All You Need To Know From WWDC 2018!

For this weeks Appy Friday, we’re giving you all you need to know from this years WWDC (Apple's World Wide Developers Conference) 2018 in California. At the event, Apple announced a range of things starting with the updated iOS 12, Apple Watch updates and a few more handy new features.

The main announcement from WWDC 2018 from Apple was the next generation of iPhone operating system, iOS 12. The iOS update comes with a range of new features including group FaceTime, improvements to Siri and new Animoji. Another thing that Apple will be rolling out in 2018 is the ARKit 2.0, which is the next generation of augmented reality on iPhone. The ARKit 2.0 showed 3D object detection, improved face tracking and shared experiences.

Last year Apple introduced Bitmoji’s and at this year’s Apple event they brought Animoji. The new version introduces a way to create custom avatars to look like you. Also, the announcement of group FaceTime calls is massively welcomed as you can now FaceTime with up to 32 people with the iOS 12 update.

Apple also showed the new features that will appear in the Apple Watch with the updated operating system. One being that there are new workout types added, like hiking and yoga as well as with Siri shortcuts. As well as this, you can now talk to your watch like a walkie-talkie.

Another interesting feature that Apple introduced, are options to track your usage on specific apps and you can now set time limits to spend on apps so that you don’t get too distracted by your phone. There are also improved parental control features taking phone usage much more seriously.

In the Mac world Apple announced the new operating system, Mojave is the latest update which has a ‘dark mode’ which dims the screen, great for when your working at night. They have also introduced a new way of viewing documents in Finder.

The final thing that Apple announced was that you can now create custom Siri commands. You can do this by piecing together a few activities and questions within Siri which gives users the chance to respond to voice commands.

So, that's is this weeks Appy Friday. I think the most useful new feature will be the all-new group FaceTime which is going to be very useful when you’re trying to organise something with a group of people. As usually, it's near impossible to arrange something that everyone can attend. Let us know what feature you are most looking forward too?

The Top 5 Best New Features of iOS10

Last night was Apple’s World Wide Developers conference (WWDC16). They run this event around this time every year to announce what they’ve been working on, and what will be released later in the year, usually September.

They announced quite a few things including the new Mac OS (now called macOS, first version is Sierra) that includes Siri and Apple Pay; a new watchOS offers that’s faster and easier to use; And an updated tvOS. However, the biggest announcement as it will affect most people (that is, iPhone and iPad users) is that iOS10 is on it’s way. I’ve picked out what I think are the 5 best new features you’ll notice on your iPhone or iPad when it launches.

1. Lockscreen

Currently, the only useful thing you can do from the lock screen is play music or open the camera, and that can sometimes be fiddly as it’s a small icon bottom right that you need to swipe up. With iOS10, as soon as you pick up your iPhone (Apple call it “Raise to wake”) the lock screen is shown. You can then simply swipe right across the screen to access the camera even quicker. That means you manage to take those “in the moment” shots you’d have previously missed. You can also swipe left to access the widgets screen. This contains widgets (they’re like mini Apps contained on this screen with key info) for things like weather, reminders, and your calendar.

2. Notifications

In iOS versions previous to iOS10, notifications were all too easy to miss and not always that useful as they only included limited information. Notifications have now been redesigned and are much more intuitive. You can easily see what App the notification came from and when. You can also swipe down (or 3D touch) to open a mini version of the App without leaving this screen. Great for making quick replies to text messages and the like.

3. Messages

Messages has had a complete overhaul. Rather than it being so text based they’ve gone all Snapchat on us! You can now do lots more with emoji’s, stickers, handwriting, and animations, as well as including features like invisible messages that only appear when swiped. Links also show previews for websites, images, and videos. You can even play these videos right from within the Messages App :)

4. Maps

The Maps App is finally becoming a contender against Google Maps, and looks more similar to it than it ever has before. It now allows you to move freely around (rather than annoyingly moving you back when you’d moved away from your current position!), shows live traffic information, and highlights specific places on route (e.g. petrol stations and the extra time needed for that detour). You can even interact with other Apps directly from within the Maps App. A great example of this is finding a place on the map and then calling an Uber directly without ever having to leave the Map App.

5. Phone calls

Yes it’s true, some people do still use their iPhones to make phone calls! iOS10 includes voicemail transcriptions which could be useful if you’re in a noisy area. Using this feature you can read a voicemail like a text message rather than struggling to hear it. Third party providers are now able to help detect spam phone numbers to avoid you getting annoying calls too. One of the biggest features though, is that VoIP calls can be integrated into the lockscreen. That means that your Whatsapp and Skype calls will show on the lockscreen like a normal call and can be answered from there too.

There really are lots of other features added to iOS10 (Apple say it’s the biggest update ever) so it’s worth checking out the Apple site itself by clicking here for everything.

Where Can I Find Out More?

You can also check out the whole WWDC16 Keynote itself by clicking here to find out more about iOS10 and details of all the other announcements I mentioned at the start of this article. It is a couple of hours long though…

Feel free to get in touch and tell me your own top 5 features of iOS10. And please do share this post with your friends and colleagues.

Thanks

Richard

iOS 8 - What's Changed?

Apple have been dominating the headlines over the last fortnight and this week has witnessed the new iOS 8 update, just days before the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are to be launched. 

If you have an iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPad Mini or iPod touch 5th generation or newer, you can download it today if you don’t already have it. If you have an iPhone 4 or older generation iPads or iPods, you will have to get an upgrade as it is not accessible for you - sorry. 

So, what’s new?

With news of Apple Pay surfacing during the WWDC last week, the new iOS 8 software has changed to allow app developers to get access to the five-digit login tool which could mean we will be saying ‘goodbye’ to pesky passcodes and accessing all sorts of apps with our fingerprints. 

As the iPhone still stands at the most used camera in the world, it’s no surprise that the camera app has improved allowing you to capture extended moments and be able to speed up video with the ‘time-lapse camera mode’.

Text messages and calls will be able to be answered and replied to on Macs and iPads and are not just restricted to the iPhones. iMessage was a great cross-compatible tool for chatting across iOS devices and Macs but now the experience has just got a whole lot more convenient. 

Interactive notifications are another convenience too and will mean users can respond to texts and calendar reminders from the lock screen.  There is no need to unlock your phone to reply to a friend and lie that you’re ‘on your way’ because now you can do it with just a few clicks. 

The keyboard has had an upgrade to, and Apple claim their new iOS 8 keyboard is the ‘smartest ever’. The Quicktype feature adds a highly-requested predictive texting capability and will automatically offer you choices based on the conversation. Simple ‘yes’ and ‘no’ options can appear when a friend asks you a question. 

As well as these useful features, there are a whole host of new apps to make your iPhone, iPad or iPod turn into a usability genius too - too many to mention in fact. But, Apple is confident that this is the best update they have had, so let’s hope they’re right!