smartphonesshop.com.au - Another year, another developer’s conference. We’ve seen so many great announcements over the years at Apple’s developer’s conferences such as Dark mode for iPhones, universal apps and improvements to privacy that we were a little sceptical over what Apple could reveal that would wow us. We’re happy to say that in this year’s all-digital conference, we’ve been proven wrong, with Apple’s WWDC 2020 announcements completely blowing us away. Read on to see why you’re going to love Apple even more:
Goodbye Intel, Hello Silicon
It’s been a nice 15 years, but Apple has finally decided to replace the Intel chips in their Macs with their own chip called Silicon. We’ve been impressed with the performance of Apple’s chips in the iPhone 11 Pro Max and 2020’s update of the iPad Pro, so this was a more than welcomed announcement. Apple says this will lead to more power and better performance, and with the iPad Pro already being more powerful than many laptops, this isn’t an announcement to be taken lightly. It’s also about time! That’s not all though, as we also got an announcement for the next major release of macOS called Big Sur, which will help developers transition onto developing for Silicon. Our relationship with our Macs is certainly going to take an interesting turn. To our loved ones reading this, we promise it won’t affect our relationship. Promise.
Widgeeeeets…. Come Out To Play!!!
The iPhone experience will never be the same again with iOS 14. That’s right, this year’s rendition of the OS brings features that you never expected it to. It seems like iOS 14 has been spending a little time with Android and learnt a thing or two. For the first time in the 13 years of the iPhone’s existence, we have the ability to assign widgets and wait for it… set third-party apps by default! You can finally set a different web browser and email app as your defaults, a feature which Android users have been enjoying for years, so those of you who prefer Chrome, Firefox or even Opera will be more than happy. The beauty of iOS 14 doesn’t end there, with picture-in-picture videos so you can stay streaming your favourite shows while using other apps. We certainly hope that iOS 14 does keep sneaking out to hang with Android. Maybe one day we’ll see the ability to use Nova Launcher on our iPhones. Hey, we can dream!
You’re A Linguist Siri!
Siri knows everything. Well, nearly everything. Soon, Siri is going to know a little bit more and help you communicate in a different language, thanks to Apple’s new translation app aptly (see what we did there?) called, Translate. It boasts an impressive 11 languages and can also work offline. The languages available at launch are English, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Portuguese and Russian with much more to come. With machine learning and privacy all part of the package, Apple wants the app to produce conversations that sound Natural. We know you Google purists are scoffing your noses saying “but Google Translate supports a hundred languages,” but for the beginning, you can’t deny it’s a great way to simplify translation, and we’re big fans of anything made simple.
Wash Your Hands And Go To Bed Early, Just Like Momma Used To Say
Those of you who got Apple’s memo that watches should do more than just tell the time will be intrigued to know that WatchOS 7, the new OS for Apple Watch will actually detect when you begin to wash your hands, with a countdown and reminders for you to wash for 20 seconds. It’s a great initiative in this pandemic where cleanliness is essential to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Motion and audio detection will determine when you begin to wash your hands and expect this to make washing your hands an interesting experience. If there are any Apple engineers reading this, please add the ability to play a song while we wash our hands. We really want to wash with the Rocky theme playing in the background.
If staying at home has messed up your sleep schedule, you’ll be pleased to know that WatchOS7 comes with sleep tracking. It will help you set a routine plus monitor your sleeping patterns through a combination of motion sensing and machine learning. Sleep tracking will also come to iOS 14 so those of you without Apple Watches can undo months of 4 am Netflix sessions.
Access Granted
Always wanted a cooler way to unlock your car? Sick of lugging your car keys everywhere? Want to feel like James Bond before you go to work? Apple’s new Car Key feature included in iOS 14 will allow you to wirelessly unlock your car and start it, with the first car to support this being the BMW 5 2021 Series. All you’ll have to do is hold your iPhone next to an NFC reader in your car and voila! It even comes with Face and Touch ID for verification plus the ability to share access with iMessage. Unfortunately, your James Bond fantasies will have to end there, as there is no ability to drive your car remotely, but maybe someday.
Pump The Jam
To make you feel even better about upgrading to AirPods Pro, Apple has announced they will be adding surround sound as well as the almighty Dolby Atmos for an immersive audio experience like never before. Expect 360-degrees of spatial audio that corresponds with the movements of your head. It’s not like we needed another reason to purchase a pair of AirPods right?
Scribble My Nizzle
Those of you using iPads will be happy to know that your doodles and atrocious handwriting will finally have some use, as scribble with Apple pencil will allow you to highlight your doctor’s style handwriting and immediately convert it to text. Your poorly drawn shapes will also be useful due to Shape Recognition, which will allow you to draw geometrically perfect shapes. You were always told to improve your handwriting when you were younger, now you can write in a way that would give your 2nd Grade teacher a heart attack and still get your message across.
Even with this year’s WWDC being delayed and being digital-only due to COVID-19, Apple has once again intrigued us. We’re yet to see the iPhone 12 revealed or even a date, but the talk is that it’s still on par for a September reveal and release alongside iOS 14. All we know though, is that September can’t come fast enough. Stay tuned to our Smart Blogs for all the latest news!
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