Apple WWDC Keynote 2013 – My opinion

by Tom van Zummeren, June 12, 2013

If you haven’t already you should all watch Apple’s WWDC keynote that was streamed live from San Francisco earlier this week; some really interesting things were announced. At least that’s how I see it and in this blog entry I’ll give you my thoughts on some of my highlights, but there were so many small things they covered which you really have to see (or experience) instead of reading about it. Anyway, if you don’t want to watch the 2-hour keynote, then this blog entry provides you with a good alternative…

However, before I dive into my personal highlights, I’m also proud to be quoted on the iPhoneClub website (links to the Dutch article, below an English translation):

Tom van Zummeren
Tom van Zummeren is the name behind the immensely popular and simplistic styled calendar app Easy Calendar, that provides an overview of the week that is comparable to paper calendars.

I think the keynote was really spectacular, especially in comparison to previous Apple events. It featured so many great things, especially iOS 7! Luckily, there were few things that as a developer I really need to take into consideration right now. One thing that does spring to mind is the navigation bar (top) and the tool bar (bottom) that now both have a translucent effect. In other words, the color blends in with the content behind it. For now, I’m not sure whether I can use that in my own app, Easy Calendar, seen as my app doesn’t do vertical scrolling, just horizontal; so there is no content to slide behind the bars. This is something I have to think about anyway.

Another nice addition is the improved multi tasking feature. Especially what’s been modified to the push notifications. Before, apps had no insight into incoming push notifications. It wasn’t until you hit the ‘Open app’ button, you would actually open the app and only at that point would the app know about any push notification. So it’s a great feature that apps in iOS 7 are allowed to do something in the background when a notification is received. To name a good example of an app that can greatly benefit from this feature is: WhatsApp. Isn’t it annoying when you get a push notification of a new message and you open up the app and the message is not yet there? Currently, WhatsApp can only check and retrieve new messages once you open the app. In iOS 7 this is all a thing of the past.

The last point I need to take into consideration for iOS 7: the app icon. We really love our current Easy Calendar icon, but in iOS 7 it will really stick out. I guess it’s time for a redesign.

Now, let’s continue with some of my highlights from the Apple WWDC 2013 Keynote address:

Mac OSX – Mavericks

Finally, Apple has added GOOD support for multiple displays. So even full screen apps are now compatible with multiple displays. Using Apple TV you can now use your TV as a second screen as well, which works the same as having a display connected using a cable.
Smart CPU management + compressed memory: awake in 1 sec from sleep mode, and 72% less CPU activity
App Nap: apps stop using the CPU completely when they are not visible (behind another window for example)
iBooks is now also available on Mac
and also Maps is now available on Mac, it allows you to sync routes between devices (send to your iPhone/iPad)

iCloud

iCloud keychain, this is essentially something that already existed with MobileMe. But now it’s back and it even syncs saved Wifi passwords accross devices
iWork in the cloud: kind of like Google Apps, but looks & feels exactly like the native apps. Very nicely done.

New Macbook Air

11 inch now has 9 hours battery life instead of 5 hours
13 inch now has 12 hours battery life instead of 7 hours
802.11ac WiFi
$100 cheaper
Sneak peak at Mac Pro, you really have to see it. It’s small, beautiful and extremely powerful. It’s 1/8th of the volume of the previous Mac Pro and has a very slick design.

iOS 7 !!

Apple has implemented a completely different layout and design from end to end. This is now really something you have to see instead of read about: http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/
One nice touch: you get a 3d feel on the home screen now by having a motion sensor that moves the background slighty depending on how you hold your iPhone (hard to explain, you have to see it)
Control center to control Brightness, WiFi, Do not Disturb mode, AirDrop, music controls and stuff like that, which you can activate by swiping from the bottom of the screen from any app or in home/lock screen. This has always been the only reason to jailbreak. So now you don’t have to anymore.

iTunes Radio

Awesome, replaces Spotify a little. It’s free, but with ads. When you have an iTunes Match subscription of €25 a year (which I already have) you don’t get the ads at all!
One caveat: it’s only available in the US for now…

So when is all this available?

iOS 7 preview will be available for developers “today”, in other words tomorrow morning It will be available for all users this fall.
Mac OSX preview will als be available “today”. Also available for users this fall.
Mac Pro at the end of this year
Macbook Air “now”