Apple WWDC 2019: The four most impactful announcements this year

Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) began on 3 June and closed on 7 June in San Jose California.

During the conference, Apple unveiled new high-end hardware and significant changes to their software, as well as a massive overhaul of iTunes. So what were the four most important things to come out of the conference?

Big changes to ‘Sign in with Apple‘

Probably one of the most important and game-changing announcements was the change to the way they will handle security when using your Apple account to sign into 3rd party applications.

Currently, many apps allow users to sign in using their Apple, Google or Facebook accounts. For most users, choosing one-click signup versus having to fill in, yet another form, is an easy choice.

Yet these one-click signups expose a lot of your personal information that quite frankly they don’t need and probably shouldn’t have. The Apple solution will allow single click signup without exposing any of your details with the app.

Apple can even give a fake forwarding email address. What’s more, Apple will be forcing any app that makes use of single sign-on buttons to include ‘Sign in with Apple’.

Also read – Apple WWDC 2019: Goodbye iTunes, hello Apple Music

Apple tries to do gaming (again)

Apple has a long history of trying and failing at getting gamers on their side. In fact, if there’s one complaint that can be levelled at the company is that they have never managed to make devices cater to users who just want to play games.

The iOS Store’s biggest sellers are games. Millions of users play games on their iPhones but the same is true of Android. So, Apple announced that they will be officially supporting PlayStation 4 and Xbox One controllers on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.

This will allow game developers to start developing “real” games and is a clear indication that Apple is changing the way it thinks about gaming with its upcoming subscription service Apple Arcade in mind.

Apple Watch untethering from iPhone

The watchOS got the expected announcement of new apps and watch faces, but the bigger changes to the way the OS handles app was the most significant announcement around the popular wearable.

At the moment, the Watch is still dependant on the iPhone apps running on the watch to communicate with an iPhone version of the app. As a result, the Apple Watch has served more as an accessory for iPhone than as a standalone product.

Apple is changing that with watchOS 6. The latest iteration of the OS will allow users to browse the App Store, buy, download, and run apps without any involvement from your iPhone.

The changes to watchOS 6 won’t make the wearable self-sufficient quite yet. You’ll still need an iPhone to do all the heavy lifting of setting up your Apple ID and such.

This could be a step in the right direction toward making the Apple Watch a product in its own right. And it could also become the gateway drug that lures users into the Apple ecosystem.

Also read –Apple WWDC 2019: iPad gets its own operating system, iPadOS

iOS apps coming to Mac

Project Catalyst is the super cool codename for the set of tools that will allow developers to easily make their iPad applications run on the Mac.

They also bragged at the WWDC that the developers they have tested the tools with have been able to port their applications in as little as a day.

Mac usage in South Africa is lagging seriously behind the number of iPhone and iPad users. Howeve, this big change could have huge ramifications for the expectations users have when choosing an application.

Up until now, users have had to make do with the web version of their favourite apps if they wanted them on all their devices.

This will also mean that developers will be able to easily bring the full functionality of their apps to all devices. Without having to do additional web development to cater for all users.