This week’s WWDC was all about the software. None of the rumored hardware announcements have occurred. There is no new iMac, there is no new MacBook Pro with Retina display, and forget about the iWatch.

Yet Apple has done something extremely important for the future of the iOS and OS X, which is to provide the tools for enhanced customer lock-in. Both OS X’s Continuity and Handoff features, for example, let you smoothly switch among Apple gadgets. The email you begin on your Mac, once OS X Yosemite is available, can be continued on your iPhone or iPad or even an iPod touch running iOS 8. You’ll also be able to make and receive phone calls from your Mac or iPad, so long as a working iPhone is on your network. But it’s unclear whether this feature requires Wi-Fi calling, only promised so far in the U.S. by T-Mobile (Rogers Wireless in Canada will also support the feature). If it does, though, expect other carriers to jump on board soon.

Now I usually keep my iPhone next to me when I’m working on my Mac, and I’m quite capable of fielding phone calls and answering text messages on it with no less distraction than answering a call on my home office phone. I expect, however, that Apple envisions the growing trend towards using one’s cell phone as their one and only telephone regardless of where they are. I suppose I’d do it too, once audio quality improves. Despite the ongoing enhancements, it’s still too digital for my tastes.

But I can see where Apple is heading.

They are also heading towards a future where Google search will be less and less relevant. Safari for Yosemite and iOS 8 adds support for DuckDuckGo, a search engine that doesn’t track you. That gives Google more competition. The new OS X Spotlight mixes local and online searches. Bing is there, Google isn’t. By integrating the search results with direct links to your own documents, emails, contacts, and the wealth of online information in response to your request, what’s the point of Google and all those targeted ads?

Apple has also made strides to answer the wish lists of customers, particularly on iOS, and it doesn’t matter so much if some of those features are already available in some form on Android.

So you’ll be able to replace Apple’s keyboard with a third-party keyboard and have it take over systemwide. There will no longer be the need for complicated copy and paste routines. If you want Swype, where you slide or swype rather than tap, go for it. If you want a SwiftKey keyboard, a popular app on Android, that will be available too. But Apple’s QuickType offers a similar predictive text capability, so the need for a third-party option will be lessened.

Apple is also enhancing iCloud, a hit or miss and very limited online data repository, with iCloud Drive. The concept isn’t unique; it’s a general purpose place for your stuff in the tradition of Microsoft’s OneDrive, and you’ll be able to access your files and folders on your Mac, iOS gadget and evidently a Windows PC with the appropriate control app installed. Yes, you’ll actually have control of your files on the iPhone and iPad, which answers a crying need as more productivity apps become available.

If you’re presently using Dropbox, you’ll be able to save money by switching to iCloud Drive. The first 5GB is free, but 20GB will be 99 cents per month, and 200GB, the sweet spot, will be $3.99 per month. Other price tiers, including a full terabyte, should be announced soon. Google Drive’s deal is not that different. You get 100GB storage for $1.99 per month and a terabyte for $9.99 per month. Microsoft OneDrive is priced at $25 per year for 50GB, $50 per year for 100GB and $100 per year for 200GB.

In contrast, Dropbox is $9.99 a month for 100GB; it maxes out at 500GB for $49.99 a month. It’s a sure thing Apple is really putting all that extra datacenter capacity to good use, at the same time offering a value that has the potential to knock out the competition. At the very least, expect a downward spiral on prices for cloud-based storage.

Still, it’s not yet clear if you’ll be able to access iCloud Drive on older versions of iOS and OS X. I sort of expect there will be support for the latter, if only online.

Of course, with a more open iOS, the ability of apps to “talk” to other apps, the addition of support for third-party keyboards, and allowing other apps to access such features as TouchID, there’s the inevitable question about security. Certainly the fear mongers who ignore the severe security problems on the Android platform attempt to misdirect the discussion whenever Apple fixes a potential security leak.

But remember that Apple has been working on iOS for seven years, and only now do you see these enhancements and extensions to app sandboxing. Clearly Apple has been very circumspect about adding features unless or until security issues are resolved. But that won’t stop the chatter.

Nor, despite the wealth of new software features — far beyond the usual number for an iOS or OS X upgrade — will the critics stop complaining that there were no new hardware announcements. Not a chance. But Apple is still under the gun to launch some compelling gadgets over the next six months. Certainly the new iOS 8 technologies offer growing opportunities not just for Apple, but for other companies too.

All in all, while I’ve long felt Apple has stretched the envelope to tout over 200 new features in recent iOS and OS X releases, there seems to be no end to the enhanced feature sets for the upcoming updates. So maybe 400 this time?

After quite a run, and ahead of a 7-to-1 stock split, Apple’s stock price had declined slightly before the WWDC keynote on Monday. I suppose this was to be expected. The event was presaged with optimism, skepticism and silly claims about what the company must do to survive.

Some weeks back, for example, one online pundit who doesn’t deserve to be named or linked suggested that the company would be toast if the iWatch wasn’t released in 60 days. When that date passed, and Apple was still here, it merely represented yet another example of commentators lying through their teeth or making downright foolish claims to generate online traffic. Having a respect for facts and logic played second fiddle.

There was also the “Apple must” meme, that the WWDC keynote must be filled with new hardware and new product categories, even though it was ostensibly for developers. Thus, we know there would be news about iOS 8 and OS 10.10 because Apple said as much. But expectations that there would be new hardware weren’t met. There was no Apple TV or iWatch demonstration for developers, but the people who build apps for Apple gear still got plenty to consider, including a new simplified programming language known as Swift.

But OS 10 Yosemite? What about that Looney Toons cartoon character? Clearly Apple isn’t taking that into consideration with OS 10.10, which will sport the rumored flatter look and feel, reminiscent of iOS. The improved transparency effects and cleaner text and windows seem interesting enough if a new OS X skin appeals to you.

While Mavericks was heavily laden with hardware improvements to use RAM and power more efficiently, Yosemite is heavily disposed towards improvements for Mac users. Front and center is Continuity, which greatly simplifies the passage from Mac to iPhone to iPad, and back again. Email and messages can begin on one, and be completed on another. You can also use your Mac or, with iOS 8, your iPad to make and receive phone calls on your iPhone. Of course your iPhone has to be active on the same Wi-Fi network for this Handoff process to work. SMS messaging is also supported; again with a networked iPhone. You can also use your iPhone to set up an Instant Hotspot, though that would appear to require support from your wireless carrier, as Apple indicates on their site.

Clearly Apple’s critics will complain that Continuity is yet another way for Apple to rope you in to depending on their ecosystem. But there’s nothing wrong with that. Other companies and their sycophants in the tech media are probably jealous.

So iCloud becomes iCloud Drive, since you can now use it as an online repository for all your files, and even set up a traditional file/folder hierarchy that can be accessed on all your Apple gear, including your iPhone and iPad, along with a Windows PC. In a sense, Apple is going after Dropbox and the cloud storage systems from Microsoft and Google to set up seamless ways for you to store and easily transfer larger files. Mail for Yosemite, with the promise of greater speed and efficiency, has a new feature, dubbed Mail Drop, which lets you use your iCloud Drive as an intermediary for file attachments of up to 5GB. This will help you avoid the usual problem of sending large files to a recipient.

Email services traditionally limit attachments to less than 20MB. Windows users will simply receive a link in their email to retrieve the file, which definitely rains on Hightail’s parade.

Since iCloud now plays a larger role in storing your stuff, new storage plans are coming. You’ll still get 5GB free, but 20GB is just 99 cents per month, and  200GB is $3.99 per month. For small businesses, or families with loads of photos and other files to store and back up, the latter plan is the sweet spot. You’ll be able to get up to 1TB of storage once all the options are in place.

Spotlight has been enhanced to include both online and local searches, which is something you can already do under Windows. I suppose Apple is hoping you’ll move away from Safari searches and rely on Spotlight to find everything. Here’s why: While Google search is still supported and remains the default on Safari, Spotlight uses Microsoft Bing. I wonder how Google will react when they get the memo.

As with Mavericks, OS X Yosemite will be available this fall, probably between late September and late October, as a free download and is reportedly compatible with the very same Macs that can run OS 10.9. While developers are already downloading the first Yosemite preview, up to one million Mac users will receive access to Yosemite betas this summer. So be prepared to sign up as soon as possible. I expect they will want to get a few releases out before letting non-developers gain access to the seeds.

While iOS 8 also comes across as a compelling release, Apple has yet to say anything about side-by-side multitasking for iPads. I suppose that could come later. Meantime, in addition to the Swift development language, Apple is moving towards giving developers more flexility in building and selling iOS apps. There is, for example, support for Touch ID and third-party keyboards.

So, although the new QuickType predictive keyboard scheme may appeal to most users, those who want a Swype or another third-party keyboard to replace Apple’s will get full system support. Would that were true with other apps, and it would be nice to be able to pick something else as the default for such tasks as email and browsing.

As predicted, HealthKit will be designed to allow developers of health and fitness apps to seamlessly communicate with your iOS device and the new Health app. Such major medical institutions as Mayo Clinic have announced full support, which means you’ll be a tap away from monitoring your physical condition, and your doctor can receive immediate updates should test results require their attention.

Apple, by the way, promises what appears to be bulletproof security for Health and also for HomeKit, a tool for developers to build apps to better integrate your connected home. The HomeKit feature is called Secure Pairing, which supposedly means that only a registered iOS device can unlock your home, adjust the lights, turn on the microwave, or perform many other functions in your home.

Developers will be able to bundle apps at a special discount and offer beta testing functions via the App Store. A new “Explore” feature will make it easier for you to discover the more than 1.2 billion apps now available for iOS users.

While iOS 8 won’t look altogether different from iOS 7, and thus isn’t apt to be quite as polarizing, that can’t be said for Yosemite. Right after the initial announcement appeared in the tech media, one of my friends, who has already had a love/hate relationship with Mavericks, responded with just one word, “YUK!” Her concern is that it looks more like iOS, but I reminded her that it’s still OS X and her Mac will still run like a Mac despite the changes.

Oh, and by the way, the iPhone 4 is not on the iOS 8 compatibility list. It was hit or miss with iOS 7, so it makes sense it has been retired from future iOS updates.

In any case, Apple’s stock price resumed its upward climb Tuesday morning. Evidently Wall Street was impressed.

There’s something to be said about inserting one word in a headline, “Apple.” Sure the article may be about fruit, but most of you expect it’s about Apple Inc. The upshot is that the story gets more traction regardless of the value of the content, and that’s true even if it contains little more than boneheaded complaints, misleading claims, or outright falsehoods.

So take a story from a certain national newspaper entitled “Developers still make more money with Apple apps.” That’s true as far as it goes, but instead of actually explaining why the App Store is different from Google Play, and why developers stand to earn more money, the story largely repeats misleading memes about the alleged iOS versus Android “war.”

Indeed, can you even call it a war or just two companies striving in different ways to be successful in the current marketplace? You know, from reading the article, where the author stands.

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So one commentator suggests that, in buying Beats Electronics, Apple becomes “cool” again in a way the company hasn’t been in a while. I suppose you might see that possibility on the surface, what with the most recent actions involving share buybacks and stock splits.

Yet another commentator suggests that Apple just paid $3 billion for a successor to Tim Cook, claiming that the outspoken Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine was a master at the “reality distortion field” in the tradition of Steve Jobs. Sure, he is great at delivering great sound bites. He is outspoken, blunt, and isn’t shy about the direction of his criticisms. His first public comments included a pointed barb against the audio quality of Apple’s ear buds, but he isn’t being asked about the reputation of Beats headphones for delivering bass-heavy mushy sound. To be fair, recent models have been redesigned to offer a more neutral sonic signature, as recent reviews demonstrate, so maybe he’s being given a pass.

But being outspoken doesn’t necessarily qualify Iovine to be CEO of Apple. His expertise is largely in the music industry, and that’s the area in which he’ll work as an Apple employee under Eddy Cue. Still, that assumes he’ll stay put, since yet another commentator suggests he’ll leave once the check clears. Yet it’s also clear that Apple didn’t buy Beats for fancy headphones, though getting a highly-praised music streaming service makes sense. But any deal would likely have included long-term contracts for Iovine and Dr. Dre.

Yet another criticism has it that Apple could have used in-house design expertise to build superior headphones and improve iTunes Radio. Perhaps. But this isn’t the first time Apple has purchased companies with promising technologies to add or improve product features. Consider Siri, for example, or PA Semi, designers of low-power chips that were instrumental in creating the A-series processors. Or how about AuthenTec, a company that developed fingerprint recognition technology that became Touch ID?

In each case, these acquisitions, and no doubt all or most of the others in recent years, allowed Apple to save months or years of work in developing and delivering new technologies. They are only recent examples.

In 2000, Apple acquired a digital music app, SoundJam MP, from a small Mac developer, Casady & Greene. The developers, Jeffrey Robbin, Bill Kincaid and Dave Heller, became Apple employees, and, in early 2001, the app morphed into iTunes 1.0. Robbin reportedly remains lead developer of iTunes, but was also said to be involved in Apple’s TV project as of a 2011 report. He’s thus a key example of someone who didn’t leave Apple after his product was acquired.

In short, the assumption that Apple develops all its technology by itself is flawed. Don’t forget the fruits of the 1996 acquisition of NeXT as a major example of how the company became better because of an acquisition.

Indeed, Apple is a rarity among large tech companies. The histories of Google, HP, and Microsoft are littered with expensive acquisitions that didn’t improve the bottom line. Sure, Apple keeps technology acquisitions mostly quiet, although many have been revealed from SEC filings and random checks of information about tech executives who have become Apple employees.

This isn’t to say every single Apple acquisition has been the perfect fit. But by picking and choosing companies for specific technology needs and paying fairly low prices for them, it’s hard to come up with a clunker in the bunch. Sure, the Beats Electronics deal is high-profile. The price and the company’s co-founders made it impossible to do this deal on the down-low.

Yet that very factor may have worked to Apple’s benefit. The timing is perfect as well, coming just days ahead of the WWDC, where new versions of iOS and OS X are expected to be demonstrated, and there may be unknown new product or service surprises. All the speculation about the Beats deal over the last few weeks has delivered untold millions of dollars of free publicity for Apple, essentially drowning out whatever other tech companies were doing.

I mean, how many tech pundits were still talking about the Microsoft Surface 3 tablet/laptop/whatever after the initial coverage? What about Samsung’s new health and fitness wristband? This announcement also received some coverage, but, typical of most anything Samsung has done lately, you won’t remember it next week.

Sometimes you have to wonder how much of the Beats run-up was deliberate. Did Dr. Dre really exhibit a case of loose lips boasting at a party that he’d become the world’s first billionaire hip-hop artist? There were even published reports that Apple cut the price of the acquisition as a result, or was ready to bail. Really?

But don’t forget that Dre is a wealthy entrepreneur and not just a musical artist. It’s possible that his seeming offhand comments were carefully orchestrated, and Apple was fully aware of what he was doing. The same might be said for Iovine’s blunt comments at Wednesday’s Code conference session. They may have seemed spontaneous, perhaps accidental, but that may not at all be true.

An alleged new era of spontaneity? When has anything at Apple not been carefully orchestrated for maximum impact?