Highlights from Apple’s WWDC 2018 Keynote

I’ve documented all of the changes worth mentioning that were announced in today’s WWDC 2018 keynote, which was rather spectacular. The last portion of the keynote showed a renewed focus and clear path forward for macOS as a serious platform for professionals–a natural extension of iOS, but not a convergence of the two.

iOS 12

  • Performance
    • Massive improvements
      • 70% faster swipe to camera
      • 50% faster keyboard display
      • 2x faster app launch under heavy workload
      • Smother animations all around
  • FaceTime
    • Group audio/video calls up to 32 people
  • Memoji
    • Create an Animoji just for yourself (super customizable)
  • Animoji
    • New options: koala, tiger, ghost, T-Rex
  • Camera
    • Improved portrait lighting
    • Portrait segmentation API
    • Improved QR code reader
    • Camera Effects
      • Create and share a photo with Animoji, Memoji, filters, animated text effects, stickers (like Snapchat)
  • Augmented Reality
    * ARKIT 2
    * Multiple people can experience AR at the same time
    * AR objects shared via iMessage and mail
    * USDZ: new file format devs can tap into
    * Measure: new app helps measure real-world objects with the camera
    * AR Quick Look: view experiences in Files, Mail, Messages, and Safari
  • Screen Time
    • A new app to track how you utilize your time on iOS
    • Good for people who are addicted to their phones and want to take back control
  • Notifications
    • Group notifications (finally!)
      • Granular controls
      • Siri makes intelligent suggestions about alerts based on how you interact with them
      • Message threads and notification topics are grouped together
  • Do Not Disturb
    • Granular controls
      • Just for a meeting, while at a location (will turn off automatically when event ends or you leave the location)
    • Dim display and silence overnight notifications until you unlock your iPhone in the morning
  • Photos
    • New “For You” tab displays great moments from your library and intelligently suggests sharing photos with the people in them.
    • If the other people in the photo have iOS 12 and they took additional photos, it will prompt them to send those so you can have a complete set (very smart)
    • Search: starts working before you even type
      • Shows suggestions for recent events, people, and places
      • Can refine by adding multiple keywords
    • Redesigned Albums tab
    • RAW photo support
    • Improved import for photos and videos from professional cameras
  • Siri Shortcuts
    • A new app that pairs daily routines with third-party apps, suggesting convenient shortcuts. E.g., if you pickup a coffee every day on your way to work, Siri will learn and suggest when to place your order from the Lock screen. Seems like this is what came out of Apple’s acquisition of the “Workflow” app team.
  • Privacy
    • Safari prevents share and comment buttons from tracking you without permission
    • Prevents advertisers from collecting your device’s unique characteristics so they can’t retarget ads to you across the web
    • Automatic strong passwords
    • Secure code autofill: SMS one-time passcodes automatically appear as autofill suggestions so you don’t have to memorize them
  • iBooks
    • Renamed to Books
    • Redesign to match iOS 11 App Store aesthetic
    • Improved reading progress sync
  • Stocks
    • Redesign
    • Now available on iPad
  • Voice Memos
    • Now available on iPad
    • iCloud sync across all devices
  • Apple News gets a redesign
  • CarPlay
    • Third-party navigation apps
  • Siri
    • Get race stats for motorsports
    • Celebrity questions
    • Look up passwords
    • Search for favourite memories
  • Wallet
    • Contactless student ID cards
  • Battery
    • Usage chart now shows usage for last 24 hours or 10 days
    • Tap to see your app use for that period of time
  • English Thesaurus
    • Get synonyms and related concepts for words
  • Gestures
    • New iPad gestures for easier navigation
      • Go to home screen by swiping anywhere on the Dock
      • Get to Control Center with a swipe from the top-right corner

watchOS 5

  • Health
    • Activity competitions
      • Share your activity + challenge a friend to a seven-day competition
      • Automatic workout detection
        • Senses when you start moving and alerts you to start the Workout app
      • New Yoga workout
      • Hiking as an option in the Workout app
      • Pace alerts
        • Choose target pace
      • Cadence
        • See your steps per minute during running
  • Apple Podcasts
    • Comes to watchOS for the first time with iCloud sync
  • Walkie-Talkie
    • Send one-to-one conversation with other Apple Watch users
  • Siri watch face
    • Uses machine learning
    • Proactively suggests relevant content and shortcuts throughout the day
  • Siri
    • Now works with third-party apps
    • Raise to speak no longer requires “hey Siri”
  • Notifications
    • Rich contextual notifications that require less reliance on iPhone
      • Check-in for a flight and add boarding pass to Wallet
      • Change the time and party size for upcoming reservations with Yelp
      • Extend PayByPhone parking
      • Grouped notifications, like iPhone/iPad
  • Webkit views
    • Messages with web links can now be previewed, optimized for small screen
  • Do Not Disturb
    • Easily schedule for specific amount of time or until you leave current location
  • Student ID cards
    • Raise your hand to access dorm, gym, library, campus events, and more
  • New “Pride” watch face (available today)

tvOS 12

  • Dolby Atmos and Vision support
  • Live TV
    • NBA
    • MLB
    • Bloomberg
    • CNN
  • Automatic conversion of iPhone into Apple remote when connected
  • Zero sign-in
    • Partnerships to auto authenticate when connected to an ISP’s network
      • Makes available all of the channels you are authorized to access

macOS 10.14 Mojave

  • Dark Mode
  • Dynamic Desktop
    • Automatically shifts colours and wallpaper to adapt to the time of day
  • Finder Improvements
    • Gallery View
    • Quick Actions
    • Complete metadata
    • New Quicklook – edit a file without opening it
      • Markup
      • Create a PDF
      • Rotate and crop images
      • trim audio and video
      • Share right from Quicklook
  • Enhanced screenshots
    • Capture screen
    • Capture window
    • Capture selection
    • Record screen
    • Record selection
    • Custom save destination
  • Continuity Camera
    • Use iPhone to shoot nearby object or scan a document and have it automatically appear on your Mac
  • iOS apps ported to macOS
    • News
    • Stocks
    • Home
    • Voice Memos
  • Marzipan: cross iOS/macOS platform framework (this is how the iOS apps were ported)
    • Debuts in 2019
  • Redesign Mac App Store brings it inline with iOS 12 UI aesthetic
    • Big name app developers coming back to the Mac App Store (Panic: Transmit)
  • New privacy and tracking preventionh
    • Mojave requires apps to get your approval before access camera, microphone
    • Same for data like messages and email
    • Safari now prevents “fingerprinting” so you are not tracked
      • Obfuscates specifics about your device, blocks social media like, share button, and comment widgets
    • Automatic strong passwords: Flags existing passwords that are reused so you can update them
  • Safari gets favicons
  • Add Emoji to email with a new Emoji button
  • Siri
    • Controls HomeKit-enabled devices
    • Helps find saved passwords
    • Knows more about food, celebrities, and motorsports
  • Language
    • Adds UK English, Australian English, Canadian French, and traditional Chinese for Hong Kong
    • Improved maps for China
    • Indian voice for English

Published by alexknight

Alex Knight is a creator of words, audio, and video content.