Amazing! iOS 15 has a huge update, Mac and iPad are seamlessly integrated, Apple and Hongmeng have the same goal

Author: Li Shuaifei Xiaoman

Five days after the release of Hongmeng OS 2.0, Apple also took action.

It’s June 7, 2021, Pacific Time, and it’s another WWDC. This year’s Apple developer conference seems a bit boring: there is no hardware, only many small updates on iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and watchOS platforms that seem a bit messy and fragmented.

But in fact, behind the silent expression, Apple is launching a big campaign - each one is a big move, and they are all doing their best to maximize their own advantages.

Moreover, in terms of understanding of operating systems, Apple and Huawei show distant similarities.

As the soul of the iPhone, iOS has unsurprisingly ushered in its latest version: iOS 15.

From the perspective of interface design, the updates brought by iOS 15 are not as eye-catching as those of iOS 14 - but iOS 15 does pay more attention to exploring the user experience at the functional level, is closer to users, and better reflects Apple’s future development ideas for iOS and the entire Apple software ecosystem.

In iOS 15, Apple first emphasized FaceTime.

Specifically, FaceTime video has added spatial audio capabilities, so that the sound of video calls sounds like it is coming from the position of the person on the screen, and the microphone mode can also separate the user's voice from background noise. At the same time, FaceTime video calls now support "portrait" mode to blur the background.

Not only that, Apple has added SharePlay sharing based on the FaceTime update, which allows you to listen to Apple Music together, watch videos simultaneously, and share screen content. SharePlay can be used on iPhone, iPad, and Mac through shared playback control.

It is worth mentioning that FaceTime also supports non-Apple devices for the first time - by creating a connection, users can participate in FaceTime through Android phones and Windows computer web pages.

Secondly, Apple emphasizes focus mode (Focus) in iOS 15.

For example, users can set up their devices by creating a custom focus mode or selecting a recommended focus mode (such as sleep, work, personal, etc.). The latter will use device-side intelligent technology to recommend people and apps that can send notifications to users; and after setting the focus mode, users can sync it to other Apple devices.

Let’s take a look at the updates to the notification experience.

In order to reduce the disturbance of various notifications to users, Apple has redesigned the notification center, adding contact photos and larger App icons to make it easier for users to identify; at the same time, the notification will put away non-urgent notifications, and users can check them when they are free.

At the same time, through device-side intelligence and based on the user's interaction with the App, notifications will be prioritized, and the most relevant notifications will be promoted to the top. Urgent information will be delivered and displayed immediately, so important notification information will not be included in the notification summary.

In this iOS 15 update, a highlight technology is text recognition in pictures (Live Text).

For example, through device-side intelligent technology, text in pictures can be recognized, including handwritten family recipes, store phone numbers, etc.; at the same time, with the help of Apple's neural network engine, the camera app can also quickly identify and copy the current text.

Based on this feature, Focus Search can search for pictures based on location, people, scenes or objects through intelligent technology. Through live text, Focus Search can find text and handwritten content in photos; even including information related to actors, TV shows and movies.

In addition, the Memory feature in the Photo App has also seen its biggest update, with a new look and interface, and the integration of Apple Music, using device-side intelligent technology to customize song recommendations.

In the Wallet app, Apple has added support for more key types.

For example, with the support of ultra-wideband technology, digital car keys are more complete. Users can now securely unlock and start supported cars without taking their phones out of their pockets or bags. Users can also use their iPhone to unlock their homes, offices, and even hotel rooms using keys stored in the Wallet App.

The Apple Wallet App can even support users' personal identification documents. Apple said that personal identity information will be stored in the hardware security unit built into the body.

In other aspects, users have also updated the functions of many apps they use, such as:

• The Safari browser has been redesigned to make it easier to control with one hand. The new tab bar is compact and floats at the bottom of the screen. The start page can be customized, and iOS has added web extensions.

• 地图 App 得到更新，部分城市周边、商业地区、海拔、建筑、新的道路颜色和标志、自定义设计的地标都进行了显著增强，CarPlay 车载导航、公交路线等也得到体验更新。

• Through device-side voice recognition, the voice of Siri requests is now processed entirely on the iPhone by default (applicable to iPhone and iPad equipped with A12 and above, and the voice model needs to be downloaded), thereby protecting privacy. Siri can be used even when offline; at the same time, in order to protect privacy, iOS 15 also adds an App Privacy Report function.

• The Weather app has been redesigned to include more graphical displays of weather data, full-screen maps, and dynamic layouts.

• The Notes app has added a new user tag feature, and the "@ Mention Me" feature allows members of a shared note to notify each other of important updates.

• Shared with you will search the system for articles, music, TV shows, photos, etc. shared in Messages app conversations, and conveniently push the content to Photos app, Safari browser, Apple Music and Podcasts app, so that the shared content can be quickly accessed in the app.

• iCloud+ builds on iCloud and adds hidden email addresses, expanded HomeKit secure video services, and innovative network privacy service iCloud Private Relay, all at no additional cost.

• The Health app has added a sharing tab where users can share their health data with family members, caregivers or care teams.

• HomeKit accessory makers can now build "Hey Siri" into their products, allowing users to talk to Siri and get responses on third-party devices.

• The Find My app has launched a new feature that can be used to locate devices that have been turned off or erased. If family or friends choose to share their location, their real-time location can also be obtained.

• The new translation feature in the translation app makes conversations between different languages ​​​​natural and smooth. The system-level translation function allows users to translate text anywhere on iPhone.

Overall, Apple has optimized or updated the functions of a large number of built-in apps in iOS 15, which is rather fragmented overall.

However, from the many updates of iOS 15, we can see that Apple is actually emphasizing several important points: one is device-side intelligence (Siri and image text recognition) to protect privacy; the second is cross-device sharing, such as FaceTime and SharePlay; the third is insight and attention to user needs, so as to optimize the functions of the App.

In Leiphone.com's view, these are actually in line with the evolution direction of iOS as a mature mobile operating system.

Since macOS announced its migration to Apple Silicon last year, this year macOS has ushered in a new and significant version - macOS Monterey.

Among them, the most amazing feature of macOS Monterey is Univeral Control.

Specifically, Univeral Control allows users to move between Mac and iPad using a single mouse and keyboard for a seamless experience, without the need for setup; users can drag and drop content back and forth between one or more iPad and Mac devices, such as drawing with Apple Pencil on iPad and placing the drawn picture into a Keynote slide on Mac.

Meanwhile, with AirPlay to Mac, users can play, display and share almost any content from iPhone or iPad on Mac; and Mac's high-fidelity sound system can also be used as AirPlay speakers, so users can play music or podcasts on Mac, or use Mac as an auxiliary speaker for multi-room audio.

This cross-device experience makes the experience between Mac and iPad or iPhone more seamless and smooth.

In addition, Safari in macOS Monterey has been significantly updated. For example, it uses a new tab design, allowing users to see more pages when scrolling; at the same time, a new tab group feature has been added, which is very suitable for planning travel, shopping, or storing tabs that users visit every day-tab groups can also be synchronized between Mac, iPhone and iPad, and can be shared with others.

It is worth mentioning that macOS Monterey has added the Shortcuts feature, which can automate daily tasks and achieve maximum productivity.

In addition, in order to be consistent with the experience of the corresponding built-in apps in iOS 15, FaceTime, SharePlay, Shared with you, Maps, text recognition, iCloud+, privacy protection, accessibility, etc. in macOS Monterey have also been updated accordingly.

In the view of Leiphone.com, through this update, macOS is getting closer to iOS and iPadOS in terms of actual experience, and the cross-device collaboration between them (especially between macOS and iPadOS) is getting stronger and stronger; while protecting privacy, Apple is also increasingly emphasizing sharing.

This also reflects Apple's efforts to build horizontal connections and synchronization between different operating systems.

As a productivity tool, WWDC 2021 clearly emphasized performance in this area on iPadOS 15.

First of all, in terms of interface design, iPadOS 15 adopts the widget design of iOS last year, which allows users to personalize and categorize their apps. At the same time, based on the large screen of iPad, Apple has specifically launched larger "small" widgets in iPadOS 15 to facilitate the display of videos and photos.

At the same time, in response to the problem of too many applications on the interface, iPadOS 15 proposes an "Application Library", which covers all downloaded applications on the device. Users can rearrange and hide the library.

In terms of productivity performance, iPadOS 15 introduces multitasking. Users can simply tap the new controls at the top of the app to browse in split screen and handle multiple window tasks at the same time. The windows support zooming in and out.

In the multitasking view, users can drag and drop an app onto another app to easily create a split-screen view.

In order to improve the recording features, Apple launched Quick Note on iPadOS 15, which users can quickly read and write with a stylus.

At the same time, Quick Memo can collaborate with other apps. For example, users can quickly insert browser links in Quick Memo by dragging, or select web page content and drag it directly into Quick Memo. In addition, when users visit the web page later, when they open the Quick Memo website, the previously recorded notes will pop up.

It is worth mentioning that although Quick Memo was unveiled in the iPadOS 15 introduction, it also supports iOS and macOS.

In addition, iPadOS 15 also has new features such as SharePlay, Focus, Live Text, Spotlight, etc.

In addition to the user-level updates, the more significant update for developers is that iPad supports self-coding, iteration and building of applications for the first time.

With Swift Playgrounds on iPadOS 15, developers can create iPhone and iPad apps and deploy them directly to the App Store.

At this WWDC conference, watchOS 8 brought many new experiences, whether in display design or in health, information exchange and other performance aspects.

In terms of dial design, watchOS 8 has added a new "portrait dial" design, which can intelligently extract the portrait part in the photo and automatically adapt it to the screen display. The time display will be hidden under the person's head portrait to achieve a three-dimensional display effect.

In addition to the portrait watch face, watchOS 8 has also updated the Photos App, adding the “Selected Memories” and “Selected Photos” features, while also being able to share photos directly via email or text messages.

In terms of information exchange, watchOS 8 not only supports voice input and handwriting input, but also supports sending GIF animations (i.e. emoticons). However, the operation of handwriting input and emoticon selection on a narrow screen is a bit limited.

In terms of exclusive health, watchOS 8 has added Mindfulness. According to Apple, Mindfulness uses psychological techniques to help users focus and reduce anxiety through meditation and mindfulness exercises through text and animation guidance.

In addition to the addition of new apps, some existing apps on Apple Watch have also been updated on watchOS 8.

For example, in sleep monitoring, in addition to sleep time tracking, heart rate, blood oxygen and other monitoring indicators, watchOS 8 also adds breathing rate; on Apple Fitness+, two new courses, Tai Chi and Pilates, have been added.

At this WWDC conference, Apple updated and upgraded development tools in four aspects for the developer community, as follows:

• API: At the press conference, Apple RealityKit 2 added a new Object Capture API, which can help developers create realistic 3D models in the real world from 360° photos taken on the iPhone in just a few minutes, thus bringing a more realistic AR experience.

• SwiftUI: The new SwiftUI improves list view, search experience, in-app accessibility features, multiple lists, etc. In addition, Swift Playgrounds can be programmed directly on iPad and put on the App Store, which is also a first.

• App Store: On the App Store, Apple has optimized the product page display, allowing developers to customize the display of various functions of the application to users (such as icons, screenshots, etc.).

• Xcode Cloud: Xcode Cloud integrates multiple tasks and tools required to build, test, and deliver applications to cloud services. It supports automatic building and testing of applications in the cloud, and supports TestFlight to provide instant feedback to external testers.

Compared with last year's WWDC, this year's WWDC does seem a bit uneventful.

But this is not Apple's problem. After Apple completes major structural platform adjustments such as migrating Mac to Apple Silicon, it must carry out internal system integration, experience improvement, and development ecosystem optimization.

At the same time, Apple has never forgotten to emphasize user privacy, but it has also been working hard to open up its ecosystem - this is reflected in Siri's openness to third-party home appliances and FaceTime's support for Android, Windows and other devices.

In addition, the emergence of features such as Siri's offline availability and image text recognition reflects Apple's progress after continuous investment in AI technology capabilities; although it is a little later than Google, it has finally arrived.

Of course, in the view of Leiphone.com (public account: Leiphone.com), under the premise that iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and watchOS are each independent systems, Apple's move this year is actually to build software bridges for interconnection and collaboration between them, so as to achieve cross-device sharing experience at the application and operation levels in the Apple ecosystem.

If you make a comparison, you will find that Apple's efforts in cross-device experience and cross-device collaboration are similar to Huawei's recent Hongmeng OS 2.0. In essence, they are both welcoming the arrival of the era of the Internet of Everything.

Of course, there are many differences between the two sides. For example, Apple is more closed and Huawei is more open; Apple focuses on the evolution of its existing ecosystem, while Huawei wants to build a new system; Huawei emphasizes 1 + 8 + N, while Apple emphasizes seeking external cooperation on its five major systems.

But there is no doubt that even a powerful company like Apple must face a reality: after experiencing all the glory of the mobile Internet era, it cannot lie down and must work hard to build a more integrated, more coordinated, more interconnected, and more friendly software and hardware ecosystem to meet the new challenges brought by the IoT era.

To some extent, this WWDC is just the beginning of Apple's challenge.

This article is originally written by Leifeng.com, and the author is Li Shuaifei and Xiao Man. Please reply "reprint" to apply for authorization. Reprinting without authorization is prohibited.