We are quickly approaching the time of year where Apple holds their annual conference, announcing their newest software development and occasionally the reveal of new hardware as well. This conference goes by the name of WWDC.
Rumors have been speculated about the day, time and place it is supposed to take place, but recently Siri has received a minor update giving us the answers we were looking for…
For the first time ever, Apple will be hosting the first day of the conference in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and will continue at Moscone West. It will begin on June 13th, at 10:00 AM (Pacific) and will go until June 17th.
What to Expect:
iOS 10
An update for Apple’s mobile devices is due, that is if they want to follow the pattern they have set in past years (and we’re most confident they will).
It’s obvious that we haven’t seen major visual changes since iOS 7 and many argue, it’s time for change. So does that mean we can expect some design changes in iOS 10? Only time will tell for sure, but there have been various rumors floating around about a potential “dark mode” similar to what we have on OS X (or what may be known shortly as MacOS, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves).
Evidence leads us to believe that Siri will be getting a huge upgrade this year. With the reports of Siri SDK and VocalIQ, it may be safe to assume that we’ll be seeing a much improved personal assistant on our iPhones in late 2016. Rumors say that Apple is working hard to get Siri ready for more “third-party” integration. Apples wants Siri to be able to perform various tasks in third party apps; this opens up a big door for developers to be able to integrate their apps with Siri commands. Some would say, “the smarter the voice assistant, the better”.
With the rumor of the iPhone 7 having dual cameras, many expect that Apple will be making changes to the photos app, not only to support them, but they could be sneaking in a couple more surprises. We expect to see many of the features we loved in iPhotos to be added back into the Photos app we currently have. The ability to draw and markup images on our phones before sending them through email (similar to OS X) may not be far away.
Another improvement to iOS 10 includes a better, more refined Apple Music app. Apple is looking to make the user experience with the Music application more intuitive to use and they may change the overall layout of the app.
OS X 10.12
As with iOS, the Mac OS did not receive a design overhaul in 2015, so will we see a redesign at this year’s WWDC?
Well we have no evidence proving or disproving whether or not we will for sure. But one update many people are excited for is the new expected addition of Siri to OS X.
There are many speculations that Siri will be accessed from the menu bar, and then there are some that believe that it will be an icon in the dock. Who knows? Maybe it’s both! But aside from placement, Siri should operate identical to iOS (including “Hey Siri” activation) and will most likely be featuring the improvements we expect to see on iOS.
Apple will also be working on their Continuity feature to expand it and make it even better. So we may see a new feature soon, where if you have an iPhone nearby you computer, your computer will automatically unlock based on the proximity of your iPhone.
Also keep an eye out for a new version of iTunes and some upgraded features in the photos application, similar to iOS 10.
WatchOS & TVOS
There are not many rumors about these two operating systems so we have no proof of what the updates will look like (if we even get an update).
But I think it is safe to say that one way or another we will be seeing updates of Siri. (It sounds like this WWDC could be very Siri focused).
Speculations continue on whether or not Apple will release an Apple Watch 2 this year or not.
iMessage
Most of us have heard about it, the potential release of iMessage to Android. Personally I think that would be good for them and for everyone that loves iMessage but doesn’t want to use an iPhone. The question is, will they lose customers if they take this step?
Hardware
We mostly likely won’t be seeing any hardware announced from Apple at WWDC 2016. But if we did, what would they announce?
Some say we will be seeing an updated MacBook Pro or a new thunderbolt monitor (which is way overdue). But again, it is very unlikely that we will see either of these until later in the year.
That being said, who knows? Apple may surprise us…
Conclusion
So are you excited for WWDC? Let us know what you think will be announced in the comments below!
Want to watch the conference online? Visit the link below on June 13th, 10:00am PDT to begin streaming the conference.
http://goo.gl/v260Mj
