Apple’s WWDC 2020 ~ 5 Unsung Features That Won’t Grab Headlines!
Apple held WWDC on Monday 22nd June and it was the most exciting event from Apple in years.
You might have heard about some of the major features announced already such as Home Screen Widgets, App Library, Picture in Picture and the Apple Silicon Mac transition but I’d like to talk about 5 of the lesser-known headline-making features across iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7 and macOS Big Sur.
App Clips on iOS 14
An App Clip is a small part of an app designed to be discovered the moment it is needed according to Apple. App Clips are associated with a product or business and load within seconds to complete a specific task, such as renting a bike, buying a coffee, or paying a parking meter.
They can be discovered and accessed by scanning a new Apple-designed App Clip code, through NFC tags and QR codes, shared in Messages or from Safari.
This will be a pretty big feature if major developers get involved, Tourists in London would be able to hire a bike with just a scan or tap instead of signing up for the bike app or standing at the ticket machine for 10 minutes filling out card details on a slow, awkward, out of date touch screen.
It will be great for businesses who struggle with traffic on their apps or want to advertise a smooth, fast buying experience on Safari while you browse and the ability to better advertise apps.
Back Tap on iOS 14
This accessibility feature called Back tap allows you to double-tap or triple-tap on the back of your iPhone to perform specific actions such as take a screenshot, open the app switcher, add shortcuts, open control center and a few more useful actions.
This feature would allow you to double tap on the back of your iPhone to bring up Google Assistant by using a shortcut or take a screen shot from a triple tap so you don’t have to juggle the iPhone 11 Max to take one.
Overall, it’s a nice feature and was heavily rumoured to be coming to the Android on the Pixel phones so nice of Apple to beat them to the punch.
Scribble on iPadOS 14
Scribble on iPad allows users with the Apple Pencil to write in any text field and it will automatically be converted to typed text, making actions like replying to an iMessage or searching in Safari fast and easy while adding another use for the pencil.
Apple says all handwriting and conversion to text happens on device, keeping it private and secure. When taking notes, the new Smart Selection uses on-device machine learning to distinguish handwriting from drawings and handwritten text can easily be selected, cut and pasted into another document as typed text.
The new detectors can also recognise handwritten text numbers and convert them to phone numbers, dates, and addresses and offer users the ability to take actions like tapping a written number to make a call, adding an event directly to Calendar or showing a location in Maps.
Basically, this is an amazing feature for students and those who attend a lot of meetings. The ability to quickly write down some notes and have it all converted for you instead of trying to type it on a touch screen keyboard is fantastic and far more natural to most.
The iPad is fast becoming my go to device now for writing and with the new Scribble feature, I’ll be able to take all my notes on the iPad and leave behind the old paper and pen.
Automatic Hand washing Detection on watchOS 7
This is more of an in the moment feature but very useful, due to the current situation ongoing around the World and the washing of hands being a major part of combating the spread of the virus.
The new hand washing detection on your Apple Watch uses the motion sensors and microphone to automatically detect hand washing motions and sounds. It then initiates a 20-second countdown timer, and if the user finishes early, they will be prompted to keep washing.
Apple Watch can also remind the user to wash their hands when they return home and the Health app on iPhone will show frequency and duration of the user’s hand washing, as well as information on the importance of handwashing.
New UI Design on macOS Big Sur
Now normally this would be the big news on macOS but due to the fact Apple announced the huge news of the switch from Intel chips to Apple Silicon over the next 2 years, I felt like this UI change would be swept away in the news.
I love the new name for macOS, Big Sur gives users a new design that makes everything cleaner and easier to access, it also gives users access to the control center for the first time on a Mac.
Starting with icons in the Dock that have been designed to be more consistent with icons across the Apple ecosystem while retaining a unique look more suited to the Mac.
They’re not as flat looking as the iOS versions and have some shadowing with depth but I have a feeling iOS 15 will give us a design change next year to match these on Big Sur.
I love the new designs because they look fresh, clean and more recognisable to iOS users, you have multiple new design elements like transparency and curved corners.
Expect a few people to outright hate these design changes but in time and with use I’m sure they’ll come around like iOS 7 which changed iOS design and was met with a lot of hate but now it’s more popular than ever.
The Control Centre and updated Notification Centre that includes more interactive notifications and the same iOS redesigned widgets that come in different sizes give users a new but familiar experience on Mac.
Overall, I’m extremely happy with all the updates this year and we have some fantastic long sought after features like changes to the home screen on iPhone and the new design on macOS.
The smaller features I’ve mentioned above add to the overall experience and make the whole ecosystem really refined and mature, along with some great additions from last years updates I think this really is the best time to be an iPhone or Mac user.
All Images from Apple Newsroom
