Apple Arrives a Tad Late to the Party, but In Style

https://www.biztechcs.com/blog/apple-wwdc-2021-style/

Apple’s products are beautiful, and they are not limited to the aluminum and glass slabs you hold in your hand. The company’s and its founder, Steve Jobs’ philosophy to live at the intersection of art and science stands true even in their magnificent stores. 

10 days before Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference, they opened a new store in Rome. To say that it is spectacular is an understatement. It is a testament to the company’s love and respect for art, history, and culture, and this store is what you’d call a store museum, the kind where you would want to dress up in finery and go. 

And I want this marble, rainbow Apple logo on my MacBook and all other MacBooks ever to exist. 

WWDC showed off all the plans that Apple has for the coming year for macOS (Monterey), iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS. 

The focus with this year’s updates is somewhat “late to the party,” but they are too well done, at least in the keynote and the developer beta that is out. FaceTime is getting features like screen sharing, call scheduling, and link access to join calls from Android and the web as well. That last part was unexpected. In typical Apple fashion of arriving late but in style, they have added some unique features. 

When you are on a FaceTime call, you can share music from Apple Music and content from Apple TV so that you can listen/watch together. The ecosystem plays a significant role in making this possible. 

Apart from FaceTime, Apple updated its Health features significantly for both the watch and iOS. You can now share your health data with a family member, making it much simpler to care for the elders in your life from a distance or otherwise. 

You can have your labs right in the health app on your phone in a way that it is easy for you to understand them. Not only that, but you can also pass on that information to your doctor for them to get an everyday view of your health metrics. The collection of this data happens via your iPhone and your Apple Watch. 

Another new feature helping with your mental peace is the Focus mode, which can be tailored to specific activities like Working, Sleeping, Reading, etc. When turned on, your contacts will see that you are focusing on something and will not receive their notification immediately. 

This means that you can choose to turn off work notifications on the weekend to relax completely. Again, it’s the little things. This feature is also common across devices. 

The coolest feature of the entire evening was Universal Control, which allows you to use the keyboard and mouse/trackpad of your Mac to control your iPad, and the other way around. That means multiple screens, and one control, without any wires. Let that sink in! 

As usual, Privacy is a big focus in the new versions of the operating systems. The new Mail app blocks the senders from getting any details, even on something basic like whether you have opened their email or not. And lastly, iCloud+ keeps you safe with Private Relay, Hide My Email, and Secure HomeKit support features. So that the internet can be your safe place, and what you tell the world is always in your hands. 

Our development team is excited to tinker around with the developer betas of all the software. 

What was your favorite feature? Tweet us at @BiztechCS.