Apple – at the WWDC keynote – announced the iOS 12 public beta 1 download date and released the developer betas for the macOS 10.14 and tvOS 12. Apple made it clear that none of the operating systems for any platform would have the official global public release until later this year. However, it would be open for the public testers, who would tear down the platforms to review them before the launch.
During the WWDC 2018 keynote, Apple showed a range of updates coming with the iOS 12, such as FaceTime with multiple people. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, demonstrated the new group call feature in FaceTime. During the call, the other Apple employee named Lauren, waved hello to Craig and said, “Wait, am I on the big screen?” To which Federighi responded, “Yes, Lauren, this is not a test. You’re in front of 6,000 of your biggest new fans!”
Another new feature coming with the iOS 12 will be Memoji. “We’re very excited about the new communications features we’re bringing to iPhone and iPad with Memoji, a more personal form of Animoji, fun camera effects and Group FaceTime,” Federighi said.
With the iOS12, the iPhone maker intends to make daily tasks speedier, more responsive and uniform across the system. On the new OS, the camera opens 70% faster while the keyboard pops up 50% quicker with more responsive typing. The iOS 12 is capable of launching the apps faster even with multiple tasks running in the background.
Further, the executive said that with the iOS 12 they are creating a new experience by deploying advanced algorithms to make AR even more engaging and intelligent to deliver faster ways to get things done using Siri. The new OS can be loaded on the iPhone 5s (launched in 2013) to boost the performance and speed up things.
With ARKit 2, developers will have the power to design some of the most groundbreaking AR apps. The developers get new tools to weave the integrated shared experiences, persistent AR experience for the specific location, image tracking and object detection. ARKit2 has been designed in collaboration with Pixar, a new open file format that makes it easier to experience AR in almost all the iOS apps including Messages, Mail, Files and Safari.
For now only the registered developers will be able to download the iOS 12 beta. The iOS 12 public beta 1 for the public beta testers would be made available sometime later this summer.
Along with announcing the release date for the iOS 12 public beta 1, Apple also released the developer beta of MacOS 10.14 – dubbed as Mojave. The OS promises a range of updates to the GUI and other user features. Apple will launch the dark theme with the next MacOS. The eye-soothing update would only be available for the native apps including Mail, Messages, Maps, Calendar and Photos. Apple has released an API to the developers so that they can include the dark mode in the apps.
The MacOS 10.14 will also offer the “Dynamic Desktop” feature, which changes the wallpaper to match the time of day. Then, there is “Stacks” wherein users would be able to streamline a cluttered desktop by “Stacking” similar content into piles. The user can make various categories like type, date and more to clean up the desktop view.
The Macs that will support the MacOS 10.14 are MacBook, early 2015 or newer; MacBook Air, mid 2012 or newer; Mac Mini, late 2012 or newer; MacBook Pro, mid 2012 or newer; iMac, late 2012 or newer; iMac Pro, 2017; Mac Pro, late 2013 or newer. The preview version of the MacOS 10.14 is available at the Apple Developer Program website, while the public beta is scheduled for late June.
Another noteworthy announcement during the WWDC was the tvOS 12. The updated Apple TV app on the iPhone, Apple TV and iPad can now run over 100 video apps from 10 countries. Apple is collaborating with several companies to bring Apple TV to more markets. In the home entertainment category, Apple TV 4K is getting Dolby Atmos audio support making it the “only streaming player to be both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos certified.”
In order to widen its reach, Apple also entered into a partnership with Charter Communications, the second-largest cable provider in the U.S. Apple claims that around 50 million households would be able to watch live channels and other on-demand programs through the new Spectrum TV app on Apple TV, iPad and iPhone.
There was a time when Apple’s WWDC did not garner much limelight and was only attended by a few passionate developers and those into creating the software for Apple’s platform. The same event now equals a release of a Hollywood blockbuster and harvests attention from all over the world.
