It’s that time of year once again! It’s time for Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference — also known as WWDC. WWDC is home to some of Apple’s most important announcements of the year, typically revolving around new software updates for its devices.
WWDC 2024 is no different. This year’s show is arguably one of the biggest and most important for Apple in years. With updates to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and more, there’s a lot to take in. Lucky for you, we’re rounding up all of the announcements right here.
Here’s everything Apple has announced (so far) at WWDC 2024.
visionOS 2
For Vision Pro, Apple is introducing visionOS 2. The new update offers improvements to Photos. With machine learning, it makes your old photos spatial photos. There’s also SharePlay coming. There are also new ways coming to control your Vision Pro.
VisionOS 2 now allows you to do something incredible with the photos in your library with just the tap of a button. Using advanced machine learning, VisionOS 2 creates a spatial photo with natural depth by deriving a left and right eye view from your 2D image. This feature looks stunning on Vision Pro, allowing you to reach into the past and bring your most cherished photos into the future.
Additionally, spatial videos will soon be able to be edited in Final Cut Pro and the new Vimeo app.
New frameworks and APIs coming soon also.
iOS 18
Your iPhone Home Screen is getting a nice update. You can now frame app icons anywhere on your display. Dark mode also changes the colors of app … to dark mode. Better still, you can tint apps with different colors.
Control Center is also changing. It isn’t limited to one page any longer. You simply swipe from the bottom. You can get to any of these new groups with a single swipe. There’s also a new Controls Gallery, making it more customizable and easier to add content. There’s also a new Control Center API for developers.
Privacy updates are coming in iOS 18. Apps are now lockable by Face ID. It’s called “Lock an App.” It works with Passcode and Touch ID too. This makes it harder for others to see sensitive information.
Developers are also gaining new ways to pair devices.
Messages is getting many new features. This starts with enhanced Tapbacks. You can use any emoji or stickers. You can also schedule your messages to send later. Underline and Bold is also coming to text messages. And with Text Effects you can further customize.
Messages via satellite is also coming, so you are never out of touch with your most important people. These are end-to-end encrypted.
Mail is now offering the ability to put messages in categories. These categories sort mail and also create a digest of sorts for each one. For example, all your flight information can be in the same area. You can recharacterize messages on the fly.
Developing …
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