Thanks to the COVID-19, Apple had to take it’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference virtual and the event yesterday was a nice one where the company announced a series of products and updates during it’s keynote which was headed by the company’s corporate boss Tim Cook who began his speech by addressing issues about the Black Lives Matter and the COVID-19 pandemic some of the biggest events which had sent the world into spiral since the beginning of the year. Apple WWDC 2020 announcement is basically about the tweaks to it’s software and upgrades.
Aside the societal issues, Apple further revealed a number of updates to it’s software which includes the new iOS 14, iPadOS 14, MacOS Big Sur, a new TvOS update as well as the WatchOS 7 with the public beta starting next month while the finalized stable release should be by fall of the year 2020.
And as we have announced earlier, Apple is moving away from Intel to it’s own ARM-based chip which would power it’s next generation Mac computer with that said, the company can further focus on efficiency as well as design all which should make the next Mac computers faster and better and the roll-out of new computers should be as early as the end of the year 2020.
Apple Big Sur software is meant to support the new Apple processor whose performance is expected to be great. With Rosetta 2, older applications will automatically recompile older applications to make them compatible with the new Big Sur. Catalyst-compiled iOS and iPadOS apps and games will run natively starting on Day One.
Other big update includes those on the AirPods firmware which would allow a seamless Smart switch between devices. Also the AirPods Pro gets spatial audio which utilizes a gyro technology and accelerometer to tack head movement. Applications will also have provision for granular options for location tracking as well as give developers a way to show more detail about the kind of information they’re capturing.
TvOS also gets better multiuser support which allows you pick up where you stopped as well as now being supported by Xbox Elite and Xbox Adaptive controllers. But let’s take the Apple WWDC 2020 announcement one after the other.
iOS 14 gets a big revamp
Tweaks to the iOS 14 above the current version includes new capabilities for Siri which includes Google Translate-like app for love conversational translations. There are also new updates to the message app which includes the ability to pin messages and also tweaks to group conversations and tweaks for Memoji.
Other native software to get much needed updates includes the Maps application which now get new features which includes cycling navigation for more cities, EV routing, CarPlay and more. App Clips is now also available on the App Store for quick access to new applications as well as linking between apps from the likes of Safari to the rest.
There is also now Picture-in-picture feature which seems to only be initially be available on the iPadOS but now included on the iOS 14 which basically allows a floating thumbnail of a video if you switch to visit your device’s homescreen for whatever reason. As for Smart home technology, the Home app gives support for adaptive lighting as well as the ability to define activity zones for cameras as well as support for face recognition from doorbell across all devices.
The iPadOS 14
There is now an improvement with the Photo navigation with a sidebar design which also has been integrated into a number of Apple’s native applications to compliment the feature. There are also compact notifications for incoming calls just as they’re on the new iOS. The search has been redesigned and can be used from anywhere .
There is now a good handwriting recognition for note taking with the Apple Pencil in the Scribble application. You also get the ability to copy and paste more intelligently as well as the ability to write into text fields just as we’ve seen on Windows 10. With that, it is able to detect languages too.
MacOS Big Sur
The MacOS Big Sur is now redesigned from ground up to have support for the Apple’s own ARM-based chipset. The control center in the menu bar, widgets and notification center are now redesigned as well but you wouldn’t need to get schooled to really go about it.
There is now native support for the Mac Catalyst, the app that simply brings the iOS app into the MacOS. Safari tweak will get more efficient and faster with enhanced privacy features as well as more granular controls over how long the privileges granted to sites can last for.
Lastly WatchOS 7
There have been a lot said about the WatchOS 7 and the update proves that. The update will get more watch faces which can be easily customized to suite your need which can also be shared. There is also new sleep tracking tweak to make the WatchOS 7 better while also featuring handwashing tracking….yeah, this is a perilous COVID-19 time. Well that’s it about the Apple WWDC 2020 announcement.
