Apple’s developer conference is just around the corner. Here’s what we expect to see.
Apple’s annual week-long conference for developers kicks off on June 7 with a keynote address at 10am PT. As it was last year, due to COVID-19, the event will be virtual this year. If you want to watch live, there are several ways, which are outlined here. Most of the biggest news and announcements that impact regular users will be outlined in the keynote and it should be a great show. Apple always showcases the features of its up-and-coming operating systems at this event, but often releases (or announces) new hardware as well. Here’s all the stuff we expect to see at WWDC ’21. Apple’s most significant product is iOS. It runs on over a billion iPhones, and brings new capabilities to more users and developers every year than anything else Apple makes. Changes to iOS policies can shift entire industries—just look at what’s happening with App Tracking Transparency. While Apple now talks about iOS and iPadOS as separate entities, they are still so similar and follow the same track so much, that we’re lumping them together. Most of the features that iOS gets, iPadOS gets. We never know exactly what to expect from these updates until Apple gets on stage, but we’ve heard a few rumors. Apple is said to be re-working notifications on the lock screen to give users more control and handling alerts in different ways depending on your activity. Messages is rumored to get more features (as it usually does), and we might see food tracking as part of the Fitness app. Apple is said to be introducing some new home screen changes specifically for iPadOS, where you’ll be able to place widgets anywhere on the home screen, even replacing all app icons if you want. We’re hoping to see some major features and enhancements to iPadOS to take advantage of the M1 processor in the iPad Pro.
