It’s only a matter of hours until Apple’s much-anticipated WWDC where a number of important announcements are expected to be made. There are a few things we are hoping to see, so for those who haven’t had the time to keep track, here’s a quick run-through of what might go down.
First, and arguably, most important, is iOS 8. Apart from carrying over the look they established with iOS 7, Apple is also looking to give existing supported devices a big performance boost with a few system optimizations here and there. It also no secret that they are working on the new Healthbook app, ostensibly to either go with a trend not a lot of us really see, or to go head-to-head with Samsung’s own revamped S5 health program. Apart from a smother user experience, there doesn’t seem to be much more in store for the OS update, but we’ll have to wait until the day itself to really find out.
After problems with Maps in the past that had more than its fair share of bugs and idiosyncrasies, the Maps team is looking to deliver a better, smoother, more accurate navigation experience. Apart from the usual driving, travel and other data, Apple will also reportedly be offering public transit info, allowing giving people (in supported territories) an alternative to Google Maps’ own internal public transportation guide.
To directly counter Microsoft’s Office offering for iOS devices, Apple will also be giving users access to improved functionality for their Preview and TextEdit applications. They will be offering increased iCloud integration for easy access across different devices.
Additional usability features such as the easy pairing of your Mac and iOS device for use as an extra screen, iOS multitasking and a better, more intuitive Notification Center are also reportedly going to be showing up at the next WWDC.
There’s a lot more floating around the Internet as regards the event happening just over a day from now. We’ll get our hands on a stream when it goes live to make sure you don’t miss anything important. Until then, keep watching this space! we’ll get back to you as soon as we have more news!