Apple’s WWDC 2016: Thoughts and impressions from a technology scrutiniser

Apple’s 27^th WWDC has come and gone. What did I think of it? It depends on where you sit with the corporation’s practices. With four main operating systems on display, Apple has spread across many technology products from the personal computer to the fitness watch. To kick things off, CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to introduce Apple’s aims and goals alongside a carefully considered reflection of the horrific events in Orlando; a very respectable thing to do before the conference began in earnest.

WatchOS 3 came first, with performance and reliability being put front and centre. Apple also added a function for wheelchair users which was a nice touch. The Apple Watch looked very natural and easy to use, making use of a drawing interface. The company is now setting its sights on accidents and emergencies with the SOS function. Their intentions appeared noble, but giving away medical information and locations makes me wary.

Apple TV had a basic showing with the corporation putting its money behind tvOS 2 and apps as the future of TV. Single-sign on was a big selling point, though condensing every account into one login raises some eyebrows over security.

Apple’s insistence on linking all their products together will still be a sore point for many and that brings added dilemmas for security. The idea of integrating into cars, homes, businesses and in some cases emergency services may make sense to Apple’s stakeholders, but as a consumer I feel more than a little concerned about the amount of personal data we’re handing over. With one break-in attempt, hackers could have access to your private details, payment systems and more across all of your devices.

The developers at the event and around the world got plenty of morsels to salivate over as Apple announced it would be opening Siri up to third party developers.  It’s coming to Macintosh computers as well, which will soon make use of the new macOS Sierra software. With a snarky jab at Microsoft, the personal assistant launched into a demo with Software Engineer Craig Federighi; it works similar to its iPhone counterpart, which ended up feeling underwhelming. They need to progress their assistant forward with new functions and processes.

IOS 10 was shown off with 10 new features which were mostly iterative at best and pointless at worst. It’s the one part of the event that ended up outstaying its welcome. The text and bubble effects on messages weren’t all that exciting; they’re desperately trying to capture the feel of a face-to-face conversation with secret text and other options. Far too much emphasis was placed on emojis too as the company pranced about, declaring themselves “hip” with the young crowd in the process. Luckily the embarrassing moments were kept to a minimum…

Some of the smaller components in iOS 10 seem fairly useful, especially the new phone app which cuts down on all those annoying spam calls by marking them on your iPhone’s screen. But yet again, the issue of security popped up; with iOS 10, you’ll be able to access notifications, music, and the phone’s camera without unlocking the screen. It’s another relaxed barrier that aims to be more convenient for the consumer while peeling back a layer of privacy.

For the most part, talk on security was lost amidst all the new features meant to inspire developers; we need some substantial assurance that all the data we’re giving to Apple is completely safe and secure. End to end encryption and differential privacy were discussed briefly for IOS 10 but the corporation was mostly focused on those attending the event. With Macintosh computers set to make use of facial recognition, there should have been more points addressed across all software platforms as opposed to just iOS.

The final piece of Apple’s line-up was Swift Playgrounds. With the original Swift already faring well with developers, Apple turned its attention to the developers of tomorrow. To tie in with the conference’s opening, Tim Cook took to the stage again to talk about their efforts in bringing coding and development to young people all over the world. It was a really strong and involving effort on Apple’s part; we may yet see coding make its way into our ICT school curriculum at some point or another.

Ultimately WWDC 2016 went well in terms of presentation but the features presented were mixed at best. It told the developers what they wanted to hear, gave the corporation plenty of exposure, but didn’t really have much in the way of surprises for the common consumer. Personally I didn’t see any wildly unique or different features in any of Apple’s software that would sway me to run out and buy their products straight away. They need to back up their style with substance next time.

WWDC Image (Hero Image at top): Labelled for reuse on Google Images:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0nKqR-BjEg

Apple Watch Image (Second Image): Labelled for reuse on Google Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple-watch-selling-points.jpg

WWDC Poster (Third Image): Labelled for reuse and sourced from flikr user Iphonedigital: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iphonedigital/23876600184