WWDC 2019 Thoughts
I’ll break this up by platform:
tvOS:
The multi-user support is cool.
The control center panel is brilliant and overdue.
watchOS:
The menstrual cycle tracking prediction was correct, though of course I wasn’t the only one predicting it.
The noise level notifications are interesting and definitely not something anyone saw coming.
I really like some of the new faces and complication styles.
I doubt anyone uses the on-watch App Store.
iOS:
Dark mode (no surprise).
I love the focus on privacy; I had it on my wish list, and they delivered. I am absolutely stoked about the “Sign in with Apple” button (and especially that it’s mandatory).
The ability to buy fonts in the AppStore is great. I’ve wanted custom fonts in Pages on iOS for a long time.
I am disappointed about the lack of meaningful Siri updates.
Handoff for HomePod is great, and the whole Siri-reading-incoming-messages thing on AirPods is a great feature.
The video editing features are very appreciated, but why did it take so long?
The new maps look delightful. The Look Around feature will be really helpful.
I’m glad there are more Memoji customization options. I’ve always thought they weren’t quite as user-specific as Bitmojis.
iPadOS:
As I mentioned in my predictions, I don’t think this year’s improvements will lead to the iPad replacing your laptop, but it is a huge step in that direction.
The full page option for marking up screenshots is great.
The new text editing features are going to be a big deal.
The files app will be a lot more useful, and I’m particularly excited about iCloud Drive Folder Sharing.
macOS:
I like the name Catalina.
Sidecar is super handy.
I’m not sure how I feel about the new Music, TV, and Podcasts app. Seems like they could’ve simplified iTunes a bit and it would’ve been alright. But the new music app doesn’t look much better than the current Apple Music implementation in iTunes—way too much of a focus on the useless recommended content rather than on your library.
The Voice Control feature is incredible. I’m proud to have been a part of a company that cares so much about making products that are accessible for everyone.
Developer tools:
The ARKit improvements were more substantial than I’d predicted, but I still don’t think we’re going to see much meaningful implementation in apps we use everyday.
The Catalyst framework is interesting. The marzipan apps generally sucked, and Apple said they’ve learned a lot from them, but the Apple apps they built last year using this technology don’t seemed to have changed much, so I wonder how useful it will really be in making Mac apps, as opposed to iPad apps running in a Mac window.
Mac Pro:
All in all, I’m more excited after this one than I expected to be. I am still disappointed that they didn’t do anything to improve the layout of the iOS Music app, but that wasn’t a surprise. There were a few surprises though, and they were good ones.