WWDC 2020: all the news

Index

iOS 14 iPadOS 14 watchOS 7 macOS Big Sur WWDC 2020 was opened yesterday by the inevitable keynote, this year in a rigorous digital version and without an audience in the room. During the event, Apple presented the news related to its operating systems coming out in the fall: from iOS 14 to iPadOS 14, from watchOS 7 to macOS Big Sur.

Before talking about software, ecosystems and details, however, Tim Cook deemed it necessary to take stock of the current situation in the USA, underlining his company's commitment to the principles of equity which obviously extend to the workplace, and for which various initiatives financed by the house were organized. Cupertino.

iOS 14

Available in beta from July, with the official launch as mentioned in the fall, iOS 14 introduces several new features in terms of the interface, with important changes how you can organize icons on the Home screen and beyond. App Library will take care of these operations automatically, going to group apps intelligently, also and above all on the basis of our habits. We can therefore choose to hide certain screens and to use these new folders, whose contents will be accessible immediately with a single touch.

Widgets have also undergone a restyling, according to a principle that puts optimization first and usability. The new panels are resizable and show a greater amount of information, inspired by what has been done on watchOS. You can place them within the normal screens, among the standard icons, and use the Smart Stack to always have a fixed position from which to scroll through the available widgets.

If, at the time the Calls end up monopolizing the screen in the moment they occur, by stopping what we are doing, with iOS 14, this functionality will become compact and less invasive, limited to a hide-away box. The Picture in Picture is also been consolidated on the basis of the same approach, allowing us to continue to watch a video, positioning it in a corner of the screen and then possibly enlarge it or close it.

in Addition to the extension of Messages through the introduction of the pin, the quotes, the photos of the group and of the new Memoji, Apple has improved the Maps and be introduced to a range of contextual guides, but more importantly he has added a Translation system, an intelligent and usable offline, with support for eleven languages, among which Italian. While we are abroad, we simply need to open the app and press the microphone button, because iOS 14 to adopt our phrases, or those of our interlocutor and to translate it automatically.

The idea of greater compactness and discretion was also applied to Siri , which can be invoked by using the small hide-away box, depending on the situation, and now includes a greater number of information of general interest in order to better respond to our questions and our curiosity. Have also been submitted to the App Clip : applications to be less than 10 MB, accessible immediately in a certain context, which can be activated by scanning the QR code or the dedicated and integrated with Apple Pay.

The new features of iOS 14, involving also the Safari browser and the home automation app Home, but to stand out in the course of the presentation, it was particularly CarPlay . The software that interfaces with our car and was improved both from an aesthetic and the functional, and is going to introduce the interesting new feature of the electronic key : a virtual tool which replace traditional keys, and allows precisely to use the vehicle, with the ability to share access with other people.

iPadOS 14

The new operating system, optimized for the iPad will boast the latest version of all the new features of iOS 14, therefore, the organization of the icons through the App Library with unprecedented ability to customize the visual experience, the new Widgets that are resizable and can be positioned in the normal screens, with the Smart Stack for immediate access to individual contents by scrolling, the Calls are displayed in a box that is discreet and improved support for Picture-in-Picture video.

All functionality on the screen of the tablet, Apple will gain further value through a series of specific options: the ability to move the contents of the Home screen to add a column with the Widgets, but also a renewed system of navigation between the Photos which allows you to catalog automatically the shots, move them if necessary in different albums, and so on. Falls in this context of optimization, the Search function too, become universal, just like on the iOS 14.

The great new exclusive iPadOS 14 concerns rather the use of Apple Pencil to create notes and notes with handwriting, thanks to technology Scribble . Using machine learning, this system recognizes automatically what we write, allowing us to select it, move it and edit it as if it were standard text. The recognition is automatic, and seems to be really precise, opening the door to a whole range of new possibilities.

that's Not all: in regard to make handwritten notes even more professional, iPadOS 14 also optimizes the graphics within them, straightening the lines and recognizing the most common forms to give to our texts look a lot more enjoyable.

watchOS 7

The great success of the Apple Watch has allowed the house of Cupertino to make substantial steps forward with regard to the experience of use of the operating system that is designed for its wearable, and watchOS 7 puts to use what you've learned so far, by introducing a series of interesting novelties. It starts, of course, from the dials , that will not only be available in greater quantities but can be created, edited, and even shared in order to better express the needs of the users.

The application Sleep has been improved, with a series of automatisms that aim to promote sleep healthy and restorative, by turning off notifications and whatnot when we go to bed, analyzing the quality of our sleep in a very detailed manner, and providing us with a series of instruments to create a routine and a solid, that it is possible to maintain for a long time.

The app dedicated to fitness includes workout, while maintaining the ability to share and compare your results with friends, while the Maps support the cycling activities, creating custom routes that can eventually save us road and time. In respect of the current healthcare system, has also been included an application specifically designed to monitor the way in which we wash our hands.

these features will add a strengthening of the virtual assistant Siri, with the same system of automatic translation introduced with iOS 14, can also be used offline, and a number of useful shortcuts to quickly get what we need. Has also been enhanced the application to the control of the hearing, which made its debut in watchOS 6.

macOS Big Sur

During the keynote opening of WWDC 2020 has been given ample space to macOS Big Sur , the new version of the operating system that will integrate a series of functions that are clearly inspired by the mobile devices of the house of Cupertino. From photo organization to the general management of the sidebar, the dock, redesigned Control Center, through the renewed system of notifications, it seems that Apple designers have decided to bring on the Mac the best so far seen on the iPhone and iPad.

The discourse extends to the Safari browser, featuring a number of unpublished items that are customizable and an improved interface, especially with regard to the tab, showing the same application of the translation that we talked about with regard to iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, performance substantially improved and increased energy efficiency. Also enter into macOS Big Sur to new Messages with a pin, quotes, shares, and Memoji, the universal search and the guides applied to the Maps for discovering new places.