Events platform.

Zoom Events offers something for a variety of use cases – from enabling large businesses to seamlessly manage and host internal events like all-hands and sales summits and external events like user conferences, to smaller businesses and entrepreneurs who have been using OnZoom to create, host, and monetize events including fitness and cooking classes, theatrical presentations, and more. As part of the launch of Zoom Events, OnZoom, currently in Beta, will be rebranded and folded into Zoom Events, and can be either private, or searched and explored publicly.

The company sees a future for the platform that extends far beyond the pandemic. In fact, Zoom cites research showing that 80% of people believe a virtual element will continue post-pandemic, with 52% of respondents planning on enjoying both in-person and virtual events.

“It’s an exciting time to be at Zoom where the pace of innovation continues to accelerate,” said Oded Gal, chief product officer at Zoom. “We know that people are looking for flexibility in how they attend events in the future. The hybrid model is here to stay, and Zoom Events is a perfect solution for our customers who are looking to produce and host customer, company, and public events with an easy, yet powerful solution. This is another way we’re helping customers scale to meet consumer demands and the evolving virtual and hybrid landscape.”

May 19, 2021
MacBook Pro and iPad Pro Facing Delays Due to Chip Shortage

Apple may be delaying production of the highly-anticipated MacBook Pro and iPad Pro amid a global semiconductor shortage.

The coronavirus pandemic sparked a series of events that have led to a severe shortages of chips. At the outset, production was hurt as companies were forced to shut down their factories due to lockdown measures. As the pandemic drug on, however, stay-at-home orders and remote work helped drive a significant increase in demand for computers, gaming consoles and tablets.

Companies in many industries have been experiencing the impact of the chip shortage. Some automakers have had to halt production due to the shortage, and some vehicles are shipping without the usual slate of chips, impacting their long-term fuel mileage.

The shortage may now be impacting Apple’s upcoming products, according to Nikkei Asia, causing production delays for the upcoming MacBook Pro and iPad Air. Apple is expected to be on the verge of releasing a MacBook Pro 16”, as well as the biggest iPad Pro update ever. Unfortunately, it appears the MacBook production has been delayed at the point where the components are mounted on circuit boards. Meanwhile, the iPad production has hit delays as a result of shortages of displays and display components.

As a result, Apple is pushing back some of the component orders from the first half of the year to the second half. If the report is true, we may see both devices previewed at WWDC in June, but not released until sometime between August and October.

The news is even worse for the industry as a whole, given Apple’s legendary supply chain efficiency. If Apple is experiencing significant delays, smaller companies, and ones without as efficient a supply chain, will likely be impacted far worse.

April 8, 2021
Apple Announces ‘Glow and Behold’ WWDC 2021

Apple has announced its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) for 2021, with the tag line: “Glow and behold.”

WWDC is Apple’s premier event of the year, where the company previews its upcoming operating system releases, as well as new hardware. Some of the company’s biggest products have debuted at WWDC.

This year’s event will be held June 7 – 11 and, like last year, will be “an all-online program with exciting announcements, sessions, and labs at no cost.”

Many have been expecting Apple to hold an event sooner, possibly to debut a new iPad Pro and possibly a new iMac, but as of yet there has been no announcement. Now that Apple has announced WWDC, it’s possible we won’t see another event until then.

April 2, 2021
Microsoft 365 Ready For the M1 Macs

Microsoft has updated Microsoft 365, bringing compatibility with Apples M1-equipped Macs.

The M1 is Apple’s custom silicon, based on the same ARM chips it has been using for years in the iPhone and iPad. Apple announced the transition at WWDC 2020, and unveiled the first models in November. Early testing indicates the M1 Macs are easily outpacing their Intel counterparts.

One of the most important applications on the Mac is Microsoft’s productivity suite. Fortunately for M1 Mac users, 365 is now ready for the new machines.

“We are excited to announce that starting today we are releasing new versions of many of our Microsoft 365 for Mac apps that run natively on Macs with M1,” writes Bill Doll, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Microsoft 365. “This means that now our core flagship Office apps—Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote—will run faster and take full advantage of the performance improvements on new Macs, making you even more productive on the latest MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. The new Office apps are Universal, so they will continue to run great on Macs with Intel processors. The apps are not only speedy, but they also look fantastic as they have been redesigned to match the new look of macOS Big Sur. Here is a peek at Outlook on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro.”

This is good news for Mac users and Microsoft, and is hopefully just the first of the major apps making the jump to the M1.

December 15, 2020
Microsoft Excel Beta Now Supports Apple Silicon

Microsoft has released the latest beta of Excel, including support for Apple’s custom silicon chips.

At WWDC Apple announced it was moving away from Intel’s chips in favor of its own for its Mac platform. Next week’s “One More Thing” event is widely believed to be when Apple will release the first of the new machines.

Apple’s custom silicon is based on ARM chips—the same designs used in the iPad and iPhone. Apple is including a compatibility layer, Rosetta 2, that will allow Intel-based apps to run on the new chips. However, applications must be recompiled for the new architecture to be considered native and provide maximum performance.

As one of the most important Mac software developers, Microsoft is already working to ensure Office is compatible with the new machines. In particular, according to release notes, the SQL Server ODBC data connection is now compatible with Apple’s new chips.

The built-in SQL Server ODBC data connection provider will now support the new Apple Silicon devices as well as the TLS v1.2 communication protocol. This feature provides support for SQL Server ODBC data connections to work properly on new devices that have Apple Silicon processors, as well as support for SQL Servers that require secure connections via the TLS v1.2 protocol.

This is good news for users wanting to upgrade and hit the ground running as soon as the new machines are available.

November 3, 2020
iOS 14 Outs Major Apps For Snooping On Users

iOS 14 has a number of significant privacy improvements, one of which has been a source of embarrassment for several high-profile apps.

Privacy was one of the highlights of Apple’s WWDC 2020 Keynote, with the company outlining the steps it is taking to improve the level of privacy it offers customers. One such feature is clipboard monitoring. In short, iOS 14 will alert a user when an app accesses the data currently held in the clipboard. Given that users often copy and paste bank account numbers, credit card numbers, passwords and other sensitive data, this is an excellent new feature.

Unfortunately for a number of apps, however, they don’t seem to have gotten the memo. In short order, TikTok, LinkedIn and Reddit and several others have all been called out for reading the contents of the iOS clipboard. These apps were all caught accessing the clipboard even when they were not the app involved in the copy and paste function. Basically, once they were opened, they started reading the clipboard’s contents. In the case of TikTok, it appears to have been accessing the clipboard every 1 to 3 keystrokes.

All three companies have pledged to release an update that will resolve the issue. LinkedIn and Reddit blamed the behavior on bugs, while TikTok said it was a measure designed “to identify repetitive, spammy behavior.” While some users may be willing to give LinkedIn and Reddit a pass, TikTok’s intentional use of the feature does not bode well for a company that is already accused of gross privacy violations.

Either way, kudos to Apple for helping put an end to this practice. iOS 14 can’t arrive soon enough.

July 6, 2020
WWDC 2020 Part 3: macOS Big Sur

Apple unveiled the next version of macOS, named “Big Sur.” The design of the OS features a number of refinements.

Apple has repeatedly said it has no intention of merging iOS and macOS, as each has a place in the company’s ecosystem. That doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from each other, however, and it’s apparent that many of the Mac’s new features are inspired by some of the best features of iOS.

Interface

Craig Federighi highlighted Apple’s intention of making its various platform feel more cohesive, making it easier for users to move from one device to another.

macOS Icons

The updated interface includes icons that are more reminiscent of iOS, as well as a more colorful interface and increased transparency.

Mac Catalyst

Mac Catalyst receives an upgrade in macOS Big Sur. Catalyst is the compatibility layer that makes it possible to port iOS and iPadOS apps to macOS

Mac Catalyst

Developers will be able to optimize Catalyst apps to take full advantage of the Mac’s resolution. Apps will also have access to menu and keyboard APIs, as well as new controls, such as checkboxes and date pickers.

The new Maps and Messages are good examples of Catalyst apps.

Safari

Big Sur has the biggest update to Safari since it was introduced. The company has focused on performance, improving not only its already good JavaScript performance, but page-load performance as well.

Privacy will take center stage in Big Sur, making it much easier for users to see how websites attempt to track their data.

Safari Privacy

Web Extensions API will now make it easier to bring extension for other browsers over to Safari. There will be a new category in the Mac App Store to showcase Safari extensions.

Extensions will be managed in a way that preserves user privacy. Users will be able to manage what data an extension can access, as well as limitations on how long it can access that data.

Safari will also feature built-in translation. Safari will detect when it encounters a page that is not the same as the primary language on the computer and display a translate button. Clicking the button will translate the text, and even text off of the screen will dynamically translate as Safari scrolls down.

Safari Translation

Next is Apple’s biggest announcement of the day: Custom Silicon

June 23, 2020
WWDC 2020 Part 2: iPadOS Blurs the Computing Line Even More

Apple unveiled a number of welcome improvements to iPadOS, further blurring the line between tablet and computer.

Widgets, Search and Interface

Like iOS 14, iPadOS 14 gains improved widgets to help users get more from their Home Screen.

In addition, Search has been completely revamped to make it much more powerful on the iPad. The new Universal Search can much more effectively act as an app launcher.

Universal Search

Siri also gains the more streamlined interface that it receives on the iPhone. Similarly, FaceTime calls no longer take up the entire screen, blocking access to other apps. Instead, the incoming call appears in a small notification box at the top of the screen. This feature is also being implemented on iOS for the iPhone.

iOS and iPadOS Incoming Calls

Handwriting

Apple is significantly improving the handwriting recognition on the iPad, closing the gap between handwriting and text input. The new handwriting engine, Scribble, can automatically clean up shapes drawn on the screen.

Scribble

What’s more, Scribble makes it possible to use the Apple Pencil for input in any text field. When writing with the Pencil, text can be selected using the same tap gestures for manipulating traditional text.

Scribble Handwriting

More significantly, iPadOS will be able to recognize email addresses and phone numbers in handwriting and interact with them accordingly.

Default Apps

One of the biggest complaints about the iPad is the inability to change default apps for web browsing and email. It appears that iPadOS finally rectifies this. This will be a big improvement, especially in the enterprise, where many users prefer Outlook.

Stay tuned for Part 3: The Mac

June 22, 2020
Apple to Announce ARM-Based Macs at WWDC

Apple is preparing to announce its decision to move to ARM chips for its Macs at the upcoming WWDC.

Apple has long been rumored to be moving to ARM chips like the ones it uses in the iPhone and iPad. The company has been relying on Intel to power its line of computers since 2006, when it switched from the PowerPC architecture.

ARM chips are based on designs by Arm Holdings. Unlike Intel or AMD, Arm does not manufacture its own chips, but licenses the designs to other companies. Companies can even customize elements of the chipsets to better suit their needs.

Arm was originally founded as a joint venture between Apple and Acorn and, not surprisingly, Apple has the Architecture License, the broadest license available. This gives Apple the ability to modify Arm designs however they see fit to best work with their products.

Analysts have been expecting Apple to move Macs to ARM chips for multiple reasons. First, Intel has been struggling to keep up with demand for its processors and is starting to fall behind rival AMD in performance. Given the premium it charges for its Macs, any inability to deliver the fastest machines possible is far worse for Apple than many of its rivals. In contrast, current iPad Pros are faster than the vast majority of PC laptops on the market and, even more impressive, they deliver that performance without any fans thanks to the power-efficient nature of ARM chips.

The second factor motivating the change is Apple’s penchant for controlling the “whole widget.” In other words, Apple is at its best when it controls both the software and the hardware that runs it. This approach is one of the reasons the iPhone and iPads consistently outperform Android competitors by a wide margin.

A move to ARM for the Mac lineup would likely result in machines that are faster than current models, get better battery life and run cooler, while still running the more powerful macOS.

According to Bloomberg, internal testing at Apple has “shown sizable improvements over Intel-powered versions, specifically in graphics performance and apps using artificial intelligence, the people said. Apple’s processors are also more power-efficient than Intel’s, which may mean thinner and lighter Mac laptops in the future.”

Needless to say, however, a complete architecture change is no small feat. It’s previously been reported that Apple was going to release ARM-powered Macs in 2021. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to make the announcement at the upcoming WWDC to give developers plenty of time to prepare their applications to run on the new chipset.

This is very similar to how Apple handled the move to Intel in 2005 and 2006. Given that Apple has orchestrated two other major architecture changes in the Mac’s history, it’s a safe bet Apple will do everything necessary to make this transition as smooth as possible.

June 9, 2020
Coronavirus: Apple’s WDDC Goes Online Only

Apple has just announced that its biggest event of the year, WWDC, will be online-only as a result of the coronavirus.

WWDC is Apple’s developers conference where the latest changes to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS are previewed, giving developers insight into what to expect in the coming year. It’s not uncommon for major hardware releases to make an appearance as well. In view of the coronavirus, however, this year’s event will be an online-only event.

“We are delivering WWDC 2020 this June in an innovative way to millions of developers around the world, bringing the entire developer community together with a new experience,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The current health situation has required that we create a new WWDC 2020 format that delivers a full program with an online keynote and sessions, offering a great learning experience for our entire developer community, all around the world. We will be sharing all of the details in the weeks ahead.”

“With all of the new products and technologies we’ve been working on, WWDC 2020 is going to be big,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “I look forward to our developers getting their hands on the new code and interacting in entirely new ways with the Apple engineers building the technologies and frameworks that will shape the future across all Apple platforms.”

Apple is also committing $1 million to San Jose organizations to help compensate for revenue they would normally earn as a result of the venue bringing additional business to town.

March 13, 2020
Coronavirus: Apple and Amazon Latest to Recommend Telecommuting

Apple and Amazon are among the latest companies to recommend their employees work from home due to the growing threat of the coronavirus.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) warns “the threat of a pandemic has become very real,” governments and companies are scrambling to contain the spread. Major events, such as SXSW, have been cancelled, while others, such as WWDC, hang in the balance. In addition to those measures, multiple companies have implemented work-from-home policies, in some cases voluntary and others mandatory. Microsoft, Twitter and Google have all recommended at least some of their employees—especially those in heavily impacted regions—work from home.

Now Apple and Amazon have joined their ranks. Amazon has specifically asked employees in New Jersey and New York to work from home, as New York has one of the biggest concentrations of confirmed cases. Apple has taken it a step further, giving employees at most of its global offices the opportunity to work from home.

Long before the coronavirus was a concern, some estimates projected 60% of office workers telecommuting by 2022. As the virus continues to spread, telecommuting may very well become the new norm long before that.

March 10, 2020
Coronavirus: Santa Clara’s New Guidelines May Impact WWDC

Santa Clara’s Public Health Department has issued a press release urging companies to cancel or postpone mass gathers.

The Health Department says there have been six new cases of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County, bringing the total to 20 confirmed cases.

“We understand that people are very concerned about COVID-19. I want to remind the public that the vast majority of people who become infected with COVID-19 do not become seriously ill, and fully recover. We are making these recommendations to protect the most vulnerable members of our community from the virus, and slow its spread,” said Dr. Sara Cody, County Public Health Officer. “We are continuously monitoring this evolving situation, and will issue new guidance if and when that is warranted.”

As a result of the development, the Health Department is recommending cancelling or postponing mass gatherings and large community events, specifically events that has a large number of people within arm’s reach of each other.

If cancelling is not an option, the department gives a number of guidelines, including urging sick people and those at high risk of contracting illnesses not to attend. They also recommend trying to provide as much space as possible, to minimize physical contact, not to mention encouraging good hygiene.

Given that Apple’s WWDC fits exactly the kind of scenario the department is describing, it would not be surprising if Apple ends up cancelling, or makes the conference entirely digital, just as Google has done with Google Cloud Next.

March 6, 2020
Coronavirus: Apple, Netflix and Others Pull Out of SXSW Conference

Apple and Netflix are among the latest companies to pull out of the South by Southwest Conference scheduled for March 13 in Austin, Texas.

As fears about the spread of the coronavirus continue to mount, with more infections and deaths being reported in the U.S., companies are increasingly pulling out of or cancelling conferences. SXSW has already had a number of high-profile companies cancel their plans to attend, including Amazon, Facebook and Twitter.

According to Bloomberg, Apple has announced it’s cancelling its plans to attend despite its intentions to debut three new Apple TV+ programs. Similarly, Netflix planned on unveiling a feature film and four documentaries. CNN has also cancelled its plans to attend.

As Bloomberg points out, with Apple’s WWDC scheduled for June, the company will soon have to make a decision about whether to proceed or change to a virtual conference as Google did with its Google Cloud Next conference.

March 6, 2020
Apple WWDC Date Revealed By Siri

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) hasn’t been formally announced yet, but iOS users have discovered that Siri is giving the date when asked.

As reported earlier by 9to5Mac, if you ask Siri, “When is WWDC?” it will tell you that the event will be held June 13 through June 17 in San Francisco.

It doesn’t say where the event will be held, but it’s typically at Moscone West and is expected to take place there once again.

Apple’ website still has info up for last year’s conference, which was held June 8 through 12. The event featured over 100 technical sessions, over 1,000 Apple engineers, hands-on labs, and the Apple Design Awards. Sessions were streamed live.

Image via iStock

April 18, 2016
Apple Music Unveiled At WWDC

As expected, Apple unveiled its new music service today, aptly called Apple Music. It’s even going to be available for Android.

The app includes a streaming music service as well as a live radio station and a way for people to connect with artists. It makes use of the iTunes library of music as well as music users have ripped from CDs. You can listen to any of this on demand. It includes a “for you” section which provides albums, new releases, and playlists which have been personalized for the user.

“We love music, and the new Apple Music service puts an incredible experience at every fan’s fingertips,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “All the ways people love enjoying music come together in one app — a revolutionary streaming service, live worldwide radio and an exciting way for fans to connect with artists.”

“Apple Music is really going to move the needle for fans and artists,” added Jimmy Iovine. “Online music has become a complicated mess of apps, services and websites. Apple Music brings the best features together for an experience every music lover will appreciate.”

Apple Music is Siri-friendly, enabling users to ask Siri things like “Play me the best songs from 1994,” “Play the best FKA twigs song,” or “What was the number one song in February 2011?”

The aforementioned radio station is called Beats 1 and includes a 24-hour listening experience led by DJs Zane Lowe in Los Angeles, Ebro Darden in New York and Julie Adenuga in London. It will include interviews, guest hosts, and of course music.

Apple Music Radio also gives users stations created by DJs in various genres. Members can skip songs at will.

That part about connecting with artists comes from a feature called Apple Music Connect, which lets artists share lyrics, backstage photos, videos, or even song releases. Fans can comment, like, and share content via Messages, Facebook, Twitter, and email. Artists can respond to fan comments.

All of this costs $9.99 per month for a single user. There’s also a family plan, which supports up to six people, for $14.99 a month. There’s a 3-month free trial. It rolls out on June 30.

Image via Businesswire

June 8, 2015
Apple Pay Gets Discover, Square, UK Launch [WWDC]

As you may know, Apple unveiled iOS 9 today, and that includes some updates to Apple Pay.

For one, Discover will come on board starting in the fall, at which point Apple Pay will work with all major credit card networks. Also coming on board is Square, which will launch a new reader that accepts Apple Pay.

Next month, Apple Pay will be accepted at over a million locations in the U.S., which is four times more than when it launched. According to the company, merchants are seeing over a 2X increase in checkout rate among customers using Apple Pay in apps.

Later this month, users will be able to buy stuff from stores on Pinterest thanks to integration with Buyable Pins.

Apple Pay will also launch in the U.K. next month. By this fall, it will work with about 70% of credit and debit cards in the U.K. Over 250,000 locations in the U.K. are already ready to accept it.

Apple also announced that it has renamed Passbook to Wallet.

Image via Apple

June 8, 2015
Apple’s iOS 9 Brings New Focus On Siri And Search [WWDC]

Apple unveiled iOS 9 at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Much of the focus on the new OS was related to search and Siri. Apple is clearly getting more serious about competing with Google.

According to Apple, Siri serves over a billion requests per week, and it’s gotten 40% more accurate over the last year. It’s also 40% faster at responding. In iOS 9, it has a new user interface.

“iOS 9 makes the entire operating system smarter, enhances the apps you use most, and integrates with iPad in remarkable ways,” Apple says.

With the update, Siri will let you ask about more topics. You can find specific photos and videos or set a reminder to finish an article you’re reading on the web, for example.

“Like a great assistant, your device can now anticipate what you want to do next based on your location, the time, what app you have open, or what you’re connected to,” the company says.

You can plug in your headphones or connect to your car, and iPhone will suggest a recent playlist or audiobook. If you add a location to an event in Calendar, it will suggest when you should leave. It takes traffic into account in real time.

You can search for sports schedules, Netflix movies, and info inside apps. When you pick up your phone in the morning, it will suggest apps to open based on your daily routines. This is part of what Apple is calling its “Proactive Assistant”. It’s basically taking on Google Now.

Will look in your email and figure out who an incoming call is from if available.

There’s also a new API for search – another hint that Apple is more aggressively going after Google.

iOS 9 also includes updates to Apple Pay, Notes, and Maps, as well as a brand new News App, which we’ll look at more closely in another article.

There are new features for the QuickType keyboard to make typing and editing faster and easier, and there’s a new Shortcut Bar to make writing easier. When you use a physical keyboard with an iPad, you can now use new shortcuts, such as for switching between apps. There are also new multitasking features and tools. You can switch between apps in a new way. You can slide over to open a second app without leaving the one you’re in.

Split view lets you have two apps open and active simultaneously on the same screen:

There’s also Picture in Picture to scale a video down in size so you can keep doing something while doing another.

Apple is offering developer APIs for Picture in Picture, Slide Over, and Split View.

Perhaps the best thing about iOS 9 is that it will supposedly add an hour of battery life to the iPhone 6. It also has two-factor authentication for Apple ID.

83% of iOS users are on the latest version, which is an important for developers taking advantage of the latest features. For comparison, the number is only 12% for Android, at least according to Apple.

Images via Apple

June 8, 2015
Apple Announces Mac OS X El Capitan [WWDC]

Apple unveiled its latest version of Mac OS X at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. It’s called El Capitan. The company said the previous version – Yosemite – had the best adoption rate of any PC operating system ever, before showing off features that it hopes will help top that with the new one.

El Capitan includes enhancements to Spotlight, built-in apps, and window management, including a new mission control interface and split view. There are also some new gestures, such as a quick action to delete a message in Mail.

Safari gets some big improvements with the release, including the ability to pin web pages to the top bar as well as tabs that let you know where sound is coming from (like Chrome) and let you mute the sound from a button in the address bar.

“With Pinned Sites in Safari, the sites you check often are always available and up to date in a tab,’ the company says.

Spotlight Search gets some big updates enabling users to bring up sports, weather, and stock info, as well as personalized search results for native content.

There’s an enhanced full-screen view in Mail that lets you add tabs to a new message window, and the Spaces bar makes it easier to create multiple desktops.

The OS also comes with big improvements to performance. Some stats given: 1.4X acceleration in app launching; 2X in “snappiness of switching apps;” 2X speed improvement for getting mail messages, and 4X speed improvement for open PDF previews.

“El Capitan is more powerful than ever, with advancements under the hood and smarter ways to do the things you do most,” the company says.

El Capitan available to developers today. A public beta will come in July, and it will roll out to everyone in the fall.

Image via Apple

June 8, 2015
Apple Bans Your Dumb Selfie Sticks at Next Event

Selfie sticks offer a much better solution to getting a photo of yourself than actually approaching another human being and asking them to help, so they have that going for them. They also make you look pretty silly, unfortunately.

That’s the quandary many selfie-lovers face on a daily basis. But if you attend Apple’s next event, its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, in June, you won’t have to make this conflicting decision.

Apple has made it for you.

Selfie sticks are officially banned at WWDC. Apple made the update to its WWDC in Detail page, saying,

“You are not permitted to make audio or audiovisual recordings of WWDC or take professional photographic or video equipment, or wearable recording devices into Moscone West or Yerba Buena Gardens. In addition, you may not use selfie sticks or similar monopods within Moscone West or Yerba Buena Gardens.”

Regular photographs are still allowed.

Apple isn’t the first event host to take a no-selfie stick stance. Music festivals like Coachella have banned the products, citing concerns of obstructed views.

The WWDC kicks off June 8 in San Francisco. You can apply for tickets now, but you’ll have to win one in a lottery and then pay $1,599 to attend.

Image via R4vi, Flickr Creative Commons

April 14, 2015
Apple’s WWDC Gets Underway June 8

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference will start on June 8 this year, and run through June 12. Per usual, the event will be held in San Francisco.

Apple touts that there will be more sessions streamed to developers this year than ever before.

This year’s tagline is “The epicenter of change”.

“The App Store ignited an app ecosystem that is simply amazing, forever changing the lives of customers and creating millions of jobs worldwide,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We’ve got incredible new technologies for iOS and OS X to share with developers at WWDC and around the world, and can’t wait to see the next generation of apps they create.”

Updates to Apple OS is commonplace for WWDC. New hardware is a rarer proposition these days. Although, there are rumors that Apple will launch its new Apple TV at the conference.

If you want to attend, you have a couple of hurdles to leap. Instead of first-come, first-serve, tickets to WWDC are based on a lottery system. You can register for said lottery starting now and up to April 17. If you’re lucky enough to be selected, the tickets will cost $1,599.

April 14, 2015
Apple Unveils iOS 8 At Worldwide Developers Conference

After unveiling Yosemite, the new version of Mac OS X, at its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled iOS 8.

Just ahead of the presentation, CEO Tim Cook shared some stats: over 800 million iOS devices sold, 100 million iPod touch units, 200 million iPad units, and 500 million iPhone units. They’ve had over 130 million new-to-Apple customers in the last year.

“Many of these customers were switchers from Android,” Cook said. “They had bought an Android phone by mistake, and then had sought a better experience and a better life. And decided to check out iPhone and iOS. Nearly half of our customers in China in the past six months switched from Android to iPhone.”

According to Cook, 89% of iOS users are running the latest version of the OS, compared to 9% for Android. Over a third of Android users are running a version from four years ago, he said.

“That’s like ancient history,” said Cook. “That means that these customers are not getting great new features. They’re not able to run your latest apps. They don’t get security updates that they may need to stay safe. This is particularly important for Android, which dominates the global malware market.”

Craig Federighi took the stage to introduce iOS 8, which includes enhancements for both the iPhone and the iPad.

There’s a refined notification center, which lets you pull down messages, and reply from right where you are. You don’t have to leave the app you’re in. This works for Calendar events too, and it works from the lockscreen.

You can use double taps to get the people you communicate with most frequently. Safari for iPad gets a new tab view, as well as a side bar feature introduced for Yosemite.

There are new mail management features. You can swipe a message down in mail and have access to the rest of your mail, if you need to look for something to add to a message you’re working on.

The Spotlight feature lets you pull down on the home screen, execute searches, and find matches from the app store, Wikipedia entries, news, maps, songs from your own library and itunes, movie theater results, content for streaming, etc. In Safari, you can get Spotlight suggestions in addition to Google suggestions.

The QuickType feature supports predictive typing suggestions for words as you type, and it’s context sensitive. Even before you type, if someone asks if you want to go to dinner or a movie, for example, it will give you the options “dinner” or “movie,” before you even type anything. It learns how you type, so may suggest words that you specifically use.

The Continuity feature lets you pick up where you left off from your iPad to your iPhone, and vice versa.

Group Messaging in Messages lets you name your threads. You can add/remove people from a conversation that’s underway. There’s a do not distrub feature on a per thread level, and you can choose when to leave a thread. You can share your location in a conversation, and if someone shares theirs with you, you can see it from within messages.

The Tap to Talk feature lets you hold your finger down on the mic button, swipe up, and send what you said. it’s great for video messaging, Craig says.

iCloud Drive lets you work across applications. You can use it within apps to open compatible documents. You have access to docs from Mac and Windows.

It has some new enterprise features, including increased data protection, per-message S/MIME, VIP threads (if you want a notification for a thread you can get it with a tap) there’s automatic reply, supports third party document providers.

“For Enterprise, iOS 8 builds on the new IT model for a mobilized workforce by improving the way users are informed of how their devices are configured, managed or restricted,” Apple says. “iOS 8 offers expanded security and management improvements as well as new productivity features, including an expanded level of data protection for key built-in apps, the ability to set your out of office response, see your colleague’s availability when scheduling a meeting and support for configurable Thread Notifications in Mail.”

“For Enterprise, iOS 8 builds on the new IT model for a mobilized workforce by improving the way users are informed of how their devices are configured, managed or restricted,” it says. “iOS 8 offers expanded security and management improvements as well as new productivity features, including an expanded level of data protection for key built-in apps, the ability to set your out of office response, see your colleague’s availability when scheduling a meeting and support for configurable Thread Notifications in Mail.”

There’s a new Health app, which utilizes an API called HealthKit, which lets users consolidate health info from various third-party health apps. Partners include Nike and Mayo Clinic.

A Family Sharing features lets you share photos with a shared photo stream, and share calendars and reminder lists. You can configure Find My Friends, and find your kids devices. You can get purchases of all members of the family together for up to six family members who all share the same credit card. When kids try to to download an app, they get prompted to ask for permission, and the parent is prompted on their device.

Photos lets you access every photo you take from any of your devices. It has search suggestions based on location, time, and albums. It also has smart editing controls like light, color, auto-straightening, and cropping.

Siri now has Shazam song recognition, the ability to purchase iTunes content, streaming voice recognition, and 22 new dictation languages.

They’re adding some new features to the App Store as well, including a new Explore tab, top trending searches, related searches, and a new Editors’ Choice logo. They’re giving developers the ability to bundle apps together so people can buy them with a single tap. There’s also a new App Preview feature, which lets developers make short videos.

Developers also get a new free feature called TestFlight, which lets them invite users to beta test their app and get results.

There 4,000 new APIs, and the SDK is the biggest release sine the launch of the App Store. Third-party apps can take advantage of TouchID. With Extensibility, apps from App Store will be able to offer services to other apps.

A HomeKit API was also announced for various home devices (locks, lights, cameras, doors, thermostats, plugs, switches). Devices can be grouped. Craig gave a scenario in which you tell Siri you’re “ready for bed,” and it locks all your doors, dims the lights, etc.

“As HealthKit combines health data to help you take better care of your health, HomeKit lets your home accessories connect seamlessly to better manage your home,’ the company said. “HomeKit delivers a common protocol, secure pairing and the ability to easily control individual or groups of devices throughout the house including integration with Siri.”

They announced a new programming language called Swift, which they say is fast, modern, safe, and interactive.

More from the press release:

Developers can further customize the user experience with iOS extensions, including new sharing options, custom photo filters, custom actions and document APIs. Developers can now add their own widgets into Notification Center, and third-party keyboards offer additional layouts and input methods.

Gaming on iOS takes a huge leap forward in iOS 8 with Metal, a new graphics technology that maximizes performance on the A7 chip. With its dramatic 10 times improvement in draw call speed, Metal enables leading game providers for the first time to bring console-class 3D games to mobile devices. For casual games, iOS 8 now features SceneKit, making it easy to create fun 3D games, along with major enhancements to SpriteKit, including field forces, per-pixel physics and inverse kinematics.

Swift is a powerful new programming language for iOS and OS X that makes it easier than ever for developers to create incredible apps. Designed for Cocoa and Cocoa Touch, Swift combines the performance and efficiency of compiled languages with the simplicity and interactivity of popular scripting languages. By design, Swift helps developers write safer and more reliable code by eliminating entire categories of common programming errors, and coexists with Objective-C code, so developers can easily integrate Swift into their existing apps. Xcode Playgrounds make writing Swift code incredibly interactive by instantly displaying the output of Swift code.

Also included are PhotoKit, new Camera APIs, and CloudKit. PhotoKit lets developers use the same framework as the built-in Photos app. CloudKit lets them estimate the need for writing server code and maintaining servers.

iOS 8 will be available to developers in beta today. It will be available to everyone else in the fall.

More on everything here.

Image via Apple

June 2, 2014