The Apple WWDC 2024 is over, and we have many new features to discuss. Are there any groundbreaking upgrades you can use in your iOS app development?
This year’s keynote is a can’t-miss event for those looking to stay ahead in the ever-evolving app development and design world. Join us as we dive into the highlights and key takeaways from the conference, empowering you to create cutting-edge experiences that will captivate users and set your work apart from the competition.
From AI strategies to OS updates — we’ll cover it all.
Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2024 Keynote
Apple has much to catch up to compared to its competitor — Android. The rival has much to offer potential customers, for instance, AI Gemini upgrades and vast customization options. So far, Android has the biggest global market share of almost 71%.
What features and improvements does Apple keynote 2024 introduce to get ahead in the race?
Image playground in iOS 18
Operating Systems: A Major Leap Forward
Let’s start with the operating system announcements as there are lots of changes for every device.
iOS 18
Now it has an enhanced Control Center that offers greater customization options and easy access to the phone features with a swipe. With the Controls Gallery, you can add more controls to the quick access. What’s more, users can add and access selected features from the Lock screen or Action button.
As an iOS app developer, you can include controls from your product there as well. The new feature includes Controls API for configuring all the options.
Additionally, the company introduced a feature allowing users to arrange app icons on their home screen and change their colors however they like (similar to Android). There is a dark look made specifically for the dark mode. You will also be able to lock and hide specific apps, restricting sharing and accessing when someone else takes your phone. To use them, they will have to authenticate via Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.
Other notable iOS 18 features include improvements like the option to schedule messages and satellite messaging (in Messages and SMS) when you are off the grid. Similar to Gmail, the Mail app now offers smart categorization. There is a digest feature that brings together all relevant emails into one, for instance, about your scheduled flight.
The Photos app got a layout redesign with Collections. It sorts your images by categories like family, people, pets, places, etc. You can reorganize them however you like and enjoy the autoplay feature.
The iOS 18 update also includes the introduction of Game Mode, the integration of topographic maps, tap-to-cash functionality, Rich Communication Services (RCS), and more.
MacOS 15 Sequoia
Apple event 2024 revealed the next macOS update from Apple, where you will have the ability to mirror your iPhone on your Mac. This means you can seamlessly interact with your iPhone through your Mac, such as accessing alerts and audio from your mobile device.
Safari will offer Highlights for a current web page using machine learning. It will pinpoint crucial information like directions, summaries, quick links, etc. Together with an enhanced Reader, it eliminates any distractions on your way to grasp important data.
With the Game Porting Toolkit 2, developers can port their advanced games to Mac, expanding their target audience. It has improved Windows compatibility and shader debugging tools. If you port games to iPhone and iPad, you will enjoy Xcode support to unify the code across all devices.
There are also convenient drag-and-drop file sharing between iPhones and Macs, a centralized notification hub, the inclusion of the Passwords manager, Maps enhancements aligning with iOS 18, and a host of other new functionalities.
iPadOS 18
According to Apple Event 2024, it received many of the enhancements introduced in iOS 18. Alongside SharePlay controls, the new version includes a built-in Calculator app, and Smart Script in Notes to enhance handwriting and other improvements.
Notably, the calculator app brings in the Math Notes feature, providing users with a scientific calculator function that can solve handwritten mathematical problems or functions input using the Apple Pencil. With machine learning, the feature enhances handwriting legibility and provides spell-check capabilities for notes.
Math Notes on iPad
tvOS 18
If you have Apple TV Plus, you can easily access information about the actors and characters in the content you are watching by sliding down on the remote. Additionally, you can identify the music playing and seamlessly add it to the Apple Music playlist. If a show is muted, Apple TV Plus will automatically show subtitles and provide compatibility with 21:9 monitors.
watchOS 11
During Apple WWDC 2024, it was announced that WatchOS 11 would have a range of fresh capabilities. These features include automatically installing widgets tailored to your specific needs — for example, a translator widget during your travels.
Also, Apple is introducing the Training Load feature, which allows you to measure the impact of your workouts and how they influence your health. It helps you avoid exhaustion while providing lots of valuable statistics.
There is a brand-new Vitals app to access crucial health data at a glance. If your metrics are above average, the watch will notify you about the potential reasons and solutions.
visionOS 2
This is the first major update to the operating system unveiled by Apple. Among the fresh features of Vision Pro, they incorporate machine learning technology to enhance the depth of a current image in the Photos app. They now look three-dimensional with derived left and right side views. The same goes for spatial videos: you can record, edit, and share them with friends.
The update announced at Apple Keynote 2024 will also bring compatibility with an ultrawide virtual display for Mac, enhanced gesture controls, and a travel mode tailored for plane & train journeys.
The update also brings in lots of new frameworks and APIs for developers to play with—for example, an advanced volumetric API for running complex 3D applications side by side. TabletopKit will allow you to anchor apps to flat surfaces — that’s perfect for workstations or games with friends. Enterprise APIs provide a means for developing complex apps for healthcare, manufacturing, etc.
Revolutionary AI Integration
Samsung offers Galaxy AI based on Gemini, Windows — Copilot, and Android – Gemini. So it was just a matter of time before Apple rolled out its solution.
Enhanced security
Apple Artificial Intelligence will be available on iOS, iPad OS, and macOS. Utilizing on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, the company assures that user data will be anonymized and protected using cryptographic measures. When you send a request, AI checks if it can be processed on your device, and forwards it to the cloud in case there is not enough power. The data is not stored and used only for your request.
Siri
As part of Apple’s significant focus on AI, Siri has a more integrated presence on the iPhone. A pulsating light on the device’s edge will now signal its activity. The enhanced voice assistant grants users extended control over their apps, enabling requests such as locating specific information within emails or bringing up a photo of a friend.
With Apple Artificial Intelligence, Siri can explain certain device features and create a step-by-step instruction for using that option. Powered with on-screen awareness, Siri can perform actions based on the shown info, for instance, add an address messaged by your friend to their contact card.
Using the App Intents framework, iOS developers will be able to set such actions for their apps and leverage AI.
ChatGPT
Apple is utilizing LLMs to enhance Siri’s comprehension of user input and manage subsequent inquiries more effectively. The enhancement now involves linking up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. Thanks to this recent integration, Siri will autonomously determine if ChatGPT is more appropriate for a particular query. It will subsequently prompt you for permission before engaging ChatGPT. The feature allows you to access ChatGPT through Siri at no cost and without creating an account.
Siri paired with ChatGPT
Apple Artificial Intelligence for the Photos app
AI will be integrated into the Photos app, so you can search for photos using natural language. Users will also have the ability to erase objects from the background, similar to Google’s Magic Eraser feature. Furthermore, AI-powered transcriptions and summaries will be added to the Notes and Phone applications.
Other smart features
Apple Keynote 2024 unveiled that several new AI functionalities will be added to its iOS 18 applications, such as email summarization and response writing capabilities. They showcased their innovative Genmoji tool capable of creating personalized emojis from text cues, along with a new AI image creator named Picture Playground. With the corresponding API, you can integrate those features into the apps.
You can generate new emojis or mix the old ones to correspond to the message topic. The same goes for pictures, where you can create images depending on the chat topic. There are three styles: sketch, animation, and illustration.
Smart search in the Photos app
A New Password Manager
There is a new Passwords application where you can manage login details efficiently across multiple devices. Similar to popular password managers like LastPass or 1Password, it creates and stores passwords securely. The app will be compatible with iOS, iPadOS, macOS, VisionOS.
However, there are certain restrictions, including the inability to host it like BitWarden. It has limited cross-platform capabilities, similar to 1Password (Android, Linux); and it will not be open source.
New Gesture Control Introduced for AirPods
At Apple WWDC 2024, the company announced that AirPods will recognize gestures like head nods. There are Siri Interactions, allowing you to reply to Siri’s announcements by shaking your head yes or no. The AirPods Pro will also include speech Isolation to improve clarity and eliminate background noise.
In Conclusion
Apple Keynote 2024 delivered a compelling vision for the future of iOS devices, showcasing innovative advancements and exciting new features that will undoubtedly shape the digital landscape in the years to come. It’s intriguing to see how the upgrades will look and work on release and how you will be able to use it in iOS app development.
If you have an idea for an iOS app and need a team to implement it, contact us. Let’s work together on your next project.