What a WWDC 2018 it was!

It is that time of the year again. If you're a developer you usually follow what's happening when the FAGMA(Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon) companies host their annual developer events. I usually pay attention to //build and the WWDC. I love Microsoft for the way they bring all the disparate pieces together in quite a simple way and Apple who ALWAYS plays the ecosystem card. This year was no different. Here are some of my key takeaways from the WWDC 2018

Speed, Speed, Speed.

iOS 12's first focus area is speed. iOS over the years has gotten sluggish esp. with the older iPhones and iPads, and I'm glad they are working on it to make it faster - way faster actually. 40% faster app launch, camera - 70% faster, and keyboard 50% faster. I'm pretty sure that the adoption of Swift as the primary programming language for the iOS probably had to do something with it as well.

Adoption of latest iOS

This is one statistic that Apple always loves to flaunt about, esp. since Google falls flat on it's face. The latest iOS is installed on 81% of the devices within the first week as opposed to 6% for Android - a fragmented OS which is mostly controlled by the device manufacturers rather than Google. This is especially an important stat considering you always get the latest and the greatest security updates on time and not just all the cool features.

Siri Shortcuts

There was this cool app called Workflow that let you create just that, a workflow of tasks that can be executed in order to take care of something. For instance, if you're reaching home late, you can always kick off a Home ETA workflow that computes the time it takes, and creates a message ready for you to send it to let's say your spouse. Last year, Workflow was acquired by Apple and now it's being released as Siri shortcuts. If Workflow could do so many things being just another app in the AppStore, imagine what it could do being part of the OS. You can now even add custom commands to Siri from apps that you use. Exciting times ahead.

Digital detox

It's no secret that we are spending way more time on our phones than we want to on any given day. In the past, companies have created screen time kind of apps primarily for kids, but guess what, we adults need them as well. With the 'Screen Time' app you can see how much time you spent on each app, set restrictions, and heck even how many times you picked up your phone. The event was tailored to talk about how we "waste" time on Facebook and Instagram taking a dig at FB. This is by far the best step by a large tech company acting in the best interest of their users instead of the advertisers. Only Apple can afford to pull it off.

Further there were some minor improvements like grouped notifications and the ability to switch off and manage how notifications are sent right where the notification happens; stop the problem where it surfaces.

Augmented Reality

Rumors about AR taking off have been going on forever, and here's where Apple used its strong suit - partnerships. By partnering with Pixar they designed a new file format for AR - .USDZ which will allow sharing AR content seemlessly. By the way, Adobe which pioneers the tools for creators now natively supports USDZ format in their Creative Cloud applications. Lego is now working with Apple to create AR experiences that can be built on top of lego creations. And then there are multiplayer AR games coming as well, with viewers who can view the game as others play it. With the measure app, you can now measure physical objects in real space using the camera. Apple is working so hard to hit the home run on this one by making sure all the loose ends are tied, plus it's most likely going to upgrade its bionic chip next phone anyway.

Memoji and others

Communication is a big deal among the iPhone users - FaceTime now let's you have group video calls for up to 32 players. And if Animoji was not enough, now there's memoji, which helps you create custom animojis based on your face (real time). And if that's still not enough, you could video call as your memoji on FaceTime. Plus, you can now stick out your tongue, and the memoji will detect it. A lot of these features along with AR improvements are going to impact various experiences on Facebook Messenger and SnapChat with probably more people switching back to iMessages.

The Mac

As usual there was a new Mac OS, Mojave with a bunch of new features and apps, and privacy controls, and redesigned app store. Can't wait for it as well. I wonder at what point will the OSX and the iOS merge. Time will tell.

Misc

Carplay will now support custom map applications like Google Maps and Waze. Much needed. iBooks is now Apple Books; a personal thank you! this was bothering me for a while now.

It looks like this is the biggest iOS update in a while now. As this WWDC comes to a close, it is also important to note that Apple is now worth over 950 Billion dollars and is probably going to be worth more than a trillion dollars by the year end. It's financials have never been stronger, and its innovation never better, and its partnerships never wiser. Let's just hope it does well with the release of the next iPhone this Fall.