Apple WWDC 2018: the latest announcements from the keynote

We expected coming into WWDC that iOS 12 would focus less on major new features and more on improving performance and eliminating bugs, and that’s partially true based on what Apple showed onstage. “For iOS 12, we are doubling down on performance,” said software VP Craig Federighi. But the new update for iPhones and iPads does include some significant additions, changes, and improvements. Screen Time, Memoji, Group FaceTime, and grouped notifications are just some of the new things that you’ll notice when you install iOS 12 this fall (or sooner if you join the beta coming later this month). The update will be available on all the same devices that received iOS 11.

Apple is working to make iOS feel faster than ever — particularly on older iPhones and iPads. Federighi said that in Apple’s tests on an iPhone 6 Plus, apps launch 40 percent faster, the system keyboard comes up 50 percent faster, and opening the camera is 70 percent faster. Apple is working to speed things up for the full range of devices supported by iOS 12. The company is also focused on times when devices are under heavy load; iPhones and iPads will now be better than ever at delivering optimal performance while also prolonging battery life.

You may now start to see Apple Maps embeds in websites around the internet, as Apple has opened up a web-based API for developers in beta, it announced today at WWDC.

In the past, Apple has embedded maps on some of its websites like iCloud.com’s Find My iPhone page or the Apple Store site. But the company has kept the ability to embed Apple Maps on web browsers internal until now, unlike its rivals, Google Maps and Microsoft’s Bing Maps.

Most of us look forward to Apple events. We’re curious to see what new features will be introduced, regardless of whether we’ll ever actually use them. But for some developers, it can be a nerve-wracking time for one simple reason: what if Apple decides to clone your app?

Having your service or software copied is an occupational hazard for any developer, but the danger is particularly acute in Apple’s ecosystem because of the power the company wields over its OS and its users. The practice even has its own nickname — “Sherlocking” — named after Apple’s Sherlock search tool, which, in 2002, introduced a bunch of features previously found in third-party rival Watson.

Apple’s WWDC keynote yesterday was filled to the brim with software announcements for every Apple device from iOS phones and tablets to macOS computers. But one thing was conspicuously missing from the keynote: new hardware.

Technically, Apple did quietly release some new physical products at WWDC 2018, as spotted by AppleInsider. As has now become tradition, Apple unveiled new iPhone cases and Apple Watch straps in its summer 2018 seasonal colors of peach, marine green, and sky blue. Silicone cases for the iPhone X, 8 Plus, and 7 Plus will set you back $39, while the smaller iPhone 8 and 7 versions will cost $35. Meanwhile, Apple Watch Sport Bands in the new hues will cost $49 (for either the 42mm or 38mm sizes.)

Developer conference season is coming to an end with Apple’s WWDC this week, and the main takeaway is that between Google’s “Digital Wellbeing” and Apple’s “Screen Time,” the two biggest smartphone developers are taking some time to discourage smartphone overuse.

On the surface, the two companies are taking very similar approaches with the tools they’re offering to present information to users. Apple and Google are both adding new dashboards, with options for more zoomed-out perspectives on how you’re spending your time, along with more granular views of how often you’re using individual apps — down to the minute. There’s data on how many notifications you’ve received, where they’re coming from, and breakdowns of when you’re actually on your phone.

iOS developer Guilherme Rambo has been poking around the new iOS 12 beta, and code contained within appears to confirm something that has been rumored multiple times: Face ID is coming to the iPad. Videos and screenshots tweeted by Rambo show that iOS 12 contains hidden references to Face ID on the iPad, including the setup UI and relevant section of the settings menu.

It's possible that these references could pertain to a feature that lets you unlock an iPad with an iPhone X, like how you can unlock a Mac with an Apple Watch, but that seems unlikely. The inclusion of the setup UI suggests it's for a device actually equipped with the Face ID sensors, which is something that has been credibly reported as planned for this year, so it seems safe to say an iPad with Face ID is on the way.

Apple hasn’t officially announced an augmented reality headset or goggles, but the company’s lack of hardware hasn’t kept it from staying at the front of the pack when it comes to AR experiences. The iOS framework that enables these apps, ARKit, got an update announced today at Apple’s WWDC, and with it comes multi-person AR software. It’s a really interesting feature that opens up a ton of new possibilities for gaming, education software, and a number of other situations in which having a shared virtual environment might be useful.

To showcase the feature here at the San Jose Convention Center, the company set up a few of its elongated, trademark wooden tables (seemingly straight from an Apple Store) that acted as a barren surface for the AR environment to populate. The demo pit up to four people against one another on teams of two in a game called SwiftShot. Effectively, it was a competitive slingshot game that demanded players use an iOS device to aim and fire pellets at the enemy team’s base, with the goal of knocking off all three pillars for a victory.

Apple never gets around to addressing every new addition or change that it’s making to iOS during the WWDC keynote; there’s just not enough time. Sometimes the company will list a whole bunch of them on a big slide after software VP Craig Federighi goes over the big ones onstage. But that didn’t happen today. Luckily, Apple has posted a pretty comprehensive website of everything new in iOS 12. I’m gonna run through some of the cool, smaller features that didn’t get any stage time.

Smoother animations

For years, Facebook’s sneakiest data-collector has been the “Like” button. Any site that wants Facebook traffic needs one, which means they’re just about everywhere. And in order to work right, the button needs to log you in — which is to say, it needs to know who you are. How else would Facebook know who liked the post? Even if you don’t click, Facebook registers that you loaded the button, which means they get a map of every Like-enabled site you’ve been to, just the kind of data that advertisers will pay to target against.

Today at WWDC, Apple took a direct shot at that system and Facebook itself. Onstage, Apple’s VP of software Craig Federighi described Safari’s new anti-tracking features in unusually confrontational terms.

Apple kickstarted its annual WWDC event today with a keynote led by CEO Tim Cook, where he introduced all the latest updates for iOS 12 and the new macOS. The keynote this year comes off of a quieter season for Apple. The company just had a press event back in March for its educational iPad launch in the midst of strong iPhone sales but unfavorable news cycles around HomePods leaving ring marks on wooden tables, defective MacBook Pro keyboards, and the fallout since confirming that it throttled iPhone speeds for depreciating batteries.

Starting today, the company hopes to set a new tone for the year. Here are some of the highlights.

Apple is finally overhauling the Mac App Store in macOS 10.14 Mojave, featuring an all-new design inspired by the similarly redesigned App Store introduced on iOS 11.

The new design has a central Discover feed just like on iOS, with featured stories on curated apps selected by Apple and with rich content and autoplay videos. Apple is also sorting out new Create, Work, Play, and Develop categories showcasing featured applications under those headings (similar to how iOS breaks out Games into its own section). Product pages have also been redesigned, with new video previews here and more prominent reviews.

Macs and iOS devices have been getting closer and closer to each other in terms of functionality, and now Apple is bridging that gap with an announcement that the company will be making it easier to port iOS applications over to macOS at its WWDC.

Apple has already been testing its new frameworks, with the recently revealed News, Stocks, Voice Memos, and Home apps that Apple introduced with Mojave all actually being ported versions of the iOS apps. According to Apple, the cross-platform porting is made possible by integrating elements of iOS’s UIKit frameworks directly into macOS, alongside the existing AppKit framework used on desktop.

The next version of macOS will be called Mojave and will come with a bunch of new features including a dark mode, more organizational options, and desktop versions of several iOS apps. Apple CEO Tim Cook said Mojave’s new features are “inspired by pro users, but designed for everyone.”

The new version was announced today at WWDC, Apple’s annual developer conference. A public beta will likely start this summer, with a final release coming in the fall.

Apple announced some new features for its Apple TV set-top box during WWDC today. The company is bringing live sports and news to the TV app, along with full Dolby Atmos support coming to the Apple TV 4K.

Apple TV 4K is now the first (and only) streaming device to support both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. iTunes Movies will start offering Dolby Atmos this fall, and just like when Apple started offering 4K videos, any movies you already own will get updated to Atmos for free.

Apple’s popular smartwatch will be getting a new software update later this year in the form of watchOS 5. It will add new features for health and fitness tracking, as well as software that aligns with the screen time limitations that are coming with iOS 12 on the iPhone and iPad.

For health and fitness features, watchOS 5 will let you challenge your friends to competitions up to seven days in length. It will also include new workout types for yoga activities and hiking. Runners will benefit from improved tracking for your pace and cadence. Perhaps most significant is the new automatic workout tracking, which will prompt you to track an activity when it detects that you might be working out. It will even work retroactively if you don’t start the tracking right at the beginning of your workout.

Apple is launching group FaceTime chats with iOS 12 that’ll be able to accommodate up to 32 participants. FaceTime will be integrated into Messages, so you can easily transition a group chat to a group video call. FaceTime will also feature filters and Animoji, as well as the company’s new Memoji.

Apple demoed the new FaceTime, which features tiles of people’s faces. Below the main tiles are a “roster” of other participants. People who talk are highlighted in the tiles. It’s an interesting interface that looks unlike other video chats. Users can also manually select people they want to see highlighted. The filters look like fun.

Apple announced today at WWDC that Animoji is getting updated with tongue detection, new characters, and the ability to create a custom Animoji that looks like you, called Memoji.

Now, where you would normally select Animoji, swipe right and click on the add button to create a custom Memoji. Here you can build a virtual version of you from the ground up, picking things like freckles, skin color, hairstyle, and accessories like glasses and earrings. It can then be saved to use within messages like a regular Animoji, or even overlaid on your own face when taking a selfie for a fun real-world / cartoon hybrid version of yourself.

Today at Apple’s annual developer conference, the company unveiled a new feature in iOS 12 that lets you group notifications together with a swipe and gives you the ability to manage notifications from the lock screen. These are features that Android has had for a long time, which have made receiving notifications on Android less hectic and stressful. Apple is also getting a feature called instant-tuning, which lets you send notifications directly into the Notification Center.

Now, you can press in and bypass your lock screen to look at notifications and you can swipe and group all the notifications as one, grouping them by app. “These great features help you limit your distraction,” says VP of software Craig Federighi. There’s also a new Screen Time app that lets you limit how much time you spend on certain apps and send yourself notifications on when your time is up, similar to the new Android P features Google announced at its I/O conference a few weeks ago.

Starting in iOS 12 later this year, Apple’s CarPlay will no longer force you to use Apple Maps to get directions. Instead, you’ll be able to use navigation from any third-party app, like Google Maps, Waze, or whatever your mapping app of choice is.

CarPlay already supported third-party apps in other scenarios. However, mapping has been one of those classic cases of Apple locking everyone into using its own service. But Apple Maps isn’t exactly a beloved app. And while it’s improved over time, there are plenty of reasons to prefer other services, like all the additional information that Waze provides.

iBooks is getting a new update in iOS 12, with an updated redesign and a new name: Apple Books.

The new Apple Books will now feature a new “Reading Now” section when you first open the app, showing you a live preview of the book you most recently were reading and where you left off. There’s also an updated library view that puts a better emphasis on your content, and a new Apple Books store that appears to be inspired by the App Store redesign from iOS 11, with the same highlighted content for books and audiobooks that Apple’s already been offering with apps.

Siri is getting a significant update, Apple announced at its annual developer conference today. It’s getting a new feature called Shortcuts, which is basically a way to get Siri to go through a multistep routine.

“We want to make Siri do much more for you,” says VP of software Craig Federighi. Now, you can record and assign your own phrases as Shortcuts. Once Siri hears those phrases repeated, it will perform a series of actions.

Apple announced at WWDC today the next generation of ARKit, which introduces a new multiperson mode for AR games and another mode that allows for virtual objects to be placed in an area and remain in place. ARKit 2.0 also comes with improved face tracking, 3D object detection, and realistic rendering.

The multiperson mode will allow two or more people to share data to see the same object or play the same game within a virtual environment. Reuters previously reported that the multiperson mode was designed to work phone-to-phone instead of sending data to the cloud, in part because of privacy concerns. These new features supposedly give a taste of what’s in store for Apple’s AR headset, coming as soon as 2020.

Apple just took the wraps off of its new iOS 12 feature list at its Worldwide Developers Conference. Augmented reality, ARKit 2, sharing, and Shortcuts are some of the breakout features of iOS 12. The former two features will add new AR experiences to Apple’s iPhone and iPad product lines.

The Measure app is one of the new iOS 12 additions revolving around AR for iOS 12, which allows you to measure 3D objects in the real world. Users can tap an object to measure them in 3D. Photos app is also seeing an update, now with access to sharing suggestions for people detected in the shot. It’s a lot of what we’ve seen before on Google Photos, but now native to iOS 12.

Apple software has never been more important. As we learned just last week, 2017 was the first year since the introduction of the iPhone that smartphone sales were basically flat year over year, according to venture capitalist Mary Meeker’s influential Internet Trends report. For Apple, its future depends on finding a business that doesn’t rely solely on achieving record-breaking smartphone sales year after year. The iPhone cannot last forever, and CEO Tim Cook has often positioned Apple’s growing services business as a core pillar of the company going forward.

But to find that way out of its iPhone dependence, Apple needs to figure out how to sell more consumers on its software and the broader Apple ecosystem, from Apple Music to Apple Pay to iCloud. Plus, the more you use and rely on Apple software, the more likely you might be to buy the new HomePod speaker, the latest version of the AirPods and Apple Watch, or even Apple’s rumored augmented reality device.