When I attended WWDC for the first time in 2010 the iPad was still brand new and not yet available in Ireland. Many had dismissed it as just a big iPhone, others (me, at least) had hyped it as A BIG IPHONE.
It ran iPhone OS version 3.2.
As we queued up outside Moscone West before the Monday morning keynote we were all expecting the next iPhone and the next version of iPhone OS. We speculated about what new features we'd see. There was one seemingly minor announcement though, that nobody was expecting: the next version of the operating system would be called iOS 4, dropping the 'iPhone' to accommodate iPad. It made sense at the time and initially my only reaction was delight at how they managed to do it mid presentation, with nobody slipping up and using the new name before the announcement and nobody using the old one afterwards.
In the years that followed though, as the 'just a big iPhone' opinions persisted and many developers put forth minimal effort in making their iPhone apps work on iPad.
I came to think that not creating a separate identity for the iPad's operating system was a missed opportunity
I came to think that not creating a separate identity for the iPad's operating system was a missed opportunity, one that they finally rectified this year by renaming the iPad's operating system to iPad OS.
Perhaps making it incredibly clear that iPhone developers could make iPad apps made the previous OS naming scheme worthwhile up to a point but I believe making it clearer that the iPad has its own OS, with its own interface, its own set of interactions and idioms that are distinct from iPhone will be a bigger benefit to software on the platform.
I believe making it clearer that the iPad has its own OS, with its own interface, its own set of interactions and idioms that are distinct from iPhone will be a bigger benefit to software on the platform
OS naming is now consistent across all of Apple's mobile devices - they are all based off iOS but Apple Watch runs watch OS, Apple TV runs tv OS and iPad runs iPad OS. These operating systems are not distinct in terms of technology or how we develop for them or who can develop for them, the distinction rather is in how the user interacts with them. Hopefully (and I believe it will) for iPad, this will result in more differentiated iPad software that takes advantage of it's unique and powerful features.
A consistent naming of operating systems is important and welcome, but a consistent and modern approach to developing for all of Apple's device's is even bigger news, and we got it in spectacular fashion at this years WWDC. We had expected and got Catalyst - the way to bring iOS apps to the Mac. We weren't also expecting a brand new declarative UI framework that works natively on all Apple's platforms but that is what SwiftUI is, and we were blown away by its introduction at the keynote and have been just as impressed as we've started digging into it in more detail.
It has always been possible to share a lot of code between Mac and iOS apps, but the interface always had to be developed using a different framework. With Catalyst that is no longer necessarily the case as iOS developers can now use all their skills and experience to build Mac interfaces.
It has always been possible to share a lot of code between Mac and iOS apps, but the interface always had to be developed using a different framework. With Catalyst, iOS developers can now use all their skills and experience to build Mac interfaces
We took it for a test drive right away and and with minimal changes we had one of our largest iOS apps running natively on the Mac.
SwiftUI is even more impressive and forward looking, the framework leaves us developers more time to focus on the features that are unique to our clients.
SwiftUI is even more impressive and forward looking though, the framework does a lot more of the heavy lifting of layout, animation and interaction for you, leaving us developers more time to focus on the features that are unique to our clients. With this work Apple has made iOS developers a lot more productive and better still, it works the same across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
SwiftUI is especially significant on watch OS. This is the first time there's been a fully native way to develop for the watch, this coupled with an independent App Store for Apple Watch (meaning you no longer need to bundle a watch app inside an iPhone app) should lead to more interest in building great apps on the wrist.
Apple has also made it more compelling to develop for Siri by adding parameter support in Siri Shortcuts, for augmented reality with ARKit 3 including people occlusion and Reality Composer, for security and privacy with Sign In With Apple, for machine learning with Core ML 3 including on device learning and so much more. The breadth and depth of features Apple makes available to developers, along with productivity and quality gains that come with SwiftUI means that for the investment that used to be required to get a basic iPhone app on the App Store we can now deliver advanced, truly compelling and integrated experiences across multiple devices.
Apple has significantly pushed their development story across all their platforms forward at this year's WWDC, giving us new capabilities to offer to our clients and making us more productive than ever. There has never been a better time to build native apps in the Apple ecosystem.
So these are not really 3 separate takeaways, but one: Apple has significantly pushed their development story across all their platforms forward at this year's WWDC, giving us new capabilities to offer to our clients and making us more productive than ever. There has never been a better time to build native apps in the Apple ecosystem.
Are you interested on building a native iOS app or expanding your Apple ecosystem? We'd love to help. Talk to us!
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