Good morning all (Evening for those of you in South Africa)!
So Yesterday (8 June 2015) was the start of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). They kick this conference off every year with a Keynote presentation hosted by some of the big cheeses at Apple.
This year was no exception.
The stuff normally announced in the Keynote related to the new software and technologies Apple will be releasing to its developer community for the year ahead.
This year was no exception.
Being present at WWDC as a developer is a magical time as you get to meet other developers just like you who share the same passions (development on OSX/iOS), and you get to get caught up in the sheer excitement of the whole event.
This year was no exception.
During the Keynote, Apple shows off all the new and amazing Development tools and processes that they have created to improve their Development community’s collective life and they focus on the development theme throughout the Keynote…
No… no, that didn’t happen this year.
Throughout the Keynote, whenever they announce a new technology, Apple will bring out Development teams with whom they have worked to integrate that new technology into their apps as a demonstration during the Keynote.
Hey, that happened only once!
Drake came on stage.
– Wait. James, are we at the right Keynote?
Urg.
So the Keynote this year was good, please don’t get me wrong. But compared to the confidence and excitement that all the presenters showed last year, it was a very different Keynote. It was a much calmer Apple presenting this year.
Apple unveiled, as expected, iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan along with their new Music Service (more on that further down).
iOS 9’s focus is year is more on stability and usability. I mean, why release new amazing features when your current set of features don’t work as expected or are too complicated to use? I fully agree with this approach they have taken.
The biggest feature for me in iOS 9 is the Multitasking feature for iPad. I think a lot of developers suspected this was coming after last year’s WWDC when Apple unveiled new adaptive layouts for use in Apps in iOS 8. Now they have completed what they started back then.
Also, the way that Apple beat their Privacy drum was a good omen for their customers and shows they are dedicated to our privacy… unlike other corporations in the world (I’m looking at you Google and Facebook).
What is further impressive with iOS 9 is that they managed to keep the device compatibility the same as iOS 8. Which, for someone with an iPhone4S (Jo) is great news. But as a developer, I cried a little bit inside… another year I need to maintain my app to work with a screen for ants. BLAH! But then again, if you are using Autolayouts in your app, smaller screen sizes shouldn’t really bother you (in a developer sense. At a personal level, small screens bother me).
Right… onto Music…
Apple did the right thing to get into the streaming music game, they would’ve been silly to not have. From the look of things, it will be good. There are no massive differences from some of the other streaming services out there. And I will most probably get this new service from Apple, use it and enjoy it.
But…
<rant>
Eddy Cue really didn’t have to stand up on stage for 20 minutes and take us through his entire music collection via the Music app. That, for me, left a very sour taste in my mouth. It looked like Apple trying to really justify this new product by showing us how we can re-order songs in our playlists… correct me if I am wrong, but haven’t we been able to do that since forever?
And bringing on music industry stalwarts to have them read testimonials on how Apple is great and listing all the ground-breaking things they did for the music industry… ye, cool. But totally unneeded. When Steve Jobs unveiled the iTunes Store he did not need the Music Industry to come on stage and sing high praises about Apple to validate the product.
The new Apple still has the power Steve had when showing off new products. They don’t have to do what they did yesterday to try validate the product to their customers.
</rant>
So to sum up: The Keynote for this year’s WWDC was a much tamer and mature Apple iterating on their software line. Whith a mild splattering of new features here and there for their existing OS’s. They also announced the new Music service & app which I think is going to be a great addition to iTunes.
The Keynote itself could’ve been done better – maybe less Artists coming up and preaching / singing (Mr Cook seems to think we love that kind of thing).
These are just my opinions and feelings on the whole matter. I am sure there will be people that will read this and think to themselves that I am totally off the mark – so be it, I do not profess to be an expert.
Regardless of the the things I have said above: It is still, and will always be, a total honour to be here in the flesh experiencing WWDC firsthand. Nothing can beat being here and absorbing the knowledge and the vibe of all 5000 other attendees. And I really hope I can take the stuff I will learn this week and turn it into something amazing for everyone back home.
Until we speak again!
-Warren