Recently Apple finished of its Worldwide Developer Conference and we got lots of new products to talk about. Each year at WWDC Apple is set to release new software versions and also hardware. This year, no hardware announcement was seen but it was all focused on the software. Yes you guess it right, it’s all about new iOS and OS X.
Apple’s WWDC 2014
According to the rumors I heard earlier, Apple was trying to bring iOS and OS X closer to each other so that users get a common sort of user interface and it had taken its first step. New iOS (8) and new OS X (10.10 Yosemite) share a lot of design elements and features.
I’m including down here few of the main highlight features of both these new operating systems which are currently in their beta version (meant for developers) and will be available for users this fall.
The All new iOS 8
Unlike last year’s launch, the 8th version of most powerful operating system for mobile platform didn’t went through a major change and Apple continues to add up features to its new OS which are already there in Android.
The 7th version was already having a lot of similar features like Android and trend continues in the 8th one as well, though there are few unique features too as you can expect from Apple.
The notification center seems to be growing up now as it allow users to directly send reply to new messages within the notification center itself without going into the complete message app. If you got notification regarding any new post from your Facebook friend then you can like it from the notification itself. In short, you can now interact in many ways at the notification center itself.
The next big feature included this year is the QuickType (predictive and gesture typing keyboard). Users can now type without pressing individual keys i.e. by gestures (just like Android) and the dictionary enabled inside learns whatever you type. Once it completes its learning process then it will start suggesting you next word and even answers to simple questions asked by yourself (amazing, yea?) though this feature is experienced by Android users since a year now.
Apple is aware of the success of messaging apps like WhatsApp so it brought similar features to its native iMessage app so that users don’t need to rely on third party apps. Users can now send audio messages and can even do video chats. Location sharing, group message features are also included with the ability to block people.
HealthKit is the next app included natively in the new iOS which will provide information related to your health which your iPhone can measure. This is another way Apple is taking on third party apps but HealthKit’s data can be shared with those other apps.
SIRI is updated and now can be used completely Hands-free. Shazam is included within it and you can launch it anytime by saying ‘Hey, Siri’ (yea it’s always listening). The photo app has been updated with a new and better looking user interface and Apple is also offering 5GB of free iCloud storage so that you can store your pics and other data.
There are lots of minor features introduced but I’ll conclude this part with great news for you. You can now share paid apps across 6 (maximum) devices of your family. This feature works only if all devices are connected with a single credit card.
OS X Yosemite
This was the next software of Apple to get an update. Apple has redesigned user interface and look of almost every element to make it look a perfect cousin of iOS. It got flat design (inspired by the iOS 7 and new textures all around the OS. It overall resulted into the complete modern look for the OS. Apple calls it Yosemite.
The notification center introduced in the Mountain Lion has got a new makeover and now it looks even better than earlier. It got lots of new features added with an overall redesign. You can even customize the Notification center using third party app available at the Mac App store.
In the era of redesign, Safari also got its number. It got some visual changes along with performance improvements and certain technical changes. It got an improved search bar along with share option using which users can directly share whatever they are surfing with their social network. Apple has also improved Tab view so that users find it easy to switch between opened tabs.
iCloud Drive is introduced where users can store their data (files and folders) just like they do it in other cloud storage providers. This feature seems to be inspired by the OneDrive (earlier SkyDrive) integration in Windows 8.1 by Microsoft. 5GB of storage is offered at no cost. Another app which got visual and technical tweaks is the MAIL. It got better and improved synchronization along with improved way of attaching files in the mail.
WWDC didn’t finished yet!
Yes, Apple isn’t completed the WWDC with above two new versions of OS. There are few latest features introduced for users like Handoff, AIRDROP, Messaging and Instant Hotspot. iMessage is improved now and so does Hotspot and Airdrop. All these features are updated so that users find it easy to switch between iOS and OS X devices easily while the data remains completely synchronized. Handoff feature let you finish the work you started on your iOS device on the Mac and vice-versa.
What’s new for developers?
Apple introduced a new programming language for developers which can be used to create more powerful and improved apps. It’s named Swift which is going to be a replacement for Objective-C. HomeKit is another new thing for developers which will let them control other smart devices in home via their mobile devices operating on Apple’s OS.
So this is what Apple brought for the users and developers this year and as usual each of them will set new things in future of mobile devices.