WWDC22: Apple Keynote Highlights

At the beginning of WWDC22, Tim Cook highlighted the importance of the "over 34 million Apple developers" stating, "use their superpowers to innovate, create, and collaborate, making apps that continue to change the world." So, first and foremost, Tim Cook announced the recent opening of Tech Talks for developers.

Tech Talks

Tech talks allow developers to learn more about Apple technologies, connect with Apple engineers, and have one-on-one office hours.

Developer Academies

Tim Cook also thought it was important to highlight their attempt to cultivating next generation engineers and unrepresented communities using developer academies.

Apple recently opened, last October, an Academy in Detroit geared toward what Tim Cook called Apple's "racial equity and justice initiative." They also opened one in Saudi Arabia specifically for women.

Entrepreneur Camps

Similarly, entrepreneur camps "for female founders" have recently "expanded the camps to reach black and Latin founders." Apple's hope, according to Tim Cook, is to create "tools, technologies, and inspiration to change the world for the better."

If you've ever watched an Apple's Summer WWDC, then you know that iOS, and software in general, tend to be the focus, and this year was no different, give or take a few exceptions. As Craig Federighi states, iOS software "helps you get so much done." It's largely about productivity, efficiency, and multitasking, especially after years of an increase in remote learning and remote work.

While the next generation iOS 16 is certainly going to help with all of that, it's also meant to largely provide "new intelligence, sharing, and communication features."

Lock Screen

Craig Federighi called iOS 16's Lock Screen revamp that "biggest update ever to the lock screen." After watching WWDC22, I have to say I haven't seen this many changes to lock screen, well... ever. So, I'd have to agree. The goal was to provide Apple users with "new ways to make it more, personal, beautiful, and helpful than ever."

With iOS 16, Lock Screen will be more customizable than any Apple User has yet to experience, which was pretty rad to see, to be honest.

You can easily customize themes, colors, and more with iOS 16 by doing the following steps:

1. Press and hold the Lock Screen to personalize
2. Click customize
3. Swipe to edit

You can also tap on any element to start editing, such as the time, etc. This allows you to fully customize nearly every element of your lock screen for the first time in iOS history.

Widgets, which are "really useful for getting information at a glance," are going to be available on Lock Screen with iOS 16 as well as a "brand new Wallpaper Gallery."

The Wallpaper Gallery is complete with various wallpapers, Photo shuffle, and suggested photos to use for your iPhone background. Lock screens can then be animated too, if that strikes your fancy! And, just like you can create multiple desktops on a Mac, with iOS 16 you can create multiple lock screens that shuffle, so you never get bored with seeing the same image day-after-day.

Lastly, with iOS 16 Widget Kit makes it easy for developers to add information from their apps to the new Lock Screen widgets.

Notifications

With a special focus on the new Lock Screen and notifications that don't distract, iOS 16 also overhauls the way Apple users receive notifications on their iPhones.

Instead of getting an endless stream, notifications "now roll in from the bottom of the lock screen" and can be easily hidden during work hours or movie time!

Live Activities

A new addition to your fancy, customized Lock Screen with iOS 16, includes Live Activities. Live Activities is truly an extension of Notifications and the Lock Screen that allows you to pin various notifications much like a widget is pinned. You can have sports, news, etc., all at a glance. You can even track your Uber driver while you wait for them!

Focus

Focus, geared towards helping you, you guessed it, focus will also be extended to your lock screen with iOS 16. So, you can have a dedicated lock screen for work, home, school, etc., and shuffle them at just the right time for each of those activities.

Focus filters, dedicated to "let you filter out distracting content," can also help reduce distraction. You can also "filter conversations, accounts in mail, and events in calendar" to provide you with a distraction free few minutes, hours, or even an entire weekend.

Messages

Apple made what they referred to as "three of the most highly requested" changes to messages with iOS 16:

1. The ability to change and edit messages after you send them
2. The ability to "unsend" a message you regret sending
3. The ability to mark any message as "unread" so you can come back to it later

Personally, these are all pretty exciting improvements to Messages, especially if you are a typo master like me.

However, probably the most exciting of the changes being made to Messages with iOS 16 is that Share Play is coming to Messages! Share Play allows Apple users to enjoy shared experiences over FaceTime (games, music, podcasts, etc.) With iOS 16, however, you can do this right in messages.

I can see why this was the most requested change from developers!

Dictation

With Dictation reportedly being used "18 billion times each month" (who knew?), it's no wonder Apple decided to make some major improvements with iOS 16. Referred to as an "all new on-device dictation experience," Dictation will now allow you to switch between voice and touch, fix mistakes via voice or touch more fluidly, and, to top it off, Dictation can fix punctuation automatically. Emoji dictation, adding emojis via dictation, has also been added.

Siri Shortcuts

Apparently, there are around "5,000 apps that use Siri and Siri Shortcuts", so with iOS 16, Shortcuts now work with zero set up! Which, to be honest, was a necessary step. While I love Shortcuts, they could be a pain to set up depending on the Shortcut, of course.

Live Text to Video

At WWDC21, Apple announced Live Text in Photos. Translating text or dialing a number from a photo became extremely easy. However, it's about to get even easier: now you can pause a video and interact with text from that video, translate a language, copy a phone number, etc., all from a video.

Developers will also have access to a Live text API, where "soon you will be able to grab text straight from photos and videos."

Additionally, users will be able to "touch and hold an image and place it in apps like messages." Suddenly, dragging and dropping pets right out of a photo is a wonderful possibility with iOS 16.

Wallet

Apple states that they are working hard to "replace your physical wallet," and while I don't necessarily think that's a necessary technological step, I could see how it could come in handy. TSI security check points are even accepting, or in the process of accepting, "in app ID verification."

Keys

Apple is also working on Keys, allowing you to unlock your "home, car, hotel, and office all with just your iPhone." While this technology is a long way off being readily available for everyone in every home, car, hotel, and office, it's an interesting advancement and Apple states that they are "working to make it industry standard."

Apple Pay

Apple is also expanding acceptance for Tap to pay on iPhone and expanding Apple Pay to Apple Pay Later, Pay Later allows you to make "four equal payments with zero interest and no late fees" using your Apple Pay account.

Apparently, developers and merchants work with Apple Pay as usual, so no additional work is needed for Pay Later to work in various locations.

Maps

Last year, Apple released a new and improved Maps app, one that provided immersive, 3D cities. With iOS 16, Apple Map's redesigned map will be available to 11 more regions, include improved driving and transit navigation, and have 6 more cities with 3D city view capabilities.

The updated Maps app will also include multistop-routing, which means that with iOS 16, you can now plan stops in advance; while you are driving, Siri can even add more stops without you having to take your eyes off-road. Personally, this sounds lovely for road-trips!

Lastly, you can add transit card to wallet and use within the Maps app.

Using Map Kit, developers can also use apps to create detailed Maps. Look Around will also be added to Map Kit so that "users get an immersive ground-level view."

Apple News

If you are a big sports fan, you can keep up with game scores on the Lock Screen, check out the "My Sports" section in Apple News, and explore your Favorites on any of your Apple devices since Favorites are synced.

You can also enjoy Friday night Baseball on Apple TV plus. Every Friday you can stream up to 2 free games. This service is FREE to subscribers and available in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia

Family Sharing

With iOS 16, you can create child accounts with built-in parental controls, "making it even easier to create accounts for kids." This new way to set up child accounts that have the "right" parental controls, takes just a few taps. The device will then be set up with all the parental controls already configured.

iOS 16 will also allow parents to respond to purchase requests right in messages.

Photos

This year, Apple is "introducing a better way to share photos with family," and it's pretty inventive.

With an iCloud shared Photo Library families can create a separate iCloud Photo Library that everyone can contribute to, or up to 5 people at least. What's great about this is that users can choose the photos so that only the photos you want to share are being sent to the shared library.

Essentially, this allows you to have both a personal library and a family one, maintaining your privacy while allowing all your family photos to be in one place! Pictures can be shared automatically and users will receive intelligent sharing suggestions when they take family photos.

Privacy

Apple states they are "always working hard to protect our users and their privacy," and, indeed, privacy has become a huge priority for Apple and their users. So, WWDC22 wouldn't be a WWDC without a little privacy and safety talk.

Probably my favorite changes in all of iOS 16 are the additional personal safety features. Safety Check, a new feature designed with those who are survivors of intimate partner violence in mind, will allow users to disable their location sharing, reset privacy permissions, and protect access to messages.

Safety Check was designed to help people escape abusive relationships, so a new section will be added in settings, so users can review or reset an abusers access to their data, location, restrict and manage their information, with the hopes that people can more safely flee their abusers.

Home

Apple acknowledged that not all Apple users have access to Home and Home accessories, and they "want to help bring these powerful experiences to as many homes as possible."

Matter, and the "Matter standard" provides the underlying foundation to connect smart home accessories." It also provides users with exceptional safety and privacy, encrypting data so that "even Apple can't see." It's also easy to set up and easy to use and gives users more accessories to chose from.

Additionally, the new Home app will allow you to "navigate, organize and view accessories differently." There are new, organized categories for accessories, a multi-camera view (4 at once), redesigned tiles, and more. The new app will be available on iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

CarPlay

Apple knows that "cars have changed a lot," and, with that in mind, has overhauled CarPlay in the hopes that iPhones will "play an even more important role" in how we drive, navigate, etc.

Apple refers to this as the "next generation of carplay. It will provide content for all drivers screens, which is fluid and consistant. It will let you tune your car's radio or change temperature durectly in CarPlay. You will also be able to customize widgets. The goal: "Information at a glance" that shows all your driving information, has different, customizable information clusters, as well as different backgrounds, layouts, themes, and styles.

Compatible vehicles will be announced late next year.

Watch Faces

With watchOS 9, Apple announces 4 new and improved Watch Faces:

1. Astronomy Face- remastered
2. Lunar Calendar- traditional holidays and special events
3. Playtime- Whimsical, animated numbers by artist Joy Fulton
4. Metropolitan- Available in many colors

The Podcast app will also be "refreshed," allowing users to search with the new search function. There will also be a listen now tab, which will make listening and shuffling simpler.

Activities

watchOS 9 will include "easy to use metrics, views, and training experiences inspired by athletes," making working out and tracking work-outs easier than ever.

New 3 running metrics:

1. Stride Length
2. Running Metrics
3. GTC (ground contact time)
4. Heart Rate Zones

watchOS 9 comes with machine learning that can monitor vertical osculation and torso movements to improve your form, stride, and learn when to speed up or rest.

Additionally, new custom workouts will be available to add structure to your run and routes can be automatically saved to tack progress.

If you like to do it all, there will be a new Multi-sport Workout Type that can switch between swimming, cycling, and running.

Lastly, with iOS 16 the Fitness app will be available to all users, workouts can be shared with friends, and the Fitness app will be available on iPhone.

Sleep App

With watchOS 9, the Sleep app will include Sleep Stage. Sleep stage will help you learn more about what stage of sleep you are in at any given time during the night. Users can review how much time they spend in each stage, when they woke up, and what each stage does for their health.

Because Apple states they "want to help push forward the science of sleep, Apple users can decide to contribute this data to propel science. Though, this is a voluntary contribution, not a required one.

Heart Health

Apple's "potentially life-saving care" in recent years monitoring Heart Rate has inspired them to take it one step further. With watchOS 9, Apple Watch users will be able to monitor time spent in AFib with AFib History. They can also identify the time of day or week most spent in AFib to determine trends. Apple calls it a "first of its kind feature. So, FDA clearance for AFib History is only still in the works.

Medications

According to Apple, "50% of people take prescription medications." Their goal was to make medication tracking easier, whether Apple users are taking prescription medications, vitamins, or supplements.

watchOS 9, will track and manage your medications in the Health app. It can also monitor and warn users of drug-drug interactions. It categorizes interactions as clinical, serious, and moderate. So, Apple users can determine the risks.

Privacy

Additionally, Apple took a moment to assure Apple users that Health data is encrypted and "not shared without your explicit permission."

Since Apple went from Intel to Apple Silicon, creating the first Mac M1's in 2020, it was only fitting that the WWDC22 include "next generation of Apple Silicon for the Mac," the M2 chip.

The second generation chip is designed specifically for the Mac and "goes beyond the remarkable features of M1," which were pretty remarkable. Apple's focus for the M2 chips is: "Power-efficient performance," which is focused on "maximizing performance" without sacrificing the battery life.

The M2 uses 20 billion transistors at 100 GB/s, which is 50% more bandwidth than the M1. It has 4 high-performance cores:

1. Ultrawide microarchitecture
2. 192KB instruction cache
3. 128KB data cache
4. Shared 16MB cache

Additionally, it has 4 high-efficiency cores:

1. Wide microarchitecture
2. 128KB instruction cache
3. 64KB data cache
4. Shared 4MB cache

Essentially, it's designed to perform without sacrificing battery life, out-performing a 10-core PC laptop chip by 1.9x while using significantly less power.

The Apple M2 chip has a 10-core GPU with Larger L2 cache, 3.6 teraflops, 111 gigatexels per second, 55 gigapixels per second, and can perform 15.8 trillion operations per second. The M2 uses "24 GB of unified memory for larger and more complex workloads," and has a "big boost in graphics performance." Suffice it to say, if you like your M1 Mac, you will love your M2 Mac.

Now, let's check out the first Macs that will be including the M2 chip!

It's not surprising that the first Mac to get the M2 chip will be the MacBook Air. According to Apple, it's "the world's best-selling laptop." The new MacBook Air comes in a wedge shape that has been evolved to create an ultra-thin MacBook Air.

In fact, Apple boasts of a "20% reduction in volume." And I thought my MacBook Air M1 was light!

Apple focused on providing Apple users with a light laptop with an excellent display. Not only will the next generation MacBook Air come with a bigger display with thinner borders, but it will be a liquid retina display with 2x the resolution and low-light performance. It's also 25% brighter than before and 1 billion colors are now supported!

The new MacBook Air M2 will also have a 1080p camera, an impressive integrated 2 speaker sound system, and spatial audio with Dolby Atmos.

Apple states that video editing performance is better than ever with the MacBook Air M2 and 18 hours of video playback. My favorite improvement to the MacBook Air M2 it's ability to Fast Charge, charging up to 50% in 30 minutes using a 67-watt adapter.

macOS Ventura is designed to allow Mac users to focus on work and easily move between tasks. So, Apple has focused on changes to functionality and efficiency.

Stage Manager

A new feature with macOS Ventura, Stage Manager is a "new way to automatically keep everything organized and move task to task." Essentially, it allows you to focus on the app you are using without the distractions by arranging windows to the left side of the screen and bringing the active app to the forefront. It can switch from active app to active app, moving apps to the left whenever you open a different app or window.

Stage Manager gathers your apps in piles. You can create overlapping windows with multiple apps open at the same time, as well as groups of apps and windows that you use together, while using Stage Manager.

Clicking the desktop when using Stage Manager moves the open window to the Stage Manager (left-side of the screen) and allows you to go back and forth between Desktop and Stage Manager.

Spotlight

Spotlight also undergoes a "big update" with macOS Ventura. With the next generation Spotlight, Mac users will be able to quickly launching an app, run a shortcut, or start a timer right from Spotlight.

Spotlight is also on the Home Screen with iOS 16.

Mail

Again, Apple boasts of great updates geared towards productivity such as "scheduled send," allowing Mac users to decide when a message will go through. Remind Me has also been added to Mail, making it easy to come back to a message that you meant to respond to later. Search also comes with "more accurate and complete results" that corrects typos.

Safari

Safari, what Apple calls the "world's fastest" and "most power efficient" browser, and a "trailblazer" for protecting your privacy, will include next generation communication upgrades and safety precautions such as:

1. Shared Tab Groups- Share all your tabs in one place, connect in real time, and "discover the web together."

2. Passkeys- "next generation credentials" that keep your accounts safe instead of the traditional passwords. Passkeys use Touch ID or Face ID to authenticate and create a passkey. Passkeys cannot be phished because they never leave your device, and cannot be leaked. Passkeys are also securely synced between devices using the iCloud Keychain.

Additionally, users can sign in on a non-apple device using their iPhone.

Gaming

Okay, this is another favorite! Apple Silicon is "taking graphics performance to new heights" and allowing gamers to "run the most demanding games with ease."

With a 10-core GPU (MacBook Air M2) and Metal 3, Mac users should be able to play games not previously available, or that simply played better on PC, on Macs. New features such as Metal FX Upscaling have been added to macOS Ventura that allow users to game in max resolution and quality.

No Man's Sky will be one of the first games to use Metal FX Upscaling, allowing users to enjoy a gaming experience on Macs that hasn't been possible before.

Apple also states that game loading is improved and "minimizes wait time" so that games are quick, "work quickly" giving gamers "access to high-quality textures, etc., without waiting"

And, one of the most exciting bits of news for gamers: Resident Evil Village is coming to Mac!!

Continuity

Continuity is a feature that's been around for years, designed to provide a seamless experience for Apple users with multiple Apple devices.

So, Apple has decided to up their Continuity game by extending Handoff to FaceTime, allowing you to Handoff a FaceTime call from Mac to iPhone, or iPhone to Mac, without disconnecting.

Another exciting addition to Continuity is Continuity Camera. Continuity Camera will allow users to use their iPhone as your webcam with your Mac. By attaching a simple stand to your iPhone and propping it into your Mac, your Mac can automatically detect the phone and the camera.

Using Center Stage, a feature of Continuity Camera, keeps you in-frame while moving around. And, Portrait mode blurs the background if you want the focus to be on you during a meeting.

There's also Desk View, which allows your friends or coworkers to see your desktop, as if you have a dedicated camera for their desktop. This would be a great option for events where crafts or other skills are being taught.

To make it even better, Continuity Camera can be used with any video conferencing app.

Belkin stands will be made available sometime this year.

Apple's iPadOS 16 release is focused on versatility and multitasking, allowing students and remote workers to do everything they need to do in a minute, hour, or day.

Many of the changes and improvements made to iOS 16 and macOS Ventura have been included in iPadOS 16. This means features like the new shared photo library, shared tabs, new Passkeys, and updates to mail should cross over to iPadOS.

Weather

There will also be new animations in the Weather app on iPadOS, modes in weather that are tappable so that you can get more information, and Weather Kit for developers to allow developers to use Weather in their apps.

Collaboration

Collaboration was a huge topic at the Apple WWDC22. With iPadOS 16, it was no different. Apple wants iPad users to be able to instantly kick off a collaboration, share a document to collaborate on (not just a copy), and see real-time edits.

By sharing a document or project in a Messages group, everyone from that group will get added automatically, so they can join in on the group. Your document is connected to the conversation and in the toolbar as well, they can open Collaboration.

With iPadOS 16, you can also experience real-time FaceTime collaboration. Notifications about which tabs are being viewed and who is viewing the tabs will pop up as each member of the group begins to edit, and clicking on tabs instantly appears for everyone so that your group can see what you see.

Collaboration works with a variety of apps like Notes and Keynote. If you don't have an iPad, don't worry, Collaboration features are coming to iOS 16 and macOS Ventura as well.

FreeForm

FreeForm, coming later this year, is a board for brainstorming, notes, file sharing, etc. Edits also happen in real-time and users will be able to see who is working where (using live-cursors).

With FreeForm, users can sketch or write a note, add photos, videos, documents, PDFs, links, data, and more. Users are also able to preview in real-time.

FreeForm will be available to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura later this year

Gaming

According to Apple, "M1 provides high performance graphics," and like MacOS Ventura, Metal 3 will allow incredible gameplay for gamers.

Additionally, there will be a new API that lets games download large assets while you are still gaming, so that gaming speeds don't slow down (i.e. less lagging!).

Game Center will also undergo an overhaul, bringing Activity to the game center dashboard. Stats and account changes will appear on your Game Center profile.

Lastly, SharePlay will allow you to game and play with those you love using SharePlay, just like with iOS 16, later this year! This feature will also be on macOS Ventura.

Apps

Desktop-Class apps will allow for undo/redo across the system, like a desktop (get it).

Customizable toolbars will be added to iPadOS 16, making the iPad experience more like a hybrid Mac experience.

Desktop-Class apps APIs will allow developers to add these features to their own apps as well.

Stage Manager

Like macOS Ventura, iPadOS will include Stage Manager, "unlocking full external display support." Again, many iPad users use their Mac like a laptop, so this allows them to take it to another level!

They will be able to resize windows like with macOS, and "powerful new layout capabilities to create my ideal work space." Stage manager gently moves and repositions your work space to your liking, just like with macOS Ventura.

Lastly, using Side-by-Side Displays, you will be able to drag and drop across displays using Stage Manager

As usual, Fall seems to be the deadline for the new iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and product release. While exact dates aren't given, generally Fall product launch and software releases are around the same time in mid-fall. Though, it is impossible to pin down exact dates.

iOS, iPad OS, watchOS, and macOS releases

• Developer Beta- Today
• Public Beta- July
• Fully Available- Fall

Watch the full presentation here: