The crystal ball readers and rumor sites had a big day Monday when Apple CEO Tim Cook and crew delivered the WWDC keynote. Of of the things they\u00a0predicted will come to pass, and there were a some added goodies that are welcome if not earth-shattering..<\/p>\n
One prediction that failed was the hope\u00a0for new hardware. Refreshed MacBook Pros were expected by now. Last year a revised\u00a0MacBook Air was released in March, with MacBook Pros arrived starting in May. Some suggest that Apple is losing sales and ground against Windows hardware, although it’s not as if people are rushing to upgrade PCs either.<\/p>\n
In keeping with predictions that Apple would rebrand the Mac operating system to conform\u00a0to the company’s other platforms, macOS Sierra was announced. As expected, Siri will be include; also developer APIs for macOS and iOS will allow third party apps to link to Siri as well.<\/p>\n
One feature that might have traction is the promise of iCloud integration with the Desktop and Documents folders on your Mac, so you can access them from an iPhone and an iPad. All well and good, unless those two folders are positively huge \u2014 as mine are \u2014 and you must buy extra cloud storage.<\/p>\n
The other features slated for Sierra are potentially useful, but not must-haves.<\/p>\n
So the always buggy Continuity will gain a “Universal Clipboard” that allows you to copy text and photos on your iPhone or iPad and paste them on your Mac, and vice versa. I will assume this feature will depend on app developers adding support to their software, and that’s not guaranteed at all. Versions and other system enhancements announced over the years haven’t made their way into major productivity apps from the likes of Adobe, Microsoft and Quark.<\/p>\n
Sierra also adapts the Picture-in-Picture multitasking feature\u00a0from iOS, allowing you to float a video from iTunes and Safari on your desktop while\u00a0you’re working on something else. Again, I assume developers will be able to will add this feature over time if it catches on.<\/p>\n
While I lobbied for an enhanced version of Messages that supports more chatting systems, Apple chose, instead, to focus on the same fluff being attached to Messages for iOS 10. You’ll have text balloon animations, enlarged emojis (I can’t wait \u2014 or maybe I can), the ability to handwrite notes and other stuff that might attract younger people, but I suspect most of you are older than\u00a0the target audience.<\/p>\n
One potentially useful feature of Sierra is Optimized Storage, which will help you in case you are running out of storage space. With loads of Macs limited by small SSDs, infrequently used apps will be moved to iCloud. You’ll also receive reminders to remove old installers, duplicate files and other stuff that’s stuffing your Mac to the gills. Third party apps have allowed you to look for duplicates and other unneeded files, so it’s nice to see Apple putting that feature in the macOS.<\/p>\n
I also hope that Apple will make iCloud storage more useful by increasing the free\u00a0amount to, say, 25GB. Otherwise many of you will be forced to buy one of the paid plans to manage adding those less-used apps.<\/p>\n
I was hoping for some fundamental fixes for Mail, and maybe they are going to be there, hidden in the fine print. But I’m not holding out much hope for it.<\/p>\n
One of the most significant new features of iOS 10 may seem to be small potatoes, but it’s actually quite significant. So you’ll be able to remove most “first-party” apps just as you remove anyone else’s apps. That includes Maps, Contacts, Calendar, FaceTime and Music. Tim Cook made that promise a while back, and I’m glad it will be kept.<\/p>\n
You’ll also get all that silly fluff in Messages. But more significant is that yet another Android feature will make its debut in iOS 10, and that’s widgets. This will allow Apple and developers to put up those tiny app windows on the home and lock screens. It sort of reminds me of the failed Dashboard on the Mac. But it will give Android users one less reason not to switch to the iPhone.<\/p>\n
Apple also announced a long-awaited fix for Apple Music. With 15 million paying members \u2014 about half what Spotify claims \u2014 Apple Music is just shy of a year old. Spotify was founded in 2006. But after\u00a0loads of early adopters complained that Apple Music had an overly-cluttered interface, things appear to have changed for the better.<\/p>\n
So beginning with iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, there will be a new section known as “Downloaded Music,” which performs the identified task. Another new feature, “Curated For You” combines the Connect social network feature with curated\u00a0mixes. Or at least, that’s the promise. We’ll have to see, when it comes out, whether I should consider signing up. I tried it for the 90 day trial, and one day I realized I hadn’t used it in a while. So I didn’t renew.<\/p>\n
Maps also gets a redesign, with larger buttons and typefaces, making it easier for you to plan\u00a0a trip and glance at the progress. A Maps API will allow developers to use the extensions feature to link their own apps. So you’ll be able to make restaurant reservations courtesy of OpenTable, and, if you’re so inclined, book a ride via Uber.<\/p>\n
In adding these goodies \u2014 such as they are \u2014 Apple has removed support from some older gear, such as the iPhone 4s. That’s actually a good thing as that old handset \u2014 where Siri first debuted in 2011 \u2014 was hardly up to the task of managing iOS 9.<\/p>\n
As with prior operating systems, macOS Sierra and iOS 10 are due this fall; the latter most likely when the rumored iPhone 7 arrives.<\/p>\n
Useful revisions were also announced for tvOS and watchOS.<\/p>\n
Developers are getting the first betas to knock around this week. Public betas will appear by July. This will give Apple more time to get them\u00a0ready for public consumption. The Night Owl is already preparing to set aside an external drive on my iMac with which to test the early builds of Sierra. I will check\u00a0whether my wife is willing to submit her iPhone 5c to such abuse. She doesn’t use it that much, and I can always restore it if the beta is too bug-ridden.<\/p>\n
My overall view is that this is pretty much an average, though interesting, set of OS enhancements. Nice features, but little or nothing that will advance the state of the art. In saying that, however, I definitely plan to upgrade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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