2014 - Apple WWDC Conference Thread

[Russic]

In my eyes this was the most significant WWDC keynote in a very long time. It addresses so many faults in iOS I actually lost track. Being able to have inter-app communication and building Touch ID into apps (like 1password or my bank) will be such a huge help.

Other items that I loved:
- hands free siri
- Swift Keyboard
- 5 gig email attachments
- phone via mac
- Handoff for taking workflow to and from computer to device

Let's get this part over with right away: yes, android can do many of those things, yes android did them first, and I'm happy you're happy with your choice of smartphone provider. I've been jealous as hell of some of the above features when they were Android exclusive.

[photon]

Swift is interesting, I'm anxious to see what it actually is. Is it still an actual language with all the power, or is it something that only exposes a subset of the full capabilities? It could be something very good that I'd really be interested in.

[photon]

Lol CloudKit, there goes my job.

[Mazrim]

Well, that Swiftkey for iOS might explain why they've been so slow to update the Android version lately. The most recent update has been in beta for a very long time now.

[psicodude]

So, without entering into an iOS vs Android flame war, it was very obvious that Apple is eating the lunch of a bunch of huge apps. Whatsapp, snapchat, 3rd party keyboards (pretending Apple allowed this), are all going to die on iOS. Is this a smart move on Apple's part? Do they risk having some developers pull out of the platform, or are they just huge enough that they don't care and developers will still come knocking?

It's a stark contrast to Google and their "build the foundation and let the app developers make it awesome" approach. Android has had some bumps and bruises with this model, obviously, with malware and crappy apps giving them a bad name.

To be honest, I see good and bad in both models.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Dang. No new hardware. Lame.

In previous years, Apple has sometimes quietly updated their online store with little fanfare during WWDC. This is usually done when the improvements are just "under the hood" (e.g. better CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD/etc.) kind of things, not major design revisions. I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac receive minor updates this week.

[photon]

iOS8 for iPhone 4S and above only. Haven't seen what iPads yet.

[edslunch]

Nice progression across both platforms. As a member of the ecosystem I'm pleased

[Regulator75]

So this happened. Probably not his real number.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Russic

In my eyes this was the most significant WWDC keynote in a very long time. It addresses so many faults in iOS I actually lost track. Being able to have inter-app communication and building Touch ID into apps (like 1password or my bank) will be such a huge help.

Other items that I loved:
- hands free siri
- Swift Keyboard
- 5 gig email attachments
- phone via mac
- Handoff for taking workflow to and from computer to device

Let's get this part over with right away: yes, android can do many of those things, yes android did them first, and I'm happy you're happy with your choice of smartphone provider. I've been jealous as hell of some of the above features when they were Android exclusive.

If I'm honest, I might join my wife on the dark apple side now

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

So this happened. Probably not his real number.

They should have called Dre. after he had a few more Heinekens

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by psicodude

So, without entering into an iOS vs Android flame war, it was very obvious that Apple is eating the lunch of a bunch of huge apps. Whatsapp, snapchat, 3rd party keyboards (pretending Apple allowed this), are all going to die on iOS. Is this a smart move on Apple's part? Do they risk having some developers pull out of the platform, or are they just huge enough that they don't care and developers will still come knocking?

It's a stark contrast to Google and their "build the foundation and let the app developers make it awesome" approach. Android has had some bumps and bruises with this model, obviously, with malware and crappy apps giving them a bad name.

To be honest, I see good and bad in both models.

Apple does this all the time. There's even a term for it. It's called being "Sherlocked'.

http://www.cocoanetics.com/2011/06/o...ng-sherlocked/

[Russic]

Getting Sherlocked can be a great thing. It sometimes forces companies to pivot and cover things that Apple lags on. Something like 1Password was in danger of being Sherlocked last year, but they released enough extra features that they're hard to ignore.

This years big target in my eyes is Alfred (on of my favourite apps). The spotlight update will really give it a run for its money, but Alfred does quite a bit more at the moment, and with their workflow recipes in the community it's growing like Quicksilver did back in the day (except with an actual business model).

[FanIn80]

So the "contextually-aware" aspect of the predictive word feature actually works like they said. If I'm texting with a buddy, I get options for things like "lol" and "wtf." If I'm texting with a colleague, I get options like "legislation" and "wherewithal."

I figured there would at least be a learning period before being able to differentiate between contacts, but I guess it just indexes my current conversations and learns from that. Pretty slick.

Also, love the sharesheet changes they did. My three most recent pictures are available right there on the sheet itself, which makes it faster to send pics, etc. Also the inline voice/video message thing works great too. I like that it's not specific to iOS 8 either. The interface for listening/watching the attachments might be different, but they can still actually receive and watch/listen to them if they're using an older OS (how it should be, in other words).

[Russic]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

So the "contextually-aware" aspect of the predictive word feature actually works like they said. If I'm texting with a buddy, I get options for things like "lol" and "wtf." If I'm texting with a colleague, I get options like "legislation" and "wherewithal."

I figured there would at least be a learning period before being able to differentiate between contacts, but I guess it just indexes my current conversations and learns from that. Pretty slick.

Also, love the sharesheet changes they did. My three most recent pictures are available right there on the sheet itself, which makes it faster to send pics, etc. Also the inline voice/video message thing works great too. I like that it's not specific to iOS 8 either. The interface for listening/watching the attachments might be different, but they can still actually receive and watch/listen to them if they're using an older OS (how it should be, in other words).

That's pretty awesome. I imagine the string of expletives it suggests for some of my friends will be pretty intense. I'm quite excited about the voice messages. Siri is great and all, but if you're in a loud environment she can mangle texts beyond comprehension.

I've seen one FAQ that said the hands-free "hey siri" functionality is only available while plugged in. Can you confirm that? I was hoping there'd be an option to have it going all the time.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by psicodude

...Is this a smart move on Apple's part? Do they risk having some developers pull out of the platform, or are they just huge enough that they don't care and developers will still come knocking?

Yes, iOS 8 comes bundled with functionality already offered by some very successful apps (and other operating systems). But I'm having trouble thinking of an operating system release on any platform that you couldn't say that about.

The iOS 8 SDK contains over 4000 new APIs. They've finally opened up inter-App communication. They developed an entirely new programming language.

This is a developer's release.

[Tyler]

Are we beginning to see a 'new' Apple?

http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/3/577...-the-new-apple

[Galakanokis]

In all honesty I haven't touched an apple device in a couple of years, nothing really against them other than physically not liking the size of the phone. But you have to really like the direction they are going.

[photon]

"infectious mixture of fun and confidence"

Infectious wasn't the word I was thinking of lol.

But yeah I was talking about it to some co-workers and it does seem to be a bit of a shift. Competition is good.

Oh and you can't kill the metal.