Apple announced a host of new features for its operating systems at WWDC 22, including an overhaul of the lockscreen on the iPhone, and a new focus on multi-tasking for the iPad.
iOS 16
Apple announced a host of new features for the upcoming iOS 16, including a comprehensive redesign to the lockscreen. The new iOS lockscreen has lots of scope for very granular customisation, including fonts, colours, and wallpapers, which can be picked using a new wallpaper gallery. iOS 16 also gets lockscreen widgets, which can display information like unread messages and the temperature. iOS 16 users can set different lockscreen setups for different Focus modes as well.
Notifications get a new ‘live activity’ style, and now roll in from the bottom on the lockscreen.
The iMessage app will now allow users to edit messages, and to unsend a message if they so choose. SharePlay is now more deeply integrated with FaceTime.
The dictation feature has also received improvements, and Live Text now works with video, and gets quick actions. The new redesigned Apple Maps is also coming to a lot more countries, although India is not yet on the list.
Family Sharing is getting more granular controls for restricting access to content. The Photos app is getting a new Shared Library to make it easier for users to share content with their friends and families.
The new Safety Check feature makes it easier for people to review and turn off sharing their data and location if needed for their personal safety.
Apple also announced a new open standard for smart home devices called Matter, with HomeKit baked in, with a focus on privacy and data sharing.
CarPlay has received a complete design overhaul, and will now take over all available screens on supported cars, including the driver’s information gauge, and present data in a host of new customisable ways. Cars with support for next-generation CarPlay will ship starting late next year.
The Fitness app will be available to all iPhone users in iOS 16, even those who don’t use an Apple Watch.
iOS 16 is available to developers as a preview starting today, with a public beta following next month, and a full release coming later this year.
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macOS Ventura
Apple announced the next operating system for Macs will be called macOS Ventura. It will debut the new Stage Manager window management system, which will automatically organize open apps on the side of your screen while centering the one the user is working on. Users can also drag icons from the desktop to the sidelined app icons to import them quickly.
macOS Ventura also sees updates to Spotlight, Mail, and Safari.
Apple also announced Metal 3 graphics API, which will “unleash the full potential of Apple Silicon for years to come”.
iPadOS 16
iPadOS 16 sees the long awaited Weather app finally grace the iPad. A new focus on multi-tasking is evident in iPadOS, with the new Stage Manager window management system, introduced in the new macOS Ventura, also coming to iPadOS. Windows can now overlap with one another, and be dragged and dropped into place. Any iPad with an M1 chip can now also connect to an external display of up to 6K resolution, allowing for up to 8 apps to be displayed simultaneously.
Apple has also introduced a new whiteboard app called Freeform, designed to allow colleagues to contribute to a shared canvas. It supports Apple Pencil, and can pull in a variety of filetypes including PDF documents, images, and web links.
The new Display Zoom feature lets you boost the pixel density of M1-equipped iPads.
iPadOS 16 will be available to developers as a preview starting today, with a public beta following next month, and a full release coming later this year.
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watchOS 9
watchOS 9 gets new redesigned watch faces, and a new overhauled Siri experience. Sharing content from watchOS has also been made easier. The new Workout app is getting three new running metrics to better track your workouts.
The smartwatch operating system will now let you switch quickly between cycling, swimming, and running workouts. Users can now use the digital crown to switch between workout views, and create custom workouts.
The watchOS 9 app now supports medication reminders, which will be tied to the Health app and will let users build a ‘medications list’ as well as customized schedules.
