Apple gave its annual keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, announcing a bevy of new features for both iOS and Mac OS X. I was actually most excited about the Mac stuff, but iOS received some much-needed love as well. The number of websites covering WWDC is overwhelming, but that won’t stop me from listing the features that got me the most excited.
1. Continuity
This is at the top of the list for me. The ability to put down my iPad or iPhone, and seamlessly pick up where I left off on my Mac (or vice versa) is going to be very convenient. And using my Mac as a speakerphone might seem like a novelty, but I could see myself using this often, especially if it works with a headset and microphone. That would be a great way to take notes during a meeting, without sacrificing sound quality.
2. iCloud Drive
Dropbox is already a huge part of my workflow, but I’ve always found iCloud to be more convenient on my Mac and iOS devices – just save a document without giving a thought to its location. The one shortcoming has been how locked in iCloud is to the Mac and to iOS devices. No more, from the sounds of it.
3. Spotlight
I am a bit torn on this one. I love Alfred, but as I watched the keynote, I realized that I only scratch the surface of Alfred’s features. I use it primarily for app launching and web searches. OS X Yosemite looks like it brings this ability, plus more, in a very attractive interface.
4. Mail Drop
Every year at WWDC, it seems that Apple announces new features that make some apps irrelevant. This year, one of those features is Mail Drop, which lets you bypass email server size restrictions in the sending of email attachments. I already use CargoLifter, an app that uploads large attachments to Dropbox, and replaces the attachment with a link in the message. Mail Drop seems like it kills the need for an app like CargoLifter.
5. iOS Keyboard Enhancements
If Apple had stopped with the announcement of predictive typing, I would have been excited. Apple went one step further and announced support for third party keyboards. The one area in which iOS lags behind Android, and the one feature I miss most about my Android phone, was the keyboard. In Android, I was a devoted user of Swype. The developers of Swype have already announced that they’re working on an iOS version of their keyboard. I also hope that third party keyboard support opens the door for apps like TextExpander to be used system-wide.
6. Inter-App Communication on iOS
I’ll leave it to people smarter to me to think of the possibilities, but the ability for apps on iOS to interact with each other in a sandboxed sort of way, has HUGE implications.
7. Markup
I don’t know how often I’ll use the ability to annotate photos, but I will use the ability to sign documents with my trackpad.
Final Thoughts
HealthKit and HomeKit didn’t make my list, only because I want to see more information on both before making any judgments. I do use a Fitbit, so HealthKit could be intriguing. And home automation has been on my radar for some time, so I will be interested to see how Apple delivers in HealthKit.
The overriding takeaway from the WWDC is that Apple seems intent on providing incentives for you to use Apple gear for all of your tech needs, whether on desktop or mobile. Some will view this as “lock in” while others will view it as convenient.
What interested you in the keynote?
