It is that time of the year when Apple users start getting excited about what all new features they’re going to get in the future.
Yes, we’re talking about the World Wide Developers Conference 2014 (WWDC 2014). With the WWDC marking its 25thanniversary, Apple announced the iOS 8, and many other things, and left no stone unturned to deliver everything in style ,which was proved when Craig Federighi, the Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Apple, called the infamous rapper Dr.Dre live on stage.
Apple CEO, Tim Cook took the stage to firstly talk about OS X Yosemite, followed with the theme of naming OS versions after impressive California landmarks. The translucent appearance of the apps in this version of the Mac operating system created a strong impression among the people attending the conference. So let’s talk about the OS X Yosemite first.
Notification Center
Apple’s notification center got an amazing tweak, incorporating what you used to see in widgets before, including the calendar and weather at a glance. This consolidates the information and tools for which you had to go to different parts of the OS X UI.
Spotlight
Now opening up Spotlight opens a search window right in the middle of the screen.Spotlight not just searches the files and calendars, but will also show results from the App Store, Wikipedia, Maps, Bing, iTunes, and iBooks.
iCloud Drive
iCloud is now getting a more user-friendly integration into the desktop UI with what Apple is calling "iCloud Drive". You can now view files directly in your iCloud in a Finder.
It's been quite some time now that the Apple Mail has been lagging behind in competition. In this version, a new feature "Mail Drop" has been created for sending attachments that are too big for the ordinary email. Instead of bouncing the file and message back, Apple creates a new message secure link so that your recipient can download it. Moreover, Mail is getting image editing tool, appropriately called "Markup". It allows you to draw, write, add text bubbles, etc. to the images.
Safari
Heavy improvements have been made to Safari's speed. It loads JavaScript 6x faster than Firefox and Chrome according to Apple. A new birds-eye view has been introduced to the multi-tab section.
Handoff
This is one of the best key features introduced. Handoff allows you to start an activity on one Apple device and then continue it on another from where you left.
Now, let's talk about iOS 8
iOS 8 has been made more user-friendly by adding up a lot of new features.
Handoff
Let's start from where we left in OS X Yosemite. AirDrop works between iOS devices and Macs, which allows you to send items back and forth between the two. You can even pick up calls and send messages on your iPad and Mac.
Notification Center
It is the most user-friendly feature of all. Now, notifications give you the ability to reply quickly from the lockscreen and from the notifications themselves. Notification center has also added support for widgets from the third-party apps.
Spotlight
Spotlight will now suggest results for restaurants, movie theaters, Wikipedia results, web searches and even for iTunes Music and App Store.
Keyboard
iOS 8 is bringing a lot of enhancements to the keyboard. Predictive word suggestions according to the context of your conversation is one of them. Third-party apps like SwiftKey Keyboard will also be allowed to be used as a keyboard.
Messages
Group messaging has been introduced. Message threads can now be set to Do Not Disturb. Support for video and audio chat, and self-destruct messages such as Snapchat have also been added to make it more interesting than the current version.
Family Sharing
This feature lets you easily share calendars, reminders, media, even apps and all the purchases made from the same credit card. If a member tries to buy something, it will ask for permission from the main member (owner). It is very handy if you have children.
Siri
Just like Google used to listen to "Okay, Google" now Siri will activate hands-free with "Hey, Siri".
HealthKit
Apple will launch a new app called Health to monitor health data being generated by your phone, other third-party apps and wearable devices. Sleep data, calories burnt, heart rate and other such metrics could be monitored with the help of this one powerful app.
TouchID in Third-Party Apps
Currently, Apple's TouchID fingerprint sensor can be used to unlock the phone, make iTunes and App Store purchases. In iOS 8, the TouchID will also be open to third-party apps.
Photos
Photos in iOS 8 will be instantly synced across your iOS devices via iCloud. New smart controls have been added to edit light, color, and the straightness of a photo. Brightness, shadows, exposure and contrast will all change together intelligently. iOS 8 also allows third-party access to camera data via an API.
HomeKit
Apple is now stepping into home automation by introducing HomeKit to connect to equipments from a number of manufacturers. HomeKit creates a unified interface to control locks, lights, camera, doors, thermostats, plugs, switches etc. It has Siri integration in it. Like when you're on your bed you could just say "Hey Siri, it's bedtime" and your doors will get locked and your lights will get dim.
The following features are just for Developers.
The incorporation of these new improvements to the App Store has made it the "Biggest release since the launch of App Store" as stated by the Apple CEO Tim Cook.
TestFlight
Apple acquired TestFlight back in February and spared no time in integrating the service into iOS. TestFlight is the beta testing service which will be available to the developers soon.
Metal
Metal will give the developers almost all access to the Apple's A7 processor. Metal boasts 10x faster cell draw rates, efficient multi-threading and GPU computation.
Swift
It is an effort to create programming language with the power of Objective-C without all the complexities. It will still support the old Objective-C code. More information about Swift can be found here.
All in all, Apple has just moved 2 steps closer to the Android & Windows UI, but without the lag and with more slickness which will help them get more customers.
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