Apple annual event WWDC 2019 is here and the company has announced some of the major updates for its ecosystem this year. Starting right from iOS 13.0 to Watch OS 6 and a dedicated OS specifically for iPads with iPad OS and finally killing off the iTunes.
iOS 13:
Apple finally unveils the much-awaited iOS 13.0 today which is all set to launch along with new 2019 iPhones. As expected Apple has added the new Dark Mode which saves some of the juice of the device by turning the background to black. Do note that only Apple system apps are currently compatible with the Dark Mode and in the future, we can expect third-party apps to support the same. Another great feature is that one can automatically turn on the dark mode based on sunset or a particular time.
The new iOS 13.0 is faster than the predecessor and apps launches two times faster and will also come with 50% smaller app size with 60% smaller App updates. iOS 13 also drastically improves Face Unlock speeds by 30%. Apple has now added the swiping functionality to its default keyboard app which we already saw on Android.
Further, Apple is also adding granular location permissions for apps – you can now allow an app to see your location only once. Along with this Apple has also added background tracking alerts which gives more info about how apps using your location data. Apple is also giving the inbuilt updates to its Maps app which will bring new UI with a bar at the bottom for easy navigation and adds Look Around which is Apple version of Google Street View.
Now one can easily sign in to Apps through Apple new Sign In a system with the help of Face ID or Touch ID. Apple will send a random ID and when apps demand email ID then one can share your personal mail id or Apple will create a random mail id for the same. New Message app brings in the Memoji where one can add your name along with it and send messages to your friends. Apple has also added the new Memoji Stickers which will be supported to all devices with Apple A9 chip and above.
Further, Apple has also updated its Photo App with new redesigned UI for editing photos and Apple new AI will help to delete duplicate images. One can now view photos based on by day or by month, and videos autoplay as you go. Now one can also adjust the Portrait lighting effect directly from Camera App.
Siri is now more improved and better than the previous version with better sound and less robotic voice. When one wears the AirPods Siri will automatically read all your messages and one can reply back on spot through voice. Siri can now play live radio directly from the app with support for nearly 1,00,000 radio station worldwide. Siri has now come with new shortcuts functionality on the iOS 13 home screen which is a collection of to do a feature that allows creating multiple tasks on the screen and also suggests a few new tasks.
Further, Reminder apps have got few changes, CarPlay app got the major update with the dashboard to view music, maps, and more in one single view. The calendar app has also got some minor changes The Files app can now share your files from USB Drive or flash drives directly to iCloud Drive.
The new iOS 13 will be rolled out to all iPhone starting from iPhone 6S and above along with iPods later this fall. Apple to start the first public beta of iOS 13 later this month.
iPad OS:
Now finally Apple has made a dedicated OS for iPads with iPad OS as it celebrates nine years. Anyway, the new iPad OS comes with a redesigned home screen which looks a lot similar to Android with support for widgets and new icons side by side.
Slide over aka floating app can be launched by just swiping from the bottom of the screen along with second app on window mode. Further, Apple has also improved its multi-window mode which is a lot smoother and faster along with same apps can be run side by side at once.
Apple has also added some bunch of new gesture which will take time to learn. The new iCloud Drive has now finally got the folder sharing option along with support for ZIP files and thumb drives. Further, the Safari app has got a dedicated download manager along with almost 30 keyboard based shortcut keys which give us desktop-like experience.
One can just do three finger pinch to copy the text and three finger swipe to Undo which gives users one-hand usage experience. Further, Apple has now reduced the Apple Pencil latency from 12ms to 9ms. The new iPad OS will be available for iPad Air 2 and later, all iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation and later and iPad mini 4 and later this fall.
macOS Catalina:
Apple has also updated its macOS with new macOS Catalina. The new macOS Catalina brings bad news of ditching the iTunes completely and will be replaced by three new apps with Apple Music, Podcast and TV. So Apple has said goodbye to iTunes from the new macOS Catalina and we are still not sure whether iTunes app will ever run on Windows.
macOS Catalina gets support for secondary display with Sidecar that allows your iPad as your second screen for MacBook. Further, the iPad also acts as input for the MacBook with the help of new feature Sidecar. Apple has made the new macOS Catalina completely voice control so one can control the MacBook with help of voice.
Now Find My Mac will even work offline so that one can trace your lost MacBook even if the device is not connected to the internet. Apple has now added Activation Lock on all T2-enabled devices when turned on now one will be able to use the MacBook.
The new macOS Catalina gets one of the biggest features with Project Catalyst. The new Project Catalyst will allow developers to enable iPad and iPhone Apps to run on MacBook. The new macOS Catalina will be a free upgrade to all MacBooks later this fall and the first beta will be available right from today.
