Tag: WWDC
Apple World Wide Developer Conference 2026
Another year goes by and another developers conference takes place beginning on June 10th starting with the keynote (pre-recorded) at 10AM Pacific and runs until June 12th. As it has been since the COVID pandemic shutdowns (for the past 6 years), this year’s conference sessions will also be online only (with the exception of a few […]
Notes from WWDC
When I watch conference talks, I like to take notes - either on an iPhone or iPad when I’m in the conference room, or on the Mac when I’m watching online like in case of WWDC (I’ve never seen it in person). It makes it easier for me to remember the most important content from the presentation, and especially in case of WWDC notes I often come back to them to find some specific piece of information - WWDC talks are a very important part of documentation of how to use Apple’s APIs, sometimes (sadly) the only piece of documentation about the specific class or method that’s available. I have a fairly large archive of those notes (around 20 from each year on average), usually just stored as one long note in the Notes.app, and I’ve been thinking for a while that it could make sense to somehow share them with the world. I have no idea how useful they will be for others, since I write them primarily for myself, they’re much more condensed than blog posts and basically written as just a “diff” from what I knew before, but I guess I won’t know until I try. One problem I had with sharing the notes is that they’re written as completely plain text, something like this: If I wanted to convert each note to proper Markdown, it would be a lot of manual work, and I didn’t really feel like doing that. So one day I had an idea: I could write some kind of parser that renders those notes as they are written, with some minimal changes, into something that looks as if it was rendered from Markdown. It was a pretty fun challenge - involving some large number of regexps straight from hell, for detecting all the code fragments automatically - but in the end, the result is better than I expected: For now, I’ve added all my notes from last year’s WWDC - you can view them as one page with all contents or as an index of titles. I was planning to add some older ones too, but I ran out of time. I’m planning to add notes from the current WWDC as I watch the videos - you will be able to see them here :) RSS feeds I’ve also updated my RSS (Atom) feeds - there are now 3 separate feeds: main blog feed (with classic long posts): https://mackuba.eu/feed.xml notes feed: https://mackuba.eu/feed-notes.xml complete feed with both posts & notes: https://mackuba.eu/feed-all.xml Previously I’ve been using a FeedBurner proxy URL for the feed. If you’re reading this through your feed reader app, check what URL you’re subscribed to - if you’re subscribed to the FeedBurner one, please update it to the direct link from above (blog feed or complete) - the FeedBurner one probably won’t work forever (Google bought the service long time ago, and you know what happens to services that are bought by Google).
New stuff from WWDC 2019
As I’m writing these words, it’s the last day of November and the temperature has just dropped to close to 0°C here in Poland. But let’s move back to a better time for a moment, to the first days of June - the long days of warm sunny weather, inviting you to spend some time outside… and the huge pile of new stuff that Apple had just dropped on us on the WWDC keynote day, inviting you to try to frantically read and watch everything at once, and don’t leave the computer until you’ve read it all. For the past 4 years I’ve been trying to cope with this crazy period by collecting notes from the WWDC talks, release notes, saving tweets, links to blog posts and so on, and organizing it all in a single ordered blog post. Writing things down this way is how I learn best, it helps me put together all loose pieces of information into a single picture, and gives me the peace of mind that I haven’t missed or forgotten anything important. I usually finish this by July, but this year was different - first I got really hooked on SwiftUI and spent some time doing some experiments with it, and then I was busy working on and releasing my iOS content blocker app and doing some travelling. It didn’t help that the sheer amount of new APIs added this year was simply overwhelming. So I finally got back to this in November, and I’m posting the list here on the half-anniversary of the 2019 keynote (yes, it’s really been 6 months already!) - hopefully it will still be of use to you. Previous editions are available here - I’ve also done some slight formatting changes here and there, and updated the links to point to Web Archive 🗄️ versions if the page no longer exists or was overwritten: WWDC 2018 WWDC 2017 WWDC 2016 WWDC 2015 Quick links: macOS 10.15 • iOS 13 • watchOS 6 • tvOS 13 Shared Frameworks • macOS 10.15 SDK • iOS 13 SDK • watchOS 6 SDK • tvOS 13 SDK Web APIs & Android • Developer Tools • Safari 13 • Other macOS 10.15 Catalina https://www.apple.com/macos/catalina/ https://www.apple.com/macos/catalina/features/ Find My app (Catalyst-based) combines “Find My iPhone” and “Find My Friends” can find devices that are offline and in sleep mode - communicates through other devices nearby (article) iTunes is split into: Music app (includes iTunes Store) Podcasts app (Catalyst-based) TV app device syncing section in Finder redesigned Reminders app Screen Time for Mac (it has some problems though) Sidecar - using iPad as a second display, iPad with a pencil can act as a drawing tablet App Store: Apple Arcade section Mail: “classic layout” of the window (email contents below) and classic look of the email list (narrow rows with columns) are now two indepedent settings in the View menu option to block emails from specific senders muting notifications from specific threads button for unsubscribing from newsletters in the email header Maps: completely rebuilt, much more detailed map content - entire US by the end of 2019, some other countries next year Not…
New stuff from WWDC 2018
For the last 3 WWDC’s I’ve been collecting ordered lists of all new features and APIs added in the new releases of Apple’s OSes, either announced in the keynote or one of the talks, or in release notes, or just discovered by some API diff spelunkers :) I’m pretty late with that this year, because I spent some time instead on a couple of longer posts about notifications and Dark Mode, but here it is, just in time for the final launch and the September event. In general, there seems to be noticeably less changes this year, which is good in a way - it should be easier for us to learn the new things and update our apps. For a moment it even looked like the “macOS SDK” section could be longer than the “iOS SDK” this time with all the Dark Mode changes, but iOS got a boost from the notification APIs and finally finished 3 lines ahead of macOS :) If you want to learn more about any given topic, the best way is probably either to look it up in the shiny new Apple Developer Documentation (redesigned last year), or watch the recorded WWDC talk videos - either on Apple’s site, or using the great unofficial WWDC Mac app. Previous editions are available here: WWDC 2017 WWDC 2016 WWDC 2015 Quick links: macOS 10.14 • iOS 12 • watchOS 5 • tvOS 12 Foundation & Core Frameworks • macOS 10.14 SDK • iOS 12 SDK • watchOS 5 SDK • tvOS 12 SDK Web APIs • Developer Tools • Safari 12 macOS 10.14 Mojave 🗄️ https://www.apple.com/macos/mojave/ Dark Mode (more info: part1, part2) 8 accent colors instead of just blue/graphite Desktop: dynamic wallpapers desktop stacks Screenshots: thumbnail sliding in in the corner like on iOS that opens an edit view options HUD while screenshot is being taken (Cmd+Shift+5) recording screencasts from inside the screenshot tool new redesigned Mac App Store new apps ported from iOS with Marzipan: Home News Stocks Voice Memos Books: renamed from iBooks to Books Finder: gallery view replacing Cover Flow right sidebar shows more file metadata (e.g. for photos) the set of fields shown can be configured per file type with the “Show Preview Options” context menu action (source) quick actions on files in the right sidebar and Touch Bar new actions can be created in Automator (“Quick Action” template, replaces older “Service”) markup editing and video trimming inside Quicklook iCloud Drive has now its own section in the folder sidebar (source) FaceTime: group calls - up to 32 people (delayed) Mail: emoji picker button suggests a folder to move a message? stationery feature removed Safari: favicons in tabs prevents tracking through commenting systems and share buttons (loads on demand) makes fingerprinting harder - lists only built-in fonts, no legacy browser plugins iCloud Keychain: can automatically create strong passwords for you when signing up highlights duplicated passwords Siri can be asked to find saved passwords Continuity Camera - use your iPhone as an external camera to take a photo for the Mac forms will auto-su…
New stuff from WWDC 2017
It’s that time of the year again - if you’re like me, you’ve probably spent a lot of time in the last few weeks following everything that’s been announced at WWDC, digging into release notes, watching WWDC talks and playing with some cool new stuff. And as usually, the amount of new things to process is pretty overwhelming. So like in the last two years, I’ve prepared a nicely organized list for you of all the things I could find from various sources: all the user-facing features in macOS/iOS/watchOS/tvOS, and all new frameworks, APIs and improvements in their respective SDKs and Apple’s developer tools. To get more info about any specific thing, follow the links above the sections to Apple’s developer site and the “What’s New” documentation, download the release notes from developer.apple.com, and of course use the freshly redesigned unofficial WWDC Mac app to watch the talks that you’re interested in. If you want to catch up on last year’s notes (e.g. to see what you can use if you drop iOS 9 support in your app), check out these posts: WWDC 2016 WWDC 2015 Quick links: macOS 10.13 • iOS 11 • watchOS 4 • tvOS 11 Foundation & Core Frameworks • macOS 10.13 SDK • iOS 11 SDK • watchOS 4 SDK • tvOS 11 SDK Developer Tools • Safari 11 • Other macOS 10.13 High Sierra 🗄️ https://www.apple.com/macos/high-sierra/ Mail: smart highlight of important emails split view for compose window uses less disk space Messages: syncs conversations through iCloud between iOS/macOS (end-to-end encrypted) Notes: pinning notes support for tables Photos: persistent sidebar shows all imports chronologically improved face recognition synchronizes people across devices curves and selective color edit tools more partners for printing photos more available topics for memories photos can be edited in 3rd party apps and are saved back into Photos app playing animated GIFs live photo effects Safari: video autoplay blocking intelligent tracking prevention per-site settings (e.g. enabling autoplay or disabling content blockers on some sites) automatic reader mode Spotlight can find more kinds of web results, e.g. flight info, and can return multiple results from Wikipedia smoother, more natural sounding Siri voice window server (Mission Control etc.) is built on top of Metal 2 APFS is the new default filesystem for new installations H.265 (HEVC) video support, with hardware acceleration in newest Macs accessibility: new on-screen accessibility keyboard Type to Siri (disables voice interface) voiceover descriptions of images will now include automatic description of the image contents and any detected text iOS 11 🗄️ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-11/ redesigned control center single page, animations more controls shown with 3D Touch some areas can be customized allows you to toggle e.g. cellular data, hotspot, AirDrop new design for app switcher: new animation no longer shows the home screen as the first app older notifications accessible from the lock screen…
New stuff from WWDC 2016
Following the tradition from last year, here’s my complete list of all interesting features and updates I could find in Apple’s OSes, SDKs and developer tools that were announced at this year’s WWDC. This is based on the keynotes, the “What’s New In …” presentations and some others, Apple’s release notes, and blog posts and tweets that I came across in the last few weeks. If for some reason you haven’t watched the talks yet, I really recommend watching at least the “State of the Union” and the “What’s New In” intros for the platforms you’re interested in. The unofficial WWDC Mac app is great way to download the videos and keep track of what you’ve already watched. If you’re interested, here are my WWDC 2015 notes (might be useful if you’re planning to drop support for iOS 8 now and start using some iOS 9 APIs). (This was originally posted on Gist at https://gist.github.com/mackuba/e8fb4219c7ef611f47cdb66b93986d85.) Quick links: macOS 10.12 • iOS 10 • watchOS 3 • tvOS 10 Foundation & Core Frameworks • macOS 10.12 SDK • iOS 10 SDK • watchOS 3 SDK • tvOS 10 SDK Developer Tools • Other OSX → macOS 10.12 Sierra 🗄️ http://www.apple.com/macos/sierra/ includes Siri launch from dock, menu bar or with a keyboard shortcut results can be pinned to the “Today” sidebar some returned results like images can be drag&dropped to another app any app with multiple windows can now group them into tabs in one window like in Safari or Finder option in preferences to automatically use tabs: only in full screen (default) / always / never new design for notification center / today sidebar Universal Clipboard - copy/paste between Mac and iOS devices Desktop/Documents folders can be automatically synced with iCloud Drive (?) Auto Unlock - unlock the computer automatically with your Apple Watch Picture-in-picture for video like on iOS when dragging a window next to another, it will snap to the other window all items in the menu bar can be reordered, removed (if the app allows it) and also navigated with keyboard Safari: blocks plugins like Flash, Java, Silverlight with click-to-run overlays, and doesn’t tell sites that they’re installed makes Apple Pay available to websites - payments are confirmed with an iPhone or Apple Watch (a site can apparently even check if an iPhone is available nearby to pay?) can now restore multiple previously closed tabs with Shift-Cmd-T like Chrome updated Messages and Photos apps and Apple Music in iTunes with features matching iOS 10 a set of new features for reclaiming free space: rarely used files can be moved to iCloud automatic cleanup of files that aren’t needed anymore (e.g. caches, logs, backups) automatic cleanup of files that have been in Trash for 30 days new graphical tool for configuring these features Gatekeeper changes: option to allow any (non-signed) software is removed (right-click + Open still works) Gatekeeper Path Randomization - newly downloaded non-MAS apps will be run sandboxed inside a read-only volu…
New stuff from WWDC 2015
Here’s my own list of the interesting stuff announced during this year’s WWDC, collected from the keynotes, various Apple docs, blog posts and tweets. If you’re planning to watch the videos, I really recommend this Mac app that helps you download and watch them: https://wwdc.io. (This was originally posted on Gist at https://gist.github.com/mackuba/15994186a4f9d7da3137.) OS X 10.11 El Capitan 🗄️ http://www.apple.com/osx/elcapitan-preview/ split view - two apps side by side on full screen improved Mission Control shaking the mouse highlights the cursor smarter Spotlight (Siri-like results, natural language queries, resizable window) Mail: tabbed compose window as a popup in full screen mode; autosuggests new contacts and events; swipe gestures Notes: updated UI, supports checklists and embedded media, syncs through iCloud, attachment browser Photos: sorting albums by date Safari: pinned sites, detect and mute audio in tabs Maps: public transit significant performance improvements, mostly thanks to the Metal framework new beach ball cursor new system font (San Francisco) Safari developer tools: responsive design mode System Integrity Protection - limited some privileges of admin accounts (can’t modify system files or access system processes) - can be disabled with a special utility redesigned disk utility, new color picker, option to autohide menu bar iOS 9 🗄️ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios9-preview/ more intelligent Siri proactive suggestions in various places more intelligent search feature, extensible by apps iPad multitasking - slideover, split view, Picture in Picture Notes: supports checklists and embedded media, sketch drawing, syncs through iCloud Passbook renamed to Wallet, can hold reward cards etc. Maps: public transit, finding places nearby News app iCloud Drive app that shows all contents of your iCloud drive “Move to iOS” app (in the App Store) for migrating from Android iPad keyboard - copy/paste buttons, dragging on the keyboard makes it select text iPad external keyboard - app switching new app switcher lowercase keyboard low power mode smaller download size for OS updates and less free space required to install passcodes can be 6 digits long to log in on a new device, you need to enter a verification code shown on one of your existing devices full right to left support - in RTL mode, everything is right to left - system controls, layout, gestures, navigation, tab bars etc. optimized UI, up to 1h more of battery usage notifications don’t light up the screen if the iPhone is lying face down popovers now drop a slight shadow around them on the underlying view “share” option added to the popover shown when selecting text watchOS 2 🗄️ https://www.apple.com/watchos-2/ new watch faces (photo, album, timelapse) time travel feature - shows events and predicted status of various things (e.g. weather) in the future or in the past if you’ve missed something night stand mode - landscape display, buttons act as “snooze” and “off” pub…