Smooth operator
APPLE UNVEILS SMART NEW FEATURES FOR ITS OPERATING SYSTEMS AT ITS SNEAK PREVIEW CONFERENCE
APPLE kicked off its annual developer conference this week with a whole host of announcements about new software and hardware.
There was a peek at what’s to come in the next versions of the software that powers all its devices.
And there was the big reveal for a new version of its most popular computer – the MacBook Air.
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicked off with a video presentation showcasing a lot of what’s coming our way from Apple over the rest of this year –including new software for iPhone. Here’s a round-up of the most interesting things we can expect, and when.
IOS 16
The next generation of the operating system for the iPhone sees major changes coming to the device’s lock screen – the first thing you see when you pick an iPhone up.
Essentially, Apple is to offer a way to make the lock screen more personal, with editable colours and fonts, and more useful via the addition of the ability to add ‘widgets’ to the screen. These widgets will show useful info from apps – like the weather or a list of reminders.
Once you get your phone unlocked there are a few changes to the apps many of us use every day.
Messages, for example, will allow you to edit or even recall messages for up to 15 minutes after you’ve sent them.
Maps has the added ability to create multi-stop routes, while in Photos, you can create a library of images that’s shared with others which can be automatically updated with photos as you take them.
There are a lot of tweaks and changes to many of the apps, one of the most impressive being Safety Check – someone leaving abusive relationships can, in one click, sever all access given to another person to anything on their device.
IPADOS
Apple has long been wrestling with the problem of bringing more productive features to the iPad while still playing to its strengths as a touch-screen tablet.
Another step forward will come with iPadOS with a feature called Stage Manager – a way for users to resize windows and have more than a couple of apps open at once.
There’s also, finally, full support for external monitors, a step up from the current system which allows users to use an external display only in a few instances.
There are a couple of new apps on the way for iPad, too. Apple is bringing the Weather app that has been part of iOS for years to the iPad, with a modular design that allows users to drill down into all kinds of in-depth weather stats.
A totally new app is Freeform – essentially an infinite whiteboard that users can add almost anything to – text, drawings, videos, documents, links and more. It’ll come into its own when used collaboratively by users working together on a project.
MACOS
The new Mac OS – called
Ventura – will also bring the Stage Manager feature found in iPadOS, as well as a host of refinements to apps used everyday like Mail.
Two standout features are an extension of Apple ‘continuity’ framework that allows users to use their iPhone as a high-quality webcam for their Mac. The extra wide-angle lens is used in this mode to offer, via some software magic, a view of the user’s physical desk – useful for demos of products amongst other things.
Safari also brings Passkeys – the framework Apple is collaborating on with other big tech to make passwords obsolete.
Passkeys are essentially keys to websites and apps that are generated after authentication by biometrics from your devices - your fingerprint or FaceID, for example. Their introduction here is one of the first steps on the long road to do away with passwords altogether.
WATCHOS
The update to the software that powers the Apple Watch was a little less revolutionary – there are new faces and complications, of course, but not a lot of headlinegrabbing features.
The Workout app has been upgraded to provide more information for runners, and the Sleep app also now produces more data.
Healthwise, the Watch can now also be used to monitor the medications you are taking, and to remind you when it’s time to pop that pill.
All OS updates will be released in the autumn, as per Apple’s usual schedule, and will be free updates.
■ The new MacBook Air will start at £1,249 and will be available in July. See apple.com/UK for more.