Apple's digital only Worldwide Developers Conference is taking place this week. Monday was the keynote event, but Apple is hosting engineering sessions and sharing videos on the new software updates all week long.
There's quite a bit going on with the dozens of different sessions that developers can watch in the Apple Developer app or the Apple Developer website, so Apple has been providing bite-sized daily recaps with the important highlights.
The day two video, shared this morning, highlights WidgetKit, which will let developers create widgets that can be used in the Today view and on the Home Screen of the iPhone, and App Clips, small bits of an app you can experience for quick interactions without the need to download a full app.
It also covers creating expansive and dynamic interfaces for iPad apps, the new Accessibility features introduced in 2020, and a neat new feature that lets developers take advantage of hand and body pose detection for interacting with the iPhone without touching the display.
The video includes a sneak peek at upcoming sessions, which include CarPlay templates, speeding up test results, and a new Game Center experience.
Apple also shared a day 1 video in the same quick recap theme, going over key iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, and watchOS 7 features, as well as highlighting Apple's big chip announcement.
We'll be updating this article throughout the week as Apple shares additional recap videos pointing out notable new features and changes worth knowing about.
Update: Apple's day three video highlights new Game Center features, haptics for game controllers, App Clips, details on Apple Silicon Macs architecture, Car Key, and more.
Update 2: Apple's day four video looks at several topics including keyboard and mouse support for iPad games, ways to optimize Mac Catalyst apps, and more.
Top Rated Comments
Other best bit is Johnathan Mann’s Jiggle Mode song ('//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAOjDXdiUzM'). And likely John Gruber’s Talk Show Remote ('https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/06/23/the-talk-show-wwdc-2020-tomorrow'), when it comes out later today. Accidental Tech Podcast’s WWDC episode ('https://atp.fm/384') is likely good as well (haven't had a chance to listen yet), but it’s a shame they couldn’t do it in front of a live audience with guests from Apple, like in past years.
Imagine how many more people would use things like Lime scooters and city cycles if there were no apps to download and register for before you can use them?
Ye, I like the new format a lot.Apple really embraced the quarantine online event and hit it out of the park. It’s not just a stage event that happens to be filmed and posted online; WWDC was redesigned from the ground up to be an online event.
I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t know if app clips is going to endure.
Apple's next big moves are all about merging the internet into the real world. Whether that's with AR glasses that overlay the internet on top of the real world or physical interactions with app clips by tapping tags in stores and restaurants, there's going to be more of a blurring of the lines between the physical world and the internet.
Apple won't even have to push it hard. I know that the restaurant industry here in Toronto is already talking about the possibilities.