Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is one of the largest tech events that take place every year, and the company just wrapped up the WWDC 2021 keynote. At the keynote, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage along with other Apple employees to announce major developments the company has made on its software front. Most notable of these announcements were the unveiling of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey and more.
Here we will be taking you through all of the major announcements Apple made during its WWDC 2021 keynote.
iOS 15
Not a lot has changed in the overall user interface when it comes to iOS 15. However, Apple has brought in various improvements like the addition of Spatial Audio to FaceTime, a new look for notifications, the new weather app and more. iMessage has also seen some love from the company in terms of new features, which includes features like shared with you, image galleries and more.
The company has revamped the notifications, which you can now set the phone to show up in priority according to the activity you are performing like sleeping, working, excursions and more. This provides the UI with a much cleaner look.
The new Live Text feature will automatically identify and scan text in photographs. The Memories feature will utilise AI to combine photos into galleries and add music to them from Apple Music. The Wallet app has also gotten an upgrade and will now be able to include identification cards. Apple Maps now gets 3D data, which will include turning lanes and more city details. You can read more about iOS 15 here.
FaceTime
One of the biggest announcements at WWDC 2021 has been that with the iOS 15 update, FaceTime will start supporting Android and Windows. Basically, Apple will allow users to generate FaceTime call links and share them with the people they want to talk to, who can then join in on the call from an Android or a Windows device using a web browser.
Apart from this, FaceTime will also get the Spatial Audio, portrait mode and a grid view to take a look at everyone during a call. With this update, the company will start allowing users to schedule FaceTime calls. It also brings in the new SharePlay feature, which will allow its users to watch or listen to content with others virtually. Apple is also introducing a SharePlay API so that other developers can build apps that support the feature. To read about all of the major FaceTime announcements click here.
Apple Wallet
With iOS 15, Apple will let its users add their identification cards in a digital format to the Wallet app. Moreover, all of these digital IDs will be accepted as identification in select US airports. The company has not revealed, when this feature will be made available for other countries.
iPadOS 15
Apple with its latest iPadOS 15 will allow users to add widgets to the home screen and also access the app library, which we got to see last year with iOS 14. Other improvements include better multitasking, new controls to manage apps and more. Apple also announced that developers will now be able to build iPadOS apps using its own Swift Playgrounds. Read more about iPadOS 15 here.
Apple WWDC 2021: Privacy features
Apple has always kept user privacy at the top and it does seem to be rolling back on its promise. During the keynote, it announced multiple new privacy-focused features. Some of the major features were that Apple Mail will block tracking pixels with Mail Privacy Protection and that Safari will hide IPs. iPhones and iPads will now also have a new section in settings called the “App Privacy Report.”
Siri will now work without the internet
Apple has announced that it will now allow Siri to process voice requests on-device using device speech recognition. This means that not all audio will be sent over to Apple via the internet, thus allowing Siri to handle many requests offline.
Apart from this, Siri has now been made available to third-party developers, who can now integrate the voice assistant into their own smart products.
AirPods
AirPods will now be able to help you listen to people talking to you better by lowering the music and focussing on the speaker’s voice. The company has also improved the device’s Find My integration. Apart from this, AirPods will also be able to announce notifications.
Apple WWDC 2021: iCloud+ announced
Apple iCloud+ is a new service, which will be made available to current iCloud paid users at no additional cost. The service includes privacy features like the Private Relay, which essentially routed web traffic through two separate servers, just like a VPN. There is also a feature, which will provide users with the ability to create burner emails called Hide My Email.
watchOS 8
watchOS 8 brings in multiple new health features including a new Mindfulness app. Other improvements include Photo watch faces and more. Read more about watchOS 8 here.
macOS Monterey
macOS 12 is officially called Monterey. It brings in a number of features including Universal Control, which allows users to use the same mouse and keyboard to control a Mac and an iPad. The company has also brought its Shortcuts app to the Mac with this update.
The update will also allow users to AirPlay content from their iPhone, iPad or even a Mac to a Mac display. The Safari web browser has also got a redesign with a slew of new features. Read in detail about macOS Monterey here.
Even though Apple was expected to launch its new MacBooks at the event according to various leaks and reports, we did not get to see a single hardware announcement from the company. This hints that the company is looking to launch new hardware at a separate event, which could take place very soon.
