This week, you might have heard, was kinda like Christmas for Apple developers and fans. The WWDC19 Keynote overflowed with new and improved features, making splashes all over the tech-plane. I’ve tried to read and watch bits and pieces of the news here and there; it’s too much deluge of delight for this geek.
I first thought I’d write about my overall impressions. But it was like I could do that in a simple tweet: “Wow! [Insert more superlatives]”
Then I thought I would focus on my top three favorite features announced in the keynote. It would even make for a good headline, something like, “These Top Three Things Are The Best!”
But I couldn’t focus or settle enough to write those. Besides being overwhelmed by the gaggle of gadget goodies from Apple, I’ve been swamped by projects both at my day job and at home. So my blogging took a backseat behind other busy-ness driving me this week.
Now, squeezing in some time, I decided to just go random about some stuff from WWDC.
iOS 13 and iPadOS
Apple Books
Recently, I started to switch from kindle (gasp!) to Apple Books on my iPad. But one sticky part was goodreads. I use its annual reading goal feature, plus the reading progress updates, and it’s built-into kindle. This makes switching kinda hard.
But Apple said their Books app would now feature reading goals – with streaks!! So this helps me get unstuck from goodreads. From Apple’s website:
Read a book or listen to an audiobook for five minutes while in line for coffee, on your commute, or before bed to achieve your Daily Reading Goal. Build streaks to celebrate your achievements and share books you’ve finished with the Books Read this Year collection.
Files
The Files app got lots of attention and super good upgrades. A practical one for me: Document Scanner! Now I don’t need to use the Notes app to scan something like a receipt and then share it out to the Files app.
Apple’s site:
"Create a digital copy of physical documents and put them directly in the location where you want to store them."
Safari
Um, yeah, this is gonna be great! Desktop-class browsing. There’s your tweet. ‘Nuff said.
Dark Mode
Because I’m Batman! iOS now comes in black! This is practical for night-time usage. Also, it looks flippin’ cool! I love the way colors pop or seem to glow from the screen with the inky background.
Apple Single Sign-On
This might be one of the biggest game-changers of all. I’m very interested in how this will work out, but it looks like Apple has set it up well. Of course.
Apple:
"Sign in to apps and websites quickly and easily using the Apple ID you already have. No filling out forms or creating new passwords. Just tap Sign In with Apple, use Face ID or Touch ID, and you’re all set."
Photos
This one could be huge for me, and for everyone! I’m eager to see how the all new photos tab works with my own pictures. And without a doubt, I’m so glad they finally brought some more advanced photo editing tools to iPhone and iPad.
Here’s a quick list a just a few:
- Vibrance
- White Balance
- Sharpen
- Definition
- Noise Reduction
- Vignette
Maps
We finally get the equivalent to Google’s Street View feature! Apple calls it, “Look Around.” And it looked great in the demo from WWDC! Plus, you can now have Collections and Favorites for your favorite places. Very helpful! Also, “Share ETA.” This sounds like one of those details that Apple notices and makes it work great.
Reminders
Apple has totally redone the Reminders/Tasks/To-Dos app, and I’m super eager to try it and enjoy relying on it more than the current version. It looks like a solid upgrade, making it easier to use and adding better features.
Multi-colored flags! It’s the little things.
Notes
This app finally gets sub-folders! Great, but now that I’m doing all my notes in Ulysses…
Contacts and Memoji
It sounds like I will be able to make my own Memoji and use sticker packs even though my iPhone 7 does not have the 3D face camera. If true, that’s exciting!
I’d better end things here. There’s just so much that Apple is launching this year. It almost seems like two years worth of new stuff unloaded all at once.
There is at least one more thing from WWDC19 that I want to talk about, and I think it’s worth it’s own blog post. Look for that to come soon.