Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi this week did a series of interviews with YouTubers, sharing iOS 15 highlights and tidbits with them. Each YouTuber was able to ask Federighi targeted questions about the new update using FaceTime.
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Andru Edwards talked to Federighi about Apple's focus on togetherness with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey features like SharePlay in FaceTime and Shared with You in Messages. "We have so many ideas that come up over time, over years. And then there comes a moment when we can suddenly connect them all in a meaningful way and they're right for the moment, and we go for it. This year was one of those," said Federighi.
"With so many of us apart having to connect over distance, we were craving that connection and that ability to be together virtually but still share things with one another and to have all that context for connection." Federighi went on to say that Apple likes to work "thematically" without just "dribs and drabs" of unrelated features. "If we can pull something together to be bigger than the sum of its parts, then that's the moment to really go for it, connect all the threads."
TechMeOut asked Federighi which iOS 15 features he's most excited about. "I think if I had to pick right now, it's probably SharePlay," said Federighi. He went on to explain that he hasn't been able to use it with friends and family because Apple had to keep it secret, so he's eager to give it a go.
French YouTuber TheiCollection spoke with Federighi about macOS Monterey and the new Universal Control functionality that will let you use a single keyboard, mouse, or trackpad across multiple Macs and iPad devices. Federighi said Apple is thrilled for the "zero setup" feature that just works. "It was a fun one to put together," he said about Universal Control.
Other videos featuring Federighi in a series of short interviews are embedded below.
iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey are all available to developers at the current time, but Apple plans to release a beta for public beta testers in July, at which point anyone who wants to will be able to test out these new features.
Update: Several other Federighi interviews have now gone live covering VPNs, FaceTime on Android, and more.
Top Rated Comments
Just because we can implement a feature doesn't mean it's the right decision to do so. We could make an OS that uses more resources, but think our customers are going to be surprised how well the free iPad OS update runs on their existing devices.
There are a lot of ways to implement multitasking features, but we don't think anyone has gotten it perfect yet. Our newest OS's build on what we have learned from previous releases, and we think it will be the most intuitive OS release ever.
While the code-base may be similar how people use the devices differ significantly. We wanted to ensure features were implemented for the device they would be used on. We know people are eager to use features they are familiar with on iPhone with their iPad, and we are excited to see what amazing things developers create with the new OS tools.
At Apple we constantly ask ourselves, what can we add to this market? If we can't do better than what already exists then we don't release anything. Right now there are a lot of really well-designed iPad OS calculator apps.
The concept of the computer has changed a lot since the iPad first launched.
Thunderbolt is a magical technology that for many is the evolution of what USB hoped to accomplish. We work with hundreds of hardware partners to build devices that work best with Apple hardware. Compared to other protocols Thunderbolt is still relatively bleeding edge, and as a result hardware manufacturers are still learning how to get the most out of their products. We believe Thunderbolt is a gamechanger and are proud it's currently available on so many Apple Devices.
I also recently watched an interview with Craig again and the woman straight up asked "How's the software for the upcoming AR set going" and he replied (with a grin) "I have no idea what you're talking about"
So this probably shows that they're not aware of the questions they're going to be asked. That's what I think at least.
But of course, they're trying to be more kind and appealing so that they can get this chance again, rather than screwing their interview with a question that Apple refuses to talk about themselves