Apple WWDC 2016 reveals macOS Sierra, watchOS 3, iOS 10 in software-focused event

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple focused on macOS, iOS, watchOS and tvOS the four pillars of its software platform for 2016's World Wide Developer's Conference. The 27th yearly developer event was held at the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco kicked off with Apple CEO Tim Cook condemning the terrorist attack in Orlando and then segueing to the business at hand. WWDC has 5000 total attendees from 74 countries.

Cook didn't run down the numbers or talk about sales, device adoption which are staples of his keynotes. Instead he gave up the stage to various Apple Executives to introduce the new features. Hit jump for a hot take on what was revealed.

macOS Sierra

Retiring the Mac OS X nomenclature that's over 15 years old, Apple's desktop operating system is now simplified as macOS and this year's version is Sierra. Among the features are Auto Unlock, which unlocks your desktop by simply wearing an Apple Watch, there are better continuity features, better iCloud Drive integration, the addition of Siri personal assistant and a Universal Clipboard for sharing information across Mac and iOS devices.

The inclusion of Siri on macOS devices mirrors Cortana's omniscience in Windows 10. Apple is coming from behind in this respect but it will be interesting to see how the integration works and if it will be more elegant or proactive to what millions of Windows users have on their devices but which few reportedly use. Apple is angling Siri as a sort of voice-enabled multitasking feature allowing users to send messages or make appointments and run searches while they're typing, checking out Facebook or working on applications. 

Apple Pay, the company mobile payments platform is now integrated within the OS, making it easier to purchase items online. macOS Sierra is coming this fall but is available to developers today and will be offered as a public beta in July.

watchOS3

Its been over a year since the Apple Watch started shipping but Apple still hasn't released sales figures. What it has done, however, is tackled some of the issues facing the Apple Watch and its watchOS operating system, namely that some apps are terribly slow and simply quicker to access on an iPhone than having to deal with them in the watch.

watchOS3 promises to run apps up to seven times faster and also offers an all new dock to quickly access open applications instead of having to pinpoint tiny icons on the tiny watch home screen. watchOS3 also brings new watch faces and complications, an Activity Sharing feature in the activity app and more granular health and workout metrics.

Of note is a new feature on the Apple Watch called SOS that will dial 911 wherever you are in the world, provide your location as well as notify your emergency contacts. Watch how owners can initiate a call with emergency services through their iPhone or while on Wi-Fi, and notify their emergency contact by simply pressing and holding the side button.

iOS 10

The most important reveal at WWDC, which impacts the most number of users is iOS 10, the latest version of the operating system that runs iPhones and iPads.

iOS 10 promised to be a 'massive update' but Apple touched on 10 specific features of the new OS.

These included  updates to Messages,  a new Home App for HomeKit devices, improvements to the Photos, Music and News apps  as well as smarter Siri, Maps, Phone and Messages applications with a lot more ways to communicate with emoji, text effects and animations.

Interoperability within Apple's apps is also better in iOS 10. Maps now gives traffic information and can be used to hail a ride sharing service as well as paying for this through ApplePay right within the app without needing to multi-task or leave the app.

More importantly, this year saw Apple open up apps like Siri, Maps, Phone and Messages to developers for them to integrate more functionality with their apps.

After the year Apple has had with the highly publicized conflcit with the FBI on unlocking iPhones, security and encryption are very much highlighted features of iOS 10. iMessage, FaceTime and HomeKit now use end-to-end encryption to protect data by making it unreadable by Apple and others.

iOS 10 uses on-device intelligence to identify the people, objects and scenes in Photos, and power QuickType suggestions. Services like Siri, Maps and News send data to Apple’s servers, but this data is not used to build user profiles nor is it sold, shared or monetized.

Starting with iOS 10, Apple is using technology called Differential Privacy to help discover the usage patterns of a large number of users without compromising individual privacy.

No new hardware was announced at WWDC which focused on software, developers and future features coming in the fall.