Bloomberg today released a detailed report outlining some of the previously mentioned features coming to Apple platforms at WWDC 2019, including previously unknown enhancements like a dedicated Calculator app for Apple Watch and revamped Reminders and Health apps in iOS 13.
Mark Gurman, writing forBloomberg, has learned that some of Apple’s WWDC 2019 highlights include upgrades to core iPhone apps such as Maps, Reminders and Messages, as well as new apps for Apple Watch that make it more independent from iPhone, plus enhancements to the health tracking capabilities of Apple devices.
Apple plans to add the App Store directly to the Watch so users can download apps on the go. This could open up huge new opportunities for outside developers, boosting app installations.
But Apple has its own new Watch apps in the works, too. There will be new health applications, a Calculator and a Books app for listening to audio books from your wrist, the people familiar with the plans said.
Here are the expected changes…
Codenamed “Yukon,” iOS 13 will bring additional tweaks to make the devices run faster and reduce bugs, including interface changes like:
Apple is reportedly already working on iOS 14, codenamed “Azul,” for 2020. That release, Gurman writes is expected to support 5G wireless network speeds and new augmented reality functionality for 2020’s iPhone.
The biggest change in watchOS 6 is a standalone App Store:
Apple is adding the App Store directly onto the Apple Watch so users can download apps on the go, making the device more independent. Users currently install new apps via the Watch companion application on their iPhone.
Watch faces and complications are also getting some much-needed love.
Apple is adding more watch face complications, which show additional snippets of information beyond just the time. There will be one that shows the status of audio books, another showing the battery life of hearing aids and others that measure external noise and rain data.
The company is also planning several new watch faces: a Gradient face that makes a gradient look out of a color the user chooses, at least two new X-Large faces that show jumbo numbers in different fonts and colors, a California dial that looks like a classic watch face and mixes Roman numerals with Arabic numerals, a redesigned Solar Analog watch face that looks like a sundial, and a new Infograph Subdial one that includes larger complication views like a stock market chart or the weather.
Check out other tidbits.
macOS 10.15
As previously reported, macOS 10.15 will let iPad apps run on Macs. Next year, the Cupertino company will expand that feature so iPhone apps could run on Macs, too. Beyond 2020, Apple will merge iPhone, iPad and Mac apps into single downloads, with the report speculation that the company could eventually also merge the different App Stores into a single service.
iOS’s Podcasts app and the new merged Find My iPhone and Find My Friends app are coming to macOS. “There will also be a new Apple Music app, which is being developed as a standard Mac program,” reads the report. Other tidbits include Screen Time for Mac, support for effects and stickers in Messages, integration with the Shortcuts app, a refreshed Reminders app and upgrades to the Books app.
