WWDC Prediction and Wishes

by Kyle

WWDC IS HERE

Which means it's time to get excited and probably build up too much hype.

Regardless, I'd thought I'd try and compile of list of things I think are going to happen, and things I wish were happening:

Things I absolutely know are going to happen:

  • The Apple Watch will get ██████████

  • There will be a new █████████ API for ███████

  • Craig is going to demo ████████████

Predictions:

  • iOS and macOS get turnt to 11 🔥🔥🔥

  • Photos.app does what iPhoto used to do and syncs face data over iCloud.

  • Music.app adds user Profiles, shared playlists (viewable on someone's profile), and collaborative playlists. Beats had the first two in its streaming music service, and there were leaks earlier this year when a build of iTunes accidentally went out with a "Show Playlist on my Profile Page" checkbox, so I feel like this is coming.

  • iPad gets highlights, including upgrades to multitasking, differentiating software features, and maybe... maybe a calculator.

  • Siri expands its 'domains', including things like better calling/texting support, posting to various platforms, and being able to input data into note taking apps

  • iPad gets equivalent of 3D Touch - either by revamping the home screen to change some gestures, or through an API that allows the same actions to be just done by long pressing on iPad.

  • tvOS Siri gains parity with other platforms, i.e. hooking up to iMessage, being able to use Apps, and maybe even use Continuity to complete actions on other devices. This could be part of the whole Siri speaker thing if that happens.

  • Notification Center and Springboard on iOS gain more capabilities and possibly become more customizable.

  • More Workout modes on Apple Watch, (snowboarding, skiing, roller blading... basically anything that's in Health.app that's not in Workout.app)

  • Better Activity Sharing/Messages support. Like seeing a rich view of someone's latest workout, and not just the plain text that vaguely describes it. Or being able to pair with someone and accomplish the same workout over iMessage or Activity, competition wide. I'd go a step further and think about things like competitive events, but that might be a few years out.

Exhibit A of why better notifications/rich support for Activity is needed:

Wishes

  • I know I've um. said this before. But being able to export a health database from an old iPhone and bring it to a new iPhone, skipping iTunes or iCloud restore. Being able to back it up independently would help with a greater peace of mind, not only in case of catastrophe (iPhone goes into ocean but it was just backed up last night), but because I feel like there should be a better way to store a vitally important database. [And to keep those streaks]

  • Fruition of a few of the benefits of APFS. Maybe it comes to macOS, and possibly more storage savings are seen as a result of it.

  • Overall, hopefully a less glitchy experience when transferring restores between phones. Too often I've seen bugs get transferred over when restoring from an iCloud/iTunes backup. And there should be a more clear way to hopefully erase any of those errors while maintaining user data.

  • iCloud Profiles: This is somewhat of a vague idea, but I feel like with the recent addition of iCloud emphasis inside of the settings in iOS, why not use that data for a better user experience? i.e.: If I allow it, add my profile picture I set there to anyone in my Contacts contact card of me. Any phone numbers, addresses, emails, etc. I add could also be synced over. Obviously this would be a heavy user opt-in feature, but I think it could be pretty neat.

  • iTunes split up. I know everyone loves to bitch about iTunes. (I, for one, use it every day and have no issues with it). But I can agree that it's become a bloated app. Why do I need to open iTunes to collect diagnosis files from my iPhone? Why is there an App Store and a podcast directory all in the place where I listen to music? Having separate apps to do things with photos, buy movies, and download podcasts would make much more sense. And it would make it a lot simpler for the end user when they go to Music.app for Music, TV.app for their movies and shows, and Podcasts.app for their internet radios.