Apple WWDC 2017: Here’s Everything Apple Announced

iOS 11

Apple WWDC is an event where the company introduces next major iOS and Mac OSX software updates, and just like every time, the company’s senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi announced the most anticipated iOS 11 and the next Mac OS; the High Sierra and Watch OS 4. The iOS 11 is the biggest ever software release ever for iPad, and High Sierra is a step closer to Apple’s very own File System. Let get into the full details of this software features.

Apple iOS 11:: Though the prime features of iOS 11 remain the same for iPhones and iPad’s, Apple has introduced few iPad specific features at the event.

  1. Files: Apple’s new Files app brings all your local storage files and cloud storage data under one roof for easy browsing, search, and organize all your files in one place. The dedicated recent files section gives you access to your recent files from all your iOS devices including the files within apps.
  2. Customizable Dock for iPad: The new customizable Dock offers quick access to frequently used apps, documents from any screen. The improved app switcher makes ti easy to switch between active apps. With iOS 11, Apple has included the Split View feature which lets you run two different apps simultaneously, and both these apps do remain active. You can drag open any app that you want to run from the dock and slide over to the left to close the second app in the split view.iOS 11 Dock
  3. Drag and Drop for iPad: Drag and Drop feature lets you to move text, photos, and even files from one app to another while working on an email or any other task.
  4. Apple Pencil for iPad: Apple has deeply integrated the Apple Pencil into iPad as it comes with inline drawing support and the notes feature can now be directly opened from the lock screen by tapping the Apple pencil n the display. With Apple Pencil, you can mark or annotate a PDF or screenshot easily.
  5. Document Scanner for iPad: The new Documents scanner feature in the Notes app senses and scans documents, crops them, and removes any tilt or glare. You can even fill the blanks, sign the documents and save them in the internal storage.Mark Notes
  6. Keyboard: The Quick Type keyboard offers One-handed keyboard mode, gives quick access to numbers, symbols, and more.
  7. Do Not Disturb Mode: With iOS 11, iPhone will detect if you are driving and will now automatically silence notifications to keep the screen dark. However, you can send an auto reply favorites contacts and let them know you are driving and cannot respond at the moment.Do Not Disturb
  8. Camera: With iOS 11 you can take portrait images with optical image stabilization, True Tone flash, and HDR. Live photos get continuous video loops and bounce effect. Memory movie feature will now be able to play videos in both portraits, and landscape orientation and the memories are now automatically created. The HEIF file format reduces the file size of every photo taken with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
  9. App Store: App drawer is now redesigned to make apps and games more discoverable. The App store features Original stories and editorial, updated daily in a new Today tab, as well as new Games and Apps tabs. Editorial Apps, helpful tips, and collections of must-have apps and games make the app store look cooler to look at. App Store
  10. Control Center: Control Center gets an overhaul with iOS 11. The most used quick settings and toggles are neatly arranged on one page, and it takes advantage of the 3D touch for better accessibility. The lock screen too has been modified, and it now delivers a better and simpler way to see Notifications in one place.Control Center
  11. App Maps: Apple Maps gets indoor maps for popular airports and malls around the world and lane guidance to avoid missing a turn or exit and check the speed limit of the road you’re on. Maps
  12. Apple Music: Apple Music app now lets you discover music that your friends are listening and you now listen to the playlist they’ve shared.Apple Music

iOS 11 will be available for iPhone 5s and later, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation, iPad mini 2 from the fall. iOS 11 beta (15A5278f) for developers is already available, and the open beta for the public will be available later this month.

Mac High Sierra OS: Not just for iPhone and iPad, Apple has also introduced new software update for MacBooks. The new Mac OS is called; The High Sierra. As we said above, one feature that caught the attention is the new Apple’s File System and it now has native support for High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and much more.The latest MacOS; the High Sierra packs Apple File System (APFS) offering faster file duplication, native encryption support, improved security, and simplified data backup and the new operating system secures data from system crashes and power outages and keeps the files safe. Moving along, Apple now claims Safari to be the fastest browser, and it can now identify who track your online behavior and simply block them.

High Sierra

It features autoplay block that detects websites that automatically play videos. The Email app gets better search refinement making it easy to find emails with top Hits search. The Photos application gets updated with persistent sidebar, and new drop-down menu for filtering content as all the photos and videos are arranged looped Live Photos and Memories categories and finally new editing tools to edit the photos on the go. The much awaited HEVC (H.265) support is here that is capable of 4K video streaming, and playback and VR content support is also included. Metal 2 is a redefined with improved performance adding machine learning technology to take advantage of speech recognition, natural language processing, and computer vision.

Mac High Sierra is now available to Developers and will be available to the public later this year.

Apple Watch OS 4: Along with iOS 11 and High Sierra, the company has also introduced Watch OS 4 with better siri integration and updates to Workouts and activities. The Watch OS 4 comes with a Siri-powered watch face that will offer more information on the display based on the time of the day, data such as Activity, Alarms, Breathe, Calendar, Maps, Reminders, and Wallet, headlines from the news app collected from apps on the Apple Watch display.

Watch OS 4

The Activity app now offers intelligent coaching and tailored encouragement to finish the activity rings on time more often. It is capable of offering personalized notifications if you are on the verge of earning an achievement and suggest you interesting activities to compete with yesterday’s activity levels. The Music app also gets updated that automatically syncs your New Music Mix, Favorites Mix and most listened to music. And, the Workout app gets updated and now gets tons of new improvements that includes auto-sets for pool swim workouts and new motion and heart rate algorithms for High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts.

The new GymKit will now allow users to pair their Apple Watch to treadmills, ellipticals, indoor bikes or stair steppers and most importantly, Apple has introduced Toy Story characters including Woody, Jessie, and Buzz Lightyear which turns static watch face to into cool new patterns.watchOS 4 will be available later this year as a free update to Apple Watch paired with iPhone 5s and later. Developers can now try out the WatchKit for watchOS 4.

These were some of the Software announcements made by Apple at the WWDC 2017 event. The company has also made some major hardware updates to the Mac, iMac and iPad line-up.

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Sai Krishna

Sai is a connoisseur of technology. Writing for tech related stuff is his passion. He is always aware of the latest happenings in the tech industry. In his free time, he loves to fiddle with different Operating Systems and software, assemble desktops, root and flash custom ROMs on Android devices.