After watching WWDC on my Apple TV, I was once again re-energized by the direction of Apple. Phil Shiller said it best:
“Can’t innovate anymore, my ass”
I wholeheartedly agree. Here is my recap of what I’m excited about from this event.
Mac OSX Mavericks
iCloud Keychain
One of the increasingly largest challenges of navigating our digital life are passwords. Large companies are hacked frequently, causing most of the biggies to implement two-factor authentication. Gone are the days with one or two services we use. And gone are the days where we are naive enough to think we can use one “master password” for all of them. We need greater security. I’ve been using 1Password for about six months and it’s a fantastic service. Without getting my hands on iCloud Keychain, I believe Apple has solved this dilemma for us and offered it for free.
Finder Tabs
Sure finder tabs are cool. But the win here is that each tab can have a different orientation. Each tab can be searching from a different place and with different views. As I think about the spaces I use now on my Mac, I can anticipate creating one more with Finder.
Tags
This wasn’t sexy, but it’s important. I work in multiple environments and storage solutions with multiple people on my team. We build multiple websites for our organization with WordPress and have lived with tags and categories for years. Just as it provides a robust search experience, so can tags for my files with this new feature. It can also help me see things from a more organized perspective through the finder.
iOS
Control Center
This small but significant move will save me from several taps to get to those important tools. I think they have the right utilities in Control Center, but can improve them from time to time.
Multi-Tasking
Like Craig Federighi reminded us, we’ve had multitasking since iOS 4. This takes things to a whole new level. Two things I noticed was that Apple is saying they have figured out how to do multitasking without killing battery life. That will be something which will be tested with time. The second was how it has an eerie similarity to WebOs and the “card” design. Regardless, I love it.  And I loved Craig on stage.  He’s getting great reviews so far.  Thumbs up to Tim Cook for tapping Craig to get on the stage.
iTunes Radio
Pandora is in for trouble on this one. I can listen to any artist I want, make playlists and buy the music I like the most? I must admit I wasn’t really drooling over this feature as I was reading the tech journals prognosticating. But the overhaul of the music app and integration with iTunes Radio is one more reason I’m glad I’m still grandfathered in with unlimited data from AT&T.
Overall
I’m always excited for WWDC and the innovation that is presented. There are a lot of people writing reviews with what they love, that they don’t like, and what they wish they would have heard. I’m just choosing to share the things I’m truly excited about and will anticipate using this fall.
Question:Â What were your WWDC takeaways?
These are great takeaways.
What was most exciting for me was seeing how much fun they were having as they presented. It was clear that they’re working well together, and that means cool things for the future.
Agreed, Michael. I think the addition of Craig Federighi added energy and cohesiveness. Even long-timer Phil Shiller was awesome. I wonder if his comment was in the script. It felt like there was lots of energy and passion to answer the community that they are still the top dogs. The think I loved the most wasn’t even the reveals. It was their renewed commitment to their culture. It was as if they were reminding themselves and us who they are and what they are about. I loved it.
Well now that its here what do you think? I installed on personal MBP but I’ll wait to make sure its compatible with my coding software for my work MBA.
It’s too early to tell, Jay. Google maps is cool, but I don’t know how much I’ll use it on my Mac. iBooks is cool, but again, I read on my iPad. Finder with tabs is awesome. I’ve got one screen that’s dedicated to finder now with multiple tabs. I haven’t used tags yet, but I believe that will be an additional benefit.
The confusing thing so far is iCloud Keychain. I don’t think it’s as intuitive as people think. I currently use 1Password, and I’m hoping for iCloud Keychain could replace it. I’ve had to do a little research on things to see how it works and how it could be a game changer for so many people who still have their passwords written on paper or in an unsecured location.
Early thoughts from you?