Apple has officially kickstarted the Virtual Worldwide Developers Conference by connecting developers and mobile buffs across the globe. Like always, one of the most highly-anticipated and most-watched events, this event, was organized virtually, owing to the pandemic. Apple announced a host of new upgrades and features especially for their iconic products such as the iPhone, iPad and its operating systems. This is also going to be used for a starting point/launching point for a lot of hardware products that will be looked at, as exclusively to Apple. Perhaps, one of its biggest announcements comes with the Safari upgrade, something we shall talk about in the coming paragraphs.

Event Announcements in Detail

IOS 14

The newly-designed Home screen and re-designed widgets makes for a beautiful upgrade for the IOS 14. App clips have been successfully added, in order to ensure that a variety of tasks be handled effectively and quickly. On the other hand, the upgradation of App Library helps in organising applications a lot more efficiently, ensuring that app finding happens faster. This latest update comes with promising features and allows for a much more personalized experience for the user.

• Widgets:

Beautifully re-designed widgets to give your screen an un-interrupted glance. With new and more sizes added, it allows for a seamless experience.

• App Library

Organising applications into a simple and an easy-to-navigate view to sort out by choosing the category allows you to easily access the frequently-used applications.

• Group Conversations

Keeping track of group conversations can become a daunting task and with this latest feature, it allows you to come up with different ways of maintaining connectivity and keeping track of group conversations.

• Varied Emojis

Emojis are getting a serious re-vamp including special ones such as age emojis, adding blush emojis and face masks. This might seem small in comparison to some of the other changes, but it will definitely make a huge impact on communication through Emojis.

Apple Maps

Accompanying the IOS14 update is a huge update on Apple Maps. It comes with a new feature with a cycling-specific navigation, amongst other features. It comes with an alerting system which leads to increases in elevation as well as with push notifications if you need to carry your cycle up the stairs. Although they have announced that they will be introducing it in a few cities first, it will definitely spread its reach across the globe in the following months. Additionally, in a few cities, it will also allow electric vehicle drivers know where charging stations are, along the routes.

Apple Digital Key

Apple has introduced a fantastic way to unlock your car Key. Although this will be introduced only for the BMW 5 series, it is nevertheless a fantastic feature. You can register your key in the Apple Wallet and when you walk up to a car which is supported, you can automatically unlock it through NFC and then start the engine once your phone is resting on a pad. One of the most amazing features of this, is the ability to create unique driving profiles for other iPhone users as well and to have specific restrictions or permissions for children below a certain age or no restrictions at all for someone.

Changes in iPADOS14

Apart from its Widgets intervention, it will also be bringing in the element of a sidebar as a way of making it much easier when it comes to navigating through applications. If you are used to using the iPad as a replacement for your laptop, this will be a useful option for you to exercise, without having to touch the home screen. Apple has also introduced re-designed search on iPad, which resembles Spotlight on MacOS. It can help you look for contacts or search on the web or used for launching other applications.

Apple Pencil becomes sleeker

This adds a whole new dimension to using Apple Pencil in the first place. It allows you to write in any text field with the Apple Pencil and then it automatically gets converted into text. This means that it can essentially most accurately detect the context of the information that you are seeking, like a phone number or a specific address and then direct you to the nearest application for that. This also means that handwriting in multiple languages has just become easier, as it can easily be converted into text on the iPad.

With AirPods, you can now switch devices

Apple is updating the software that is available on AirPods which allows you to connect with whatever device is playing the audio, instantly and automatically. This means that you will not have to manually look for the device that you want to connect with.

Another fantastic feature and upgrade with the AirPods Pro, is that it now comes with Spatial Audio that is meant to track your head and your device’s location. This essentially means that Spatial Audio can provide a more immersive experience by giving you the feeling of being inside an audio mix.

WATCHOS 7’s new Face-Swapping Feature

Apple is now making it quite easy to see watches, as we have often wondered about how we can get a watch face that we like. This new feature is called Face Swapping. You can find a watch face to your Apple Watch by simply finding one on a developer’s website or through any social media platform.

The workout app that we are aware of, uses the Apple Watch’s accelerator and gyroscope, combined with the heart rate data, which essentially means that it can now track a wide range of dance types. This is certainly going to be one-of-a-kind, as there is no other company that has attempted this in the past.

Sleep Tracking is something that will be coming with Watchos7. Apple is now using machine learning for specifically tracking your sleep. It will be utilising the Apple Watch’s sensor in order to track your motion. The companion application on the iPhone does not require Apple Watch, however Apple says that the metrics will be a little more in-depth with this one. Even though Apple has not disclosed the details of how it plans to track your sleep, this is going to be an interesting development on their front.

Something that they have capitalised on, immensely, is the pandemic. Hand-washing has become a huge concern across the globe and this Is something that has motivated Apple to launch what they are calling the handwashing application with the Watchos7. This application basically tracks when you start washing your hands by detecting the sound of water and will track the total time that you have spent in the entire process.

Apple’s new Smart Home Standard

Apple is definitely looking to broaden the smart home technology that its users can use and has been working on this for a long time now. In addition to Home-Kit compatible devices, they have also announced a collaboration with Google, Amazon and other companies to do just that, enhance their smart-home tech.

Apple TV gets multi-user support

If you have dreamed of switching user profiles so that someone else gets access without you losing your progress, well, you don’t have to wait any more. Apple is also bringing support to the Xbox 2 wireless controller and the adaptive controller.

They are also launching picture-in-picture on their tvOS14, which will be able to display information on their Apple TV. Putting it simply, you will be able to sit comfortably and watch more stuff on your TV without really having to switch applications to do so.

Apple says goodbye to its old chips

Apple is now finally saying goodbye to its intel-based chips. It has been using Intel-based processors for years and it is now making the final switch to its own silicon. It has been using its own technology for iPhones and iPads and now it is making the final jump to include all of its computing products.

This is a huge change in Apple’s world. It is a revolutionary shift in hardware, as it highlights Apple’s own efforts in making their own components instead of historically being tied to Intel’s progress, but it also makes a huge shift in software. Apple is making it possible for you to run applications that were made for Intel-based applications on the Macs as well as applications from other software environments such as Linux.

These changes are going to be huge, defining remarkable shifts in the way Apple will now be launching their products and their businesses, giving rise to a lot more scalable opportunity for innovation, especially for all Apple users and enthusiasts.