Apple WWDC Event 2021 Key Announcements
Apple's WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) 2021 was held on June 7. Like last year, the event was hosted virtually owing to the coronavirus pandemic. WWDC is the American technology giant Apple's annual developer event. First, the company announced about its development concerning its software and services, followed by sessions with developers to bring them on-board the development process, which revealed the next iteration of its OS for iPhone, iPad, Watch, TV, Mac, etc.
The WWDC 2021 started with the keynote from Apple's CEO Tim Cook, streaming live from Apple's campus in California. In India, the WWDC 2021 keynote started at 10:30 pm (IST) on June 7. It was live-streamed on the Apple website, Apple TV app, and Apple Developer app. The event was also streamed on Google's YouTube on Apple's official channel.
The keynote started on the newest update to iOS, the latest iOS 15, macOS Monterey, watchOS 8, privacy, and other features.
Craig Federighi disclosed details on the latest significant changes done to iOS, mentioning that this announcement focuses on four major points - staying connected, finding focus, using intelligence, and exploring the world. He also told iOS 15 will roll into public beta in July 2021, with an entire release.
Updates on FaceTime
Spatial audio - Spatial audio makes it look more like a known voice coming from their on-screen position.
Voice isolation - Better voice separation when you're FaceTiming from a loud environment.
Portrait mode - The portrait mode from the camera app is coming up with pretty background blurring.
FaceTime links - Now, you will be able to generate shareable FaceTime links to authorize others to join FaceTime calls.
SharePlay - Shared audio/video streams to allow you to listen to music, watch the video, and control apps in sync with friends.
"Focus" mode
It enables you to customize modes on your phones like "work," where you can only find work-related apps or "personal," which tucks all those work apps and widgets and enables Vacation mode.
Notifications batching - We can set to batch less important messages collected and release them all at a specific time.
Live Text
The text in photos can now be recognized by the camera and make it selectable, searchable, etc. It can also acknowledge things beyond text, as well like animal breeds, landmarks, etc.
Apple Wallet
Apple permits to save keys of home, office, and hotel into its Apple Wallet, allowing you to unlock compatible doors in those places with your phone. You can also check into selected hotels using apple wallet. They are also working with the TSA to place an encrypted copy of your driver's license in Wallet, which is accepted at security screenings.
Apple Maps
Maps to get information-focused services with the addition of 3D elevation maps, 3D rendered landmarks, crosswalks, bike lanes, etc. Apple Maps similarly takes some prompts from Google Maps, which includes a mode where you use the camera to scan nearby buildings to find more precisely. In addition, the phone position will assist you in figuring out in which direction you're supposed to go for a walk.
AirPods updates
AirPods Pro will let you enhance the volume of voices by reducing the ambient noise of those around you when you're having a face-to-face conversation in a noisy environment. AirPods now works with the 'Find My app' wherein case if you leave them behind, it will alert you.
iPadOS
They are similar to the ones you've seen on iOS. With the add-on, it looks much well with a bigger screen. There is an "App Library" concept to make its way to iPadOS. A new multitasking menu will make things easier to handle multitasking on the iPad.
The Notes app enables you to mention someone in a shared note using "@" to get their attention and highlight changes when you come back to a shared doc. "Quick Notes," in the meantime, allows you to make a note from any place by swiping up from the bottom right corner of the screen.
iPadOS to get system-wide text translation choice, along with the applications for translating in-person conversations in real-time. In addition, Swift Playgrounds will let you build apps on the iPad and submit them to the App Store. It will be released in July for public beta.
Security updates
Mail app automatically unclear your IP address/location from those hidden marketers who love to tuck into emails. Siri's speech recognition on-device, keeping the audio recordings off Apple's servers, still allows Siri commands without an internet connection.
You can add your recovery contacts to your iCloud account, letting you pick friends who can assist you back to retrieve your iCloud account if you get locked out. You can also choose "Legacy" contacts who can request access to your iCloud data.
Health updates
Your iPhone will be able to analyze your footsteps, steps timing, etc., to analyze your "walking steadiness" to hopefully flag if your fall risk is increasing over time. The "Trends" summary in the health app indicates your step counts, heart rate, etc.
New "Health sharing" options will allow you to securely share health data with people you care about, like your parents or kids.
watchOS
watchOS tracks your respiratory rate and notes how you might breathe differently throughout the day. A new "Portraits" watchface will use your portrait photos to create an intelligent-looking clock layout. Text input is getting a complete refit on watchOS, with the "Scribble" handwriting recognition being integrated into the text view. Now you can use the crown to place the text cursor, then draw the letters/symbols you want from right on top of your text.
Public beta in July, full release.
macOS
The next major release is macOS for Apple's laptops which will be named macOS Monterey. All of the above mentioned are SharePlay stuff which lets you watch a video and listen to music in sync with friends over FaceTime, which also comes to macOS.
"Universal control" will allow you to use one keyboard/mouse setup to control multiple macs and iPads, automatically by recognizing when a new compatible device is placed nearby. For example, place an iPad next to your MacBook. It automatically extends, turning the two devices into one big canvas. Macs are also getting AirPlay, which allows you to send AirPlay content to your Mac's display.
The "Shortcuts" automation system from iOS is coming to macOS, letting you swiftly drag and drop together scripts to do the things you find yourself often doing. In addition, safari is getting UI renovation tabs that are being made smaller, and they're introducing a "tab groups" system to keep things prearranged. Tab groups will automatically sync between iCloud devices-public beta full release in July.
Dev stuff
Though it's called the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple keeps the keynote mainly focused on consumer-facing stuff and saves the most technical bits for the week's many breakout sessions. Devs will build multiple App Store product pages for the same app with different icons, screenshots, etc., to see which one resonates best. TestFlight the service for privately distributing pre-release/beta apps on Apple's phone/tablet/watch operating systems, which is coming to macOS.
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