My Apple WWDC 2024 Wish List
Next week is Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference 2024, also known as WWDC. WWDC is where Apple shows off what they expect to release over the course of the year. I thought I would provide a list of what I hope to see from Apple for the year, but before that, let us look at a topic is prevalent in tech, Artificial Intelligence, also known as "AI".
Artificial Intelligence
I have issues with the term "Artificial Intelligence". My main issue is that it is merely a marketing term used because it sounds "futuristic", and that there is no actual intelligence in anything that has been released yet. I would much prefer that it be computer "Computer Intelligence", or something similar. I would prefer this term because it would actually be correct. This is the "intelligence" that a computer has. I could go on, but that is enough of a rant on the subject. I will use the term "AI", because that is what everybody else uses.
I suspect that a big push with Apple’s operating systems will be full of AI features to help users. This could be something like removing a background, or object, from a photo, to having Siri summarize a a conversation, or other similar functions.
What I would really like is for there to be a way to take all of my writing, from my blog posts to my books, and throw that into a Large Language Model, or LLM, and then be able to easily look up things. As an example, while writing this article I needed to look up a couple of specific things that I know I have written about in the past in one of my books. Having a means of looking up all of that information would be fantastic.
I am not sure how Apple will approach AI throughout all of its products, but I do suspect it will be shown off and quite prevalent in the keynote. Let us look at each various platforms and what I would like to see, starting with tvOS.
tvOS
The Apple TV is powered by tvOS. tvOS is an offshoot of iOS. Its primary purpose is to allow you to watch media. There are other actions you can perform, like
My biggest request is improved AirPlay from a Mac. I was mirroring my MacBook Pro to a 3rd generation Apple TV 4K, the latest version, and I kept getting random screen freezes, not on the MacBook Pro, but on the Apple TV. The screen on the MacBook Pro kept going but the video on the Apple TV just stopped.
It is not like I have a slow Wi-Fi network and the devices were not more than 6 feet apart, with the Wi-Fi access point in the same room. If it happened just once or twice, I would just chalk It up to a one-time bug, but it was happened a lot, so it definitely is not that.
One feature that might be good would be a way of being able to easily see where a particular actor or actress has appeared based upon the current scene. This would be similar to Amazon’s X-Ray, but could even hand off to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to provide the information.
HomePods
The HomePod is one of the least updated devices and there have been no major changes to the software. What I would like to see is the ability to have more than two HomePods in a stereo pair. In particular, I would like to be able to mix and match HomePod types, like full-sized HomePods with HomePod minis. Along with this, it would be nice to have more than 2 items in a stereo pair.
On the topic of stereo pairs. I would love the ability to not have the stereo pair use private address. Every time that I need to reboot my Apple TV it will create a new address, using up yet another IP address on my home network. It would be great to be able to change this in the Home App. On that subject.
HomeKit and Home app
HomeKit works well for things like smart bulbs, In order for things to be able to connect, they need a Home Hub. A Home Hub can be things like an Apple TV, or even a HomePod. I would love the ability to decide that an Apple TV should not be a Home Hub. I have an original Apple TV HD that I absolutely do not want as a HomeHub, yet I have no option to opt it out of being a Home Hub. If you only have two Home Hubs, I can see not opting one out, but I have 8 Home Hubs (3 Apple TVs and 5 HomePods), so it is not a problem for me.
While that is a wish item, there is a bug with the Home App that does need to be addressed. This issue is with the Lock Screen widget showing the current temperature. I have 5 HomePods, yet from time to time the Lock Screen widget will show just not show my indoor temperature. This makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever.
macOS
macOS is the most mature of Apple’s operating systems and because of that all of the low hanging fruit has been tackled. There is one big thing that Apple could do, release a dedicated "Passwords" app.
For the longest time Apple has had an app called "Keychain". Keychain is used to store all of your usernames, passwords, private keys, security certificates, and just about any other security-related item. In 2021 with the release of macOS Monterey (macOS 12), Apple added a new "Passwords" preference to the Settings app. This meant that you could manage all of your stored passwords, and passkeys, right from within Settings, instead of just needing to use Safari.
A dedicated passwords app is something that users have been requesting since the integration of passwords into System preferences. I would love to see an app that can manage everything, including arbitrary data, like PDFs, or even SSH keys, so that we can securely store, and synchronize, all of our data. Combine this with the Shared Passwords groups, this could be a powerful app for sharing all sorts of data that needs to be secure.
Honestly, even if the app only does passwords, passkeys, and ssh keys, that would be fantastic. Obviously, there would need to be an API for accessing the SSH keys, but it would be great to have.
iOS
There are rumors that iOS will be getting the ability to place app icons wherever they would like. I would expect that this is likely to come to iOS. I would guess that the icons could be placed anywhere, but within a grid. This would be similar to how widgets work on macOS, where it will snap to a grid. However, unlike macOS, I do not think that iOS will be allowed to place icons anywhere. One other feature that I would like to see is additional options for widgets. Sometimes a 2 x 2 widget is just too big. I would like to see a 1 x 2 rectangle. It would also be nice to be able to have other rectangle sizes as well.
Ability to clear documents and data for an app without needing to delete it. I don’t care if there are two confirmations required. I’d like to be able to clear app data. Furthermore, I would absolutely love the ability to limit the amount of data that an app can use. As an example. IG and Threads each use over 5GB on my phone. I’d love to be able to limit this.
iPadOS
iPadOS sits in the middle between iOS and macOS. It uses iOS as a base, but it attempts to be like macOS, yet it is not nearly as powerful as macOS, at least for advanced uses. Besides this, it seems like iPadOS is an afterthought for Apple. For instance, iPadOS seems to get features after iOS, instead of at the same time.
The latest iPad Pro now has the most advanced processor that Apple has yet released, and yet the software does not match the power of the processor. I had an occasion to use a 3rd generation iPad Pro again recently. There is nothing that the 7th Generation can do that is not possible on 3rd generation iPad Pro. There are some features, like Apple Pencil Hover that are on the 6th and 7th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but there is nothing that jumps out at the moment.
I suspect that the arbitrary rearranging of the iPhone home screen will come to fruition, but I also suspect that we won’t see it on the iPad until next year.
Bluetooth
One of the more annoying things that I have experienced lately is issues with bluetooth across all of Apple’s products. Frequently, my mouse will just be disconnected. When this happens I have to turn off my Magic Mouse and turn it back on again. Sometimes, but less often, the same happens with the Magic Keyboard.
Another example is with my 2nd generation AirPods. Almost 1/3 of the time one of the AirPods will just either not connect, or it will connect, but no sound will come out. Sometimes I can put the offending AirPod back in its case, wait a couple of seconds, and then put it back in my ear and that will work. Other times, I need to take both AirPods and put them back in the case, close the top, wait a few seconds, and then they both work.
I also experience a similar thing with my Beats Studio Pros. Just randomly, they will randomly disconnect in the middle of listening to something. Sometimes, they will reconnect. Other times they will not.
The last Bluetooth related issue that I have experienced lately is with my new 7th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and the Apple Pencil Pro. Sometimes, inexplicably, the Apple Pencil Pro will refuse to work with the iPad. This is usually when I remove the Apple Pencil Pro from the iPad, and it just will not work. I can try toggling Bluetooth off and on again, but that does not do anything. The only fix is completely reboot the iPad Pro. I could completely understand if the Apple Pencil Pro was low on charge, but since it is connected to the iPad Pro, it is always charging.
Apple has created all of the devices, I would expect them to work together. It certainly breaks the "seamless" experience that Apple touts.
Closing Thoughts
Although these are what I would like to see, I do not think most of it will be something that we end up getting. Apple’s WWDC 2024 is next week, with the keynote streaming at 10:00am Pacific Time. You can stream it on Apple’s events site, or even on YouTube. I will try to have a recap of what is announced sometime Monday, or Tuesday.