Apple’s WWDC 2017 event has featured some major announcements. The company just announced the iOS 11, which we will look into now. However, here’s a recap of the announcements so far -
- Apple TV Gets Amazon, watchOS 4 announced
- macOS High Sierra announced
- iMac (2017) and iMac Pro announced
Apple has now introduced the latest version of their iOS - iOS 11. This is the moment we have all been waiting for, and perhaps the biggest highlight of the event. Let us take a closer look at what this new iOS is all about.
WWDC 2017: iOS 11 Features Revealed
We’re turning it to….11! And that’s how it came. The latest version of the iOS, the most important announcement of the night, something we all had been waiting was finally announced. With a dad joke! Ah, that aside, the latest version of the iOS does crank it up to the next level. Here’s all that was announced:
- Messages will now automatically sync all your conversations across your devices.
- Apple then talked about Apple Pay, stating that they now aim at bringing Apple Pay to 50% of all US retailers by the end of 2017. This would be a big achievement for Apple, but competition like Samsung and Android Pay are strengthening international presence. Apple Pay also comes for person-to-person transactions.
- Siri gets a male American voice! The popular assistant has now received various visual redesigns and is now more expressive than ever before. Translations have improved vastly, Siri can now translate from English to Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Siri has also become smarter and knows more about the context of the conversations based on where a user is and what has been going on on the screen.
- iOS is home to over a trillion photos every year, says Apple. HEVC videos and HEIF photos have now been introduced. A new depth API for photos has been introduced. Live photos can now be trimmed! Live photos also get a boomerang-like effect called ‘Bounce’.
- The control center has been redesigned to a single-paged format now. Lock screen and notification center too, have been merged into one!
- Maps will now feature detailed floor plans for malls. This feature is beginning with a few cities but will roll out for more cities later on. Another major improvement that comes to Apple Maps is that of lane guidance.
- Apple Music too, has now been improved. The app now lets you see what your friends are listening to. Looks like Apple took this as a leaf straight out of Spotify’s books!
- Phil Schiller comes to stage, and talks some stats (finally!) Over 180 Billion downloads on the app store so far, and $70 Billion have been paid to developers. He cuts to the updates - the App Store has now been redesigned. A new ‘today’ view has been introduced, which shows the featured apps. The app store finally gets a ‘games’ section. The product page that every app and game has, has now been redesigned.
Apple has also announced a new iPad, and a Google Home Competitor - the Apple HomePod
