What's new under the hood at Apple today?

Lots of neat stuff happening today at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference. Today’s the kickoff day and it’s also the day that Tim Cook and friends take the stage to talk about a bunch of things Apple. No, no new phones, Macbooks or iPads, but still there is lots going on under the hood with lots of improvements coming this fall to all of the software that runs on your Apple devices.

Here are some of the highlights so far:

– if by now, you don’t think that there really isn’t an app for that, think again. Tim Cook kicks things off my telling us that there are now than 2 Million apps available!

– The software that runs on your Apple Watch gets a bunch of updates… you will be able to scribble replies to txts on the screen.

– If you’ve found yourself waiting longer than you think you should have for Apple Watch apps to open, you’re not alone, so with WatchOS3, apps will open quicker

– Activity sharing is coming to watchOS3. You’ll now be able to see how quickly friends and family are filling those activity rings!

– There’s some cool new functionality for wheelchair users

– and lots more activity based improvements

– WatchOS3 will be available to everyone in the fall

Have you got an Apple TV? Here’s what’s coming:

– Siri, gets more specific – you can now search movies by topics, like for instance, searching “high school movies from the 80s”. Yes, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the top hit.

– there are also a bunch of new apps available for Apple TV, but as always here in Canada… we may not get them all right away.

– New Apple TV OS out this fall too.

Here’s the big one today. Lots of new stuff in OS X:

– first of all, forget about OS X (fill in the name of a cool animal or mountain), Apple’s main operating system will now be called macOS. And this first version of it will be called macOS Sierra. I must say, it looks like a bunch of nice and useful stuff with this new one, so here’s are the main points:

– Auto unlock will be cool for Apple Watch owners. no need to type a password anymore. Have your watch nearby and when you open your macbook you’re right onto your desktop

– you’ll be able to see your home mac desktop on your iphone

– there’s a neat new Picture in Picture mode coming to macOS Sierra

– like with Apple TV, Siri functionality gets an upgrade on your home machine or macbook by being able to be a bunch more specific with your apps.

– Once again, all of this cool stuff will be available this fall

What’s up with your iPhone software this fall? Here’s the list:

– Yes, Siri also becomes more intuitive on your phone. Same improvements as tvOS and macOS

– the Photos app will help organize things better – sort by family or topics. Don’t underestimate this one… how many hundreds (thousands) of pics have you got just hanging out on your phone?

– Maps gets an update – will be more intuitive and let you know when you’ll get where you want to get to based on the time of day.

– Apple music gets a bunch of updates too along with a new look… you will see lyrics along with your tunes!

– Alright… here’s the showstopper… this is where Steve might have said “and one more thing…”

Emojis will now be THREE TIMES BIGGER!!!

– ok, maybe not a Steve-like showstopper, but the crowd did go wild…

– a bunch of other message improvements too… you will be able to add handwriting and effects to messages

iOS10 will be available… wait for it… this fall