Well, Monday was the day. For the Apple fan looking for the newest release, or the Google fan looking to point fingers and say “haha Android did that first,” or even the bystander that has to point out that they don’t care about the keynote because Apple hasn’t innovated for 400 years, a good number of us had Apple on the mind, even if for a second. For me, personally, looking forward to the keynote feels a bit strong, but I always do try and fit it into my day to watch it live. It makes great background. There is a feature or two announced that makes its way into my repository of tools for the upcoming year. Well, most of the time. They don’t always pan out, but I’m always excited to try at least something new. With WWDC keynote behind us for another year, here are the takeaways that I, personally, am interested in.
Before we get into the platform-specific information, I just want to say I am so glad they unified version numbers. Remembering which macOS, WatchOS, iPadOS, and iOS (Okay, the last two are mirrors of one another, while not hard, was possible for me to fumble or miss-remember. Now, though, with 26 being the number for all of them, that problem goes away. Extremely minor, sure, but still.
Note: I’m not going to recap everything. There are a billion media outlets out there that have already done so, and they have done it much better than I ever could. Besides, I like being selfish and making things all about me. Mwah haw haw haw! Actually, I hate being in the spotlight, but that’s for another day.
##AirPods
Okay. So, I thought the AirPods section was going to be short, but, on reflection, there are quite a few things I can get behind:
###Camera Remote
I can get behind the idea of having an off-device way to take photos. If I’m trying to take a picture of myself, or doing something video-related and my phone’s on a tripod, clicking that button will be pretty neat.
###Studio Quality Recordings
Is the claim of studio quality true? No. I doubt it. Will the recordings sound better? It can’t get much worse; the AirPods do not have the best-sounding microphones, so any improvement is wanted here.
I’m one of those people that hate my screen reader coming through when I record. I find it annoying. So, if I can make better-quality recordings with my AirPods, then perhaps I’ll do more of them. I don’t because the recordings suck, and the things I want to record I would like to be at least decent quality. I can continue down this rabbit hole, but suffice it to say I’m glad they’re getting this boost. As for using the iPhone mics, I hate Voiceover bleeding through, so I just don’t. Ironically, I can pick the iPhone microphone as a default recorder and not lose Voiceover speech through my headphones, so I win in more than one way. Go me!
###Pause Media when Falling Asleep
Okay. No lie. I fall asleep listening to audio a lot. Mostly audiobooks, but sometimes a podcast. I hate having to go back and find my spot in the morning, or waking up hearing that a character was involved in a plot point and having it ruined. So, if I conk out and my AirPods stop, I’m here for it. Before you say anything, if I use the sleep timer, that’s the night I stay awake and keep re-setting it. Ugg. I can’t win. Hashtag first world problems, am I right?
##iPad OS
I think the iPad is an underutilized piece of technology. I love my iPad mini for things like media consumption and it was great for taking notes. I like the iPad so I’m not interrupted with a load of phone notifications. Honestly, focuses have made my iPad usage less. I’ve never felt it has been a game changer in the world, the blind world especially. I’m excited to see that it gets a level up with its new windows, Apple Intelligence, and shortcuts. We’ll talk more about shortcuts in the Mac section.
My biggest “woo hoo” is the ability to select what mic is used where. I think that’ll be great for mobile recordings. Along with that is the ability for people to record their audio on a video call and have a local copy saved. That hopefully lets people have more choice when it comes to higher quality recording needs.
##iOS
###Live Translation
My soon-to-be mother-in-law speaks Spanish. I suck at Spanish. She likes to send text messages. It’s going to be great to be able to read what she intends and respond to her in kind. The live translation on FaceTime and phone calls will be nice. I’m excited for those like me who are close to someone who doesn’t speak the best English to be able to finally have the ability to communicate to whomever they want. If their doctor’s office doesn’t offer a language they speak for communication, this can be a game changer.
###Call/Message Screening
I’m tired of getting “Your car’s warranty has expired!” text messages. Actually, lately it’s been “Part-time job available! Make up to $500 daily!” adverts. And of course, there’s always the packages I never ordered stuck at USPS. There are also annoying salespeople that call me during the day. If you want to talk to me, you’ll go through the effort so I know who you are and what you want before I answer the phone. As for the spam messages? I won’t check those, let’s be real.
Seriously, though, I am often at work when I receive a phone call from an unknown number. These unknown numbers sometimes even have a valid reason to talk to me, but others don’t. I don’t need to hear from True Green trying to sell me something during the workday. I might need to hear from someone else. Since people never leave voicemails these days, hopefully, they’ll take the 2 seconds to let me know who they are and what they want so I can decide whether or not to take the call. Then, if they don’t leave a voicemail and I don’t call you back, they had two chances to get my attention.
###Hold Assist
This will get me to make more calls. Everyone works from nine to five, so I get it. But it’ll be nice to have my phone hold for me so I don’t have to. Not everywhere offers “call me back when it’s my turn” options yet.
##Watch OS
###Workout Buddy
I’m not sure if this is going to be a gimmick or cool. Either way, I’m here for it. It’ll be nice to know if I’m doing better than average or not and just have it spoken to me. I do use the Peloton watch app to track workouts, though, so I doubt I’ll even encounter this much. Oh well. I’ll try it, naturally, and if I like it, I’ll put in effort to making the two work in tandem.
###Wrist Flick
I’m planning to upgrade my watch, and to have a gesture to dismiss notifications is neat.
##Mac OS
Okay. The Mac is what I am most excited about. I’ve got a love hate, mostly love the past few weeks, relationship with my Mac. I’m hoping that this update will enhance that further.
###Spotlight
There’s a lot to talk about here. I’ve been looking at trying a third-party launcher. Alfred was where I was leaning, and I think I’ll wait. There are several features that I can’t wait to use:
####Quick Keys
Assuming this is done right, I can just launch Spotlight and type a quick key and have stuff happen? Yes, please. Things like “RM call mom tonight at 5” will be awesome. Could I use Siri? Yeah, but I don’t want to. I much prefer typing because I know it’ll be understood. If I can do things quickly without having to open the app and navigate the UI, I’m here for it. Especially since I can just then return to whatever it was I was doing. I think if done right, this could be a game changer. When writing this article I set up “hey Siri” on my Mac to give it a fair shot and doesn’t work with my headphones for some reason.
####Doing Things from Spotlight
I don’t remember my way through menus half the time, especially if it’s something I don’t do often. It’ll be amazing to be able to just open Spotlight and type in what I want and have it pull up the menu item. Especially in larger apps like Pages, Word, Excel, Numbers, and so on.
This applies to shortcuts. If I can run a shortcut to turn off the furnace from Spotlight or turn on the Christmas tree when it’s that time of year without going through a hassle, I am going to be happy. It’s going to make my life feel quicker.
###Live Activity Support
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about getting my iPhone notifications on my Mac. It turns out I actually quite like it. Do I ever interact with them? No, but they’re on my phone waiting for me. Live activities are only going to make that better. I’ll be able to track the game on my Mac, or my Instacart delivery, and more. If you can’t tell, I love live activities.
I just hope that the remote control of my phone is better by the time the OS is released. Judging by their implementation thus far, I’m not optimistic. Still, just seeing the activity is still a win for me.
###Phone App
When I have to call companies, I often either need something to write information down, or something where my information is to give to said company. This often leads me to my computer. A phone app will allow me to do more official calls from my Mac and let me have all of my numbers or dates or a notepad all ready to go. Plus, if I’m busy and need to make a phone call I can just do it. Yes, I could have had Siri do it for me already and called from my iPhone, or Contacts, but I’m hoping this will let me sort through voicemails, too.
If you’ll learn one thing about my technology habits, I like continuity, especially as I get older. I don’t want to have to use multiple devices. If I can avoid that, I’ll do so.
###Shortcuts
Okay. I saved my favorite for last. Apple Intelligence and shortcuts. I am so looking forward to having Apple Intelligence handle stuff for me. Do I want to listen to an hour-long podcast to learn about things? No, but I’ll happily download it and have a shortcut create a transcription for me. Or I’ll happily have a document inbox that AI can sort for me. Or I’ll happily, well, you get the picture.
I can’t wait to sit down with this and dig in over the next few months. I’m sure I’ll read about and find shortcuts I never dreamt of having that I absolutely need already. Like a shortcut that I can run on a picture that generates an image description and adds it to the photos’ metadata so I don’t have to go through the annoying process of doing it myself.
##Final Thoughts
Was WWDC amazingly innovative and amazingly exciting? Nah, I don’t think so. Was there a lot of features that are exciting and enhance my life? I personally think so!
There are going to be people out there that already have their way of doing things and they don’t want to change. That’s fine. I get it. I’m certainly not going to give anyone any flack for that. I’m always looking to optimize my workflow and make things more efficient, and I honestly believe that is what these releases will do. Only time will tell, but for now, I find reasons to be excited for the fall. Who am I kidding? I’ve already got the betas installed. I have only toyed with a few things, so I am not commenting thus far.
Are you excited about *OS26? Are you not excited about it? Do you want to brag about how android is better one very way? You go for it. Converse with me!