10 things you might have missed from WWDC 2022

The unsung announcements from Apple’s big show.

The WWDC 2022 keynote is over and it’s delivered some big, exciting software changes to our Apple gadgets, plus some new hardware in the form of the MacBook Air (M2, 2022), which we get hands on with on page 34 of this issue.

But hidden among the headliners were some support acts that you may have missed in the noise. Now the dust’s settled on a WWDC 2022, it’s time to shine a light on those unsung announcements that could well be more important to you than Apple’s bigger announcements.

You’ll be able to unsend disastrous iPhone Messages

Recently experienced the head-in-hands regret of sending a text to the wrong person in your iPhone’s Messages app? Apple can’t help you now, but it will in the future thanks to some handy Messages updates in iOS 16. When iOS 16 arrives later this year, you’ll be able to edit or unsend a message after you’ve tapped that fateful arrow icon.

Apple has killed the Apple Watch Series 3

In a slightly controversial move, Apple’s new watchOS 9 software will only be supported by Apple Watch Series 4 models or later – which means it effectively killed the Apple Watch Series 3, a product that’s still currently on sale.

Your iPhone’s lock screen could actually become useful

If you often stare with dismay at how bland your iPhone lock screen is, fear not – Apple is finally planning to let you jazz it up in iOS 16, which will be out in public beta from July. Apple’s “biggest update ever to the lock screen” will let you customise the clock’s font and add Apple Watch-style widgets.

iPhones will soon double as Mac webcams

The built-in webcams on Apple’s Macs have often felt like afterthoughts, but Apple has just announced a workaround – you’ll soon be able to use your iPhone as a wireless Mac webcam instead. The new Continuity Camera feature in macOS Ventura, which is coming in late 2022, will automatically detect your iPhone and let you use it as a camera for any macOS video conferencing app without any cables.

Your Apple Watch will quietly judge how efficiently you run

Beyond some new watch faces and improved notifications, one of WatchOS

9’s most interesting updates are its new running form metrics. Using some machine learning wizardry, watchOS 9 will be able to gather data on three running metrics – vertical oscillation, stride length and ground contact time – to help you improve your efficiency and inch towards some PBs.

Apple quietly announced new Apple TV treats

It looked like WWDC had left Apple TV owners completely empty-handed when it came to new toys, but buried in the smallprint of some developer notes were some details about tvOS 16.

The Apple Home app has finally been rebuilt

Yes, Apple is supporting the new smart home standard Matter, which we saw talked up at Google IO 2022, but perhaps more important is that’s finally redesigned the underwhelming Home app in iOS 16. This update, which apparently rebuilds the Home app from the ground up, looks like a much more modern hub for your smart home tech.

CarPlay wants to take over your entire dashboard

Apple’s CarPlay software is a fine way to level up your car’s infotainment experience, but its ambitions apparently don’t stop there – at WWDC 2022, Apple demoed a next-gen version of CarPlay that takes over the entire dashboard, including features like the speedometer, temperature controls and more.

iPhones will scan your ears for better Airpods sound

Apple’s iPhones can certainly take a mean photo, but their front cameras will also soon be used for a slightly more unusual purpose – scanning your ears. Why? So they can create Personalised Spatial Audio for a “more precise and immersive listening experience”, of course. The scanning will be done by Apple’s TrueDepth camera, which means you’ll need an iPhone X or later to take advantage of the feature.

The end of passwords is nigh

Some welcome news if your online security is still built on the dubious foundations of that one ‘unbreakable’ password you came up with in 2006 – Apple has joined Google and Microsoft in supporting the password-less authentication standard detailed by the FIDO alliance, giving a Safari demo of its ‘passkeys’ at WWDC 2022. Rather than using passwords, the idea is that you’ll use your iPhone’s more modern identification features like Touch ID or Face ID to log into your favourite web services.

WatchOS 9 will be able to gather data on three running metrics – vertical oscillation, stride length and ground contact time – to help you improve your efficiency and inch towards some PBs.