WWDC (Photo: Apple)
As the weather begins to break and many of us start looking forward to food fresh from the grill and jumping into a pool there is something that many nerds, geeks, tech enthusiast such as myself look forward to....Apple's WWDC! Apple's annual developer conference where they let us in on what they've been working on and what's to come. Oh and they always share how business is doing too, but let's get to why you're still reading....
iOS 10
Touted as the biggest iOS release ever (I feel like I've heard that before) the one thing that jumped out at me that made this true is it will be for developers and third party apps. Third Party integration galore! From opening Siri up to it as well as iMessage. I want Siri to have a few more voice options with Apple loosing the reigns anything is possible. iMessage will now be more expressive is the word they used, but more animated is what I would have chosen. Balloons, confetti, and even fireworks to mark a special occasion. You'll even be able to send payments ( from within iMessage or schedule a dinner without all inside iMessage. With the help of SiriKit, developers will be able to make their apps work with Siri seamlessly.
iOS 10 iMessages (Photo: Apple)
Know that feature "on this day" in Facebook? Well now with Memories in iOS 10 you'll be reminded of those photos that you have from years ago that you may have forgotten about. So you can be extra accurate on Throwback Thursday lol. Also there will be a Raise to Wake feature so when you pick your phone up it automatically brings your screen up (not unlocked but wakes it from sleep so you can see your notifications as if you'd push the home button). Makes sense seeing as how you're not typically picking your phone up to look at a black screen.
There will also be expanded functionality for Apple Pay, if you're using Safari you'll be able to check out on some sites with it, not to mention in more stores and in some apps. iOS 10 promises a redesigned exprience, you can preview it here and if you can't wait until fall for the full release, you can sign up for the public beta that will be out in July. *Sighs* While I'll be able to update my phone (iPhone 6s) I won't be able to update my iPad...it's an iPad 2 and iOS 10 will only be available for 4th Generation iPads, iPad Mini 2, 3, and 4, all iPad Pro and iPad Air models. I really don't feel like investing in a new one right now....*cries in binary* moving on to other announcements.
Swift Playground
I am all about making code easier to understand, for myself and particularly because I love introducing it to young minds. Well with Swift Playground, the new app that will be available in iOS 10, this is possible. It will have built in lessons from Apple to help learn coding. You will even be able to create and share with your friends via Mail or Messages..pretty cool right. Apple promises to update the challenges and templates regularly so that users skill sets can continue to grow. Again...the bullying of me having to upgrade my iPad
Swift Playground (Photo: Apple Press)
I was a little underwhelmed this year from the keynote to be honest, but you can watch it in it's entirety here: http://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2016/ This could also be me coming to grips with the fact that my iPad is indeed old..but it works fine!!!!
~ChicDivaGeek