Apple has made an announcement about a change to their Leadership that will be happening at the end of the year. Apple’s current Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, will be stepping down as Chief Financial Officer effective January 1st, 2025. He will remain at the company but in a new role. This new role will be in charge of the Corporate Services teams, which includes information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development. Maestri will still report to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Apple's press release has this to say about Luca Maestri:

During his time as CFO, Maestri enabled essential investments and practiced robust financial discipline, which together helped the company more than double its revenue, with services revenue growing more than five times.

The press release by Apple provided a statement from Maestri about this change:

It is the greatest privilege of my professional life to serve the world’s most innovative and admired company, and to work side by side with a leader as inspirational as Tim Cook," said Maestri. "I’m looking forward to the next stage of my time at Apple…

Luca Maestri’s tenure as Apple’s Chief Financial Officer will be just over a decade. Luca Maestri became Apple’s Chief Financial Officer in September of 2014 when the previous Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer retired.

Replacing Maestri is Apple’s current Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis, Kevan Parekh. According to Apple’s press release announcing the transition:

Parekh has been at Apple for 11 years and currently leads Financial Planning and Analysis, G&A and Benefits Finance, Investor Relations, and Market Research. Prior to this role, Parekh led Worldwide Sales, Retail, and Marketing Finance. He began his tenure leading the financial support of Apple’s Product Marketing, Internet Sales and Services, and Engineering teams.

Source: Apple Newsroom

Today Apple sent out invitations to their September event entitled "It’s Glowtime". The "It’s Glowtime" event is scheduled for Monday, September 9th, 2024 at 10:00am Pacific Time.

Apple’s September event is typically where they announces new iPhones and it is expected that Apple will announce the iPhone 16 line at this event. Beyond this, Apple typically also uses this time to unveil a new Apple Watch, which is again, expected. It is also possible that Apple might announce some new products that work with the iPhone at this event.

Members of the press will be able to attend a screening at the Steve Jobs Theatre at Apple Park. For everyone else you can watch via the Apple TV app, or by going to the Apple Events page and watching it there.

Prior to the event I will have a post about what I suspect Apple might announce, so be on the look out for that.

Source: 9to5Mac.

It is well known that Apple has been trying to diversify their revenue. If you look back over the last 7 years, the percentage that Services made up of Apple's overall revenue has ranged from 9.15% in Q1 of 2017 to 28.23% in Q3 of 2024. At the same time, the percentage of revenue that was generated by the iPhone went from 69.40% in Q1 of 2017 to 45.81% in Q3 of 2024.

It should be noted that it has not been a steady decline, the revenue for each product category does differ each quarter. As an example, there are typically more sales in Q1 of a fiscal year, because this covers October through December, when iPhone sales are their highest.

In order to stave off any possible decline in iPhone sales, Apple has needed a means of increasing revenue. There are two ways of doing this, increase overall sales, and increasing the amount you get from each user. If you are just entering a market, the former may be possible, but in a situation where the market is matured, like the iPhone, you need to use the latter method. The way that they have been trying to do this is through subscriptions, and in particular services.

It should be mentioned that a bulk of Apple's yearly income comes from an agreement with Google, where Google pays Apple to be the default search engine on the iPhone. It is estimated that this agreement is valued up to $20 Billion per year, which is approximately 25% of all of Apple's services revenue.

The remaining 75% of Apple's services revenue comes from purchases, from the App Store, TV Shows, Movies, and Music. Much more of the services revenue comes from subscriptions like Apple Music Apple TV+, iCloud, Apple One, Apple Care+, and of course, app subscriptions and in-app purchases.

Within the last couple of months Apple has released a couple of new methods for expanding their services, web apps.

Recent Web apps

Apple has now released two brand new web apps in the last month, Maps in July and podcasts just this past Monday. The addition of these means that there are now four services that are available via the web. The other two items are Music and TV.

When Apple Music was announced in 2015, it was only available in iTunes and the Music app on iOS and macOS. It was not until June of 2019 when Apple Music was made available on the web. The rollout of Apple TV+ was slightly different. Apple TV+ was announced in March of 2019 and made available to the public in November of the same year. When Apple TV+ launched, it included a corresponding web version. This allowed users to watch Apple TV+ wherever they were, provided they had access a web browser. This also made it so the service could be made available to non-Apple device users, expanding the base for those who may want to watch Apple TV content.

I have been wondering why Apple is just now releasing web versions of Podcasts and Maps. These releases come many years after they these services have been available via an app. Ultimately, I think it is to help bolster their services revenue. Each of the services that are available on the web, excluding Maps, can generate income, specifically subscriptions. Some of the services will generate more revenue than others, but they all have a potential to create income.

I think that some groups within Apple have finally realized that only a certain percentage of Apple's existing customers who have purchased Apple hardware will subscribe. In order to help subscriptions they have turned to the "Sweet Solution", known as the web, can help generate revenue.

In case you are not aware, at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference in 2007 Apple provided a means of creating apps, and that "Sweet Solution" was to write web apps. Below is a video of that segment from WWDC 2007.

Having a web app can allow those who are not entirely ensconced in the Apple ecosystem to subscribe to Apple's services. As some have postulated, it could also be a way of easily enabling API endpoints for Apple's services for areas where Apple does not control the platform, possibly within cars, or any other internet connected device.

As an example, they could easily make apps that are effectively just wrappers for web pages. Taking this approach would absolutely minimize development costs. Furthermore, it could allow Apple to more easily create country-specific, or even area specific, app, and control it entirely on the server-side.

Lastly, it would also allow Apple to have feature parity for all platforms, because the web is available on a vast majority of new devices.

Closing Thoughts

Apple releasing web versions of their services makes complete sense from a financial standpoint. Being able to provide services to more users, particularly non-Apple users, only extends their possible revenue streams. Even if the services does not make direct revenue, in the case of Maps, it is still worthwhile to provide the service so others can use it, even if it's just within a web app.

With the recent release of both Maps and Podcasts, I would not be surprised to see additional services, like Weather, come to the web at some point in the not too distant future.

Earlier this week Apple made available the Apple Podcast service available via a web browser. You can access it by going to podcasts.apple.com. This will only work on a desktop. If you attempt to open the site on an iPhone or iPad, you will be prompted to open the Podcast app. Similarly, if you click on a link on macOS, the Podcasts app will open. However, you can type in the URL, or copy and paste it, and it should show.

Apple Podcasts on the web allows you to listen to any podcast within the Apple Podcasts directory. If you know the name of a podcast, you can search, but you can also browse a variety of categories like "New and Noteworthy", "Bingeworthy" ,"All-Time Favorites", "Daily News", "Comedy", "True Crime", and "Kids and Family", just to name a few.

Sometimes though, you want to see what’s popular, and this is where "Top Charts" can come in handy. Here you will see the Top Shows overall, "Top Episodes", "Top Subscribed", and "Top Subscriber Channels". You can also choose from any of the categories by click on the dropdown in the upper right corner.

What would be better is if you could easily listen to the podcasts you follow, and you can do this by signing on. Once you have signed in, you will see all of the podcasts you follow, just like on iOS, iPadOS, or macOS. At the same time your listen history and playback position will be saved.

While listening to a podcast, you can view episodes notes, see your queue, and adjust the volume, all while browsing the podcasts directory.

One limitation to the web version is that you cannot listen at faster than 1x speed, therefore if you are accustomed to listening at faster than 1x, you might be disappointed. Similarly, chapters are not supported with Apple Podcasts on the web.

This is a good addition for those users who may use an iPhone and a windows laptop, or just would like to be able to use a web version of podcasts.

Source: 9to5Mac.

Since 2012 I have been publishing a set of books each year for Apple's new operating systems. At first there were two separate books, one that focused on the iPhone and iPad, and another that focused on the Mac. Starting in 2021 this changed from two books, down to a single book that covers the new features for all of Apple's operating systems. I have written another book for this year and this year's book is macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and watchOS 11 for Users.

Last year I made a slight change to the availability of the book, by making only one digital version available. This was from Apple. The same is true for this year as well. There is no digital right management (DRM) on the ePub from Apple, so you can use read the ePub on any compatible device. However, there is one other minor change to this year's book.

It is possible that you may not have noticed the subtle change in the title. The end now has the phrase "for Users". This is a switch from last year, where it was "for Users and Developers". This year's book does not have a developer section. There are a couple of reasons for this change. The first is because there has not been any feedback regarding the developr section. The second, and more important reason, is that developers typically do not use books to find example code. Instead they use sites like Apple's developer site, Stack Overflow, and Hacking with Swift in order to learn about the new features. So, this year there is no developer section.

Even without a developer section, there is still quite a bit of information within the book and here is the blurb describing the book.

Each year Apple releases new versions of its operating systems. This year’s releases of macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and watchOS 11 are full of features including customization options, a new way to manage passwords, and some changes for messages.

On iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 there are new customization options for your Home Screens, including placing apps wherever you would like, a new dark mode for icons, and you even have the ability to tint all of your icons. Within Messages you can add some effects to your text, including adding bold, italics, underline, or strikethrough. But that is not all. You can also add motion effects that will give even more animation to your text. For those that communicate with those on another platform, RCS is now supported as well.

watchOS 11 adds some new features, like time and location-based widgets appearing on the Smart Stack. Along with this, there is now a Vitals app that you can use to get a quick glance at some overnight metrics like heart rate, blood oxygen, and sleep duration. Fitness is an import aspect of the Apple Watch, you can now pause your rings and maintain your streaks. This is a good addition for those times when life gets in the way and you want to keep your streaks going.

Apple has introduced their take on artificial intelligence and this can help you create your own emoji, rewrite text, and even generate images. For anything that needs to be sent to the cloud, it will go to Apple’s Private Cloud Compute platform.

These are just some of the topics covered in macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and watchOS 11 for Users. There is bound to something for everyone, no matter what your level of expertise.

You can pre-order it from Apple. You can pre-order it today and it will be available when iOS 18 is released to the public. A paperback and hardcover version are forthcoming as well.

Today's modern internet is a leap forward from the start of the modern smartphone era of 2007 and 2008. Before then, particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s, if you were going to somewhere that you did not know very well you would need to print out a paper map using a site like Mapquest or Google Maps.

When Apple introduced the iPhone one of the few apps on the phone was a mapping app, specifically Google Maps. If you were following Apple back in 2012 it is possible that you remember Apple's announcement that they would be replacing Google Maps with their own Apple Maps. If you do not remember the announcement, it is quite likely that you do remember its launch. It was lackluster to say the least. Even though Apple Maps did not start off on the best foot, having any map app was better than no map app.

The one thing that Apple Maps has not had is a web version. You had to use either your iPhone, iPad, or Mac in order to use Apple Maps. That has now changed because today, Apple announced that there is beta of the web version of Apple Maps. Apple's announcement states:

Today, Apple Maps on the web is available in public beta, allowing users around the world to access Maps directly from their browser.

Now, users can get driving and walking directions; find great places and useful information including photos, hours, ratings, and reviews; take actions like ordering food directly from the Maps place card; and browse curated Guides to discover places to eat, shop, and explore in cities around the world. Additional features, including Look Around, will be available in the coming months.

All developers, including those using MapKit JS, can also link out to Maps on the web, so their users can get driving directions, see detailed place information, and more.

Maps on the web is currently available in English, and is compatible with Safari and Chrome on Mac and iPad, as well as Chrome and Edge on Windows PCs. Support for additional languages, browsers, and platforms will be expanded over time.

You can easily access the beta site by going to beta.maps.apple.com to use the webpage. You can easily link to specific places, like Apple Park, the Tower Bridge or even the Eiffel Tower Stadium, just to name a few places.

It is not clear why it took Apple 12 years to provide a web-based version of their Maps. Not having it for a few years makes complete sense, but then again it has taken 14 years to get an Apple Calculator app on the iPad, so I guess this is two years ahead of schedule.

Source: Apple Newsroom

Today Apple held its World Wide Developer Conference, or WWDC, keynote. The WWDC keynote is a way of Apple to highlight the features that will be coming to its platforms overs the next year. This year keynote is a big one with features that were highlighted for all of Apple’s platforms. I will highlight what I think are the biggest announcements.

Vision Pro

The Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s latest platform and while it has only been around for four months, there are some good updates coming. First, for those who use a Mac with their Apple Vision Pro you will be able to use a display that will be like having two 4K monitors side-by-side. This is great so you can have even more screen real estate.

For Photos, you will be able to use machine learning to make any photo a Spatial Photo, so you can view it with Apple Vision Pro.

The Apple Vision Pro is also coming to new regions both later this month and also in July.

Home Screen

Our devices are super personalized and we often use our home screen to reflect that. Now, you can do even more customization. You can customize your home screen to place icons where you would like them. This works well for images that may normally be covered by icons. Just like you re-arrange the icons, and you can place them wherever you would like.

Locking Apps

Some apps can contain some sensitive data, like photos or a journal app. There may be those times when you want to protect this data. You can now lock apps behind Face ID. This means that you can use require Face ID to open up an app.

Hiding Apps

There may be apps that you do not want others to see when you hand them your phone. You can now hide apps and these will be put into a "Hidden Apps" folder in the App Library, and they will be locked behind Face ID, just like other apps.

Icon Tint

There are those of us who like to have complete color coordination between our Home Screen and our icons, but icons come in a variety of colors. You can work around this by creating a shortcut that opens up the app, but this can be tedious. There is a new option for customizing the tint color of icons. This tint color applies to all icons, but you can select any color you want.

Control Center

The Control Center also allows you to organize, resize, and organize the icons as you see fit. You can even have groups of controls that make sense for you. Developers will be able to add additional control center items for you as well.

Contacts

A couple years ago Apple added a new way to limit which photos that an app could see. Now, you can do the same with Contacts. Instead of allowing an app full access, you can choose which contacts an app will have access to. This is a great addition for privacy.

Passwords

There is now a new Passwords app that works across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, and even on Windows. This will allow you to store your passwords, one-time codes, passkeys, Wi-Fi, shared passwords, and Sign-In with Apple.

Messages

Messages gets some new features like custom Tapbacks, so you can now add emoji inline or as a tapback. Beyond this, you can use the new Genmoji feature to generate your own custom emoji-looking items to get the right images for the situation.

Sometimes all you need to do is add some emphasis to text. This can also be done through the new "text effects". These will allow you to add bold, italics, underline, or strike through some text. Beyond this, you can add some effects including:

• Big
• Small
• Shake
• Nod
• Explode
• Ripple
• Bloom
• Jitter

Here is a photo of some of them. When you preview them, they will show a preview of what they will look like.

TV

The AppleTV app is getting a new feature called "Insights". This is where you will be able to see other things that an actor or actress has been in as well as identify a song. You will then be able to add the song to an Apple Music playlist. If you use your iPhone as a remote while watching TV with others, you will also be able to get Insights.

Another feature is Enhance Dialog for TV speakers and speakers, this can be super helpful so you can hear what is being said. Subtitles will also get some tweaks, where they will automatically come up if you mute the audio or jump back in time.

Calculator

There is now a calculator on the iPad and it includes a feature called "Math Notes". Math Notes allows you to write out expressions with the Apple Pencil and calculator will compute the answer once you put an equals sign in the equation. If you need to add a column of numbers, this can be done as well by putting a line under all of the numbers to be added.

You will also be able to add graphs and update values in real-time with variables. Math Notes are not limited to just the calculator app. You can also use them in the Notes app.

macOS

macOS is the oldest and most mature of Apple’s operating systems, but it also seems some new features, like the aforementioned Passwords app. There are two iPhone-related features coming, mirroring and mirroring and notifications.

iPhone Mirroring

There may be instances when you would might want to be able to see what is happening on your iPhone while you are using your Mac. This can be particularly true if your iPhone is charging in another room. Now, you will be able to actually use your iPhone while it is elsewhere. You are able to interact with it by swiping and clicking, just as if you were using the iPhone.

When you do you your iPhone via mirroring, it will remain locked, so nobody else will be able to see what you are doing.

iPhone Notifications

Much like being able to add widgets from your iPhone to your Mac, you will be able to get iPhone notifications right on your Mac. Along with this, you can interact with them and they should even be able to open up via iPhone mirroring.

Mail

Mail is also getting some updates, including categorizations. This is done on device and emails will be put into one of a few categories:

• Primary - Most important
• Transactions - Receipts
• Updates - Newsletters
• Promotions - Marketing/Sales

This is a nice update as well. There is another thing coming to mail, Writing Tools.

Writing Tools will allow you to spell check, proof-read, and rewrite an email. It will not be limited Mail, but can also be found in Keynote. Pages, Notes, and even third-party apps.

Apple Intelligence

One of the big items highlighted is Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence will allow you to create images, rework text, and even use Siri to perform actions and find your own data. Apple could have just integrated existing Artificial Intelligence, but they have decided to go above and beyond with a new feature called Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence is an initiative that takes Artificial intelligence and expands upon it to make sure that your information stays private. This is done through a combination of on-device and cloud infrastructure. A vast majority of the data will be on device, but for tasks that require more resources, there is the cloud portion.

But not just any cloud. Apple has dubbed their solution Private Cloud Compute. PrivatE Cloud Compute is built on Apple Silicon and uses many of the features built into the system. One of the features of this is that there is no data persistence, so your private data is only available to that server for that one request, before the data is wiped from the server.

Apple Intelligence provides access to your data so you can perform actions like "Find photos of Suzy in a Pink dress" and it knows enough context to be able to find what you are looking for.

Image Generation

One of the more common uses of current artificial intelligence is to generate images. You can do this on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia as well. You will be able to create images to send to others based upon a template, and a few limited styles. Beyond this, you will be able to write out what you are looking for and it will perform a search.

Being able to use your own data is great, but sometimes you need access to general world knowledge. Apple has a solution with that as well.

ChatGPT

Apple is partnering with Open AI and to use their ChatGPT 4o model to allow you to ask Siri general knowledge. The request will be sent and it will end up responding. If an app needs to use your personal data, you will need to confirm that you want to send the data to ChatGPT before it sent. This way, you are always able to decide to not send the data.

Again, these features will be coming later in the year.

Closing Thoughts

All of the features outlined above should be coming over the next year. Some will be released this fall, while others will be later. There are a number of great features, like Home Screen customization, new text effects in Messages. The new Passwords app will make it easier to manage all of your passwords, and related information in a single location.

Artificial Intelligence is a big topic with a slew of features planned including Writing Tools, mail organization, and general ChatGPT features through Siri and throughout Apple's operating systems.

You can see previews for macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, and iPadOS 18.

Sources:

Here is the iPad Air and iPad Pro Availability for Sunday, June 9th, 2024. There are no changes since the last posting. With the iPad availablity becoming stable, this will be the last posting for this round of iPad releases.

iPad 11-inch Air

iPad 13-inch Air

iPad 11-inch Pro

iPad 13-inch Pro

iPad 11-inch Pro (Nano-texture)

iPad 13-inch Pro (Nano-texture)

Here is the iPad Air and iPad Pro Availability for Saturday, June 8th, 2024. The most significant change is for the 13-inch iPad Pro with Nano-texture glass. They have improved from June 24th to June 18th. The same applies to a couple of 11-inch iPad Pro models The other changes are delivery changes for the weekend.

The most up to date availability can be viewed at https://waynedixon.com/availability/ipad.html.

Changes for Apple

iPad 11-inch Pro (Nano-texture)

• 1TB - Wi-Fi + Cellular - Space Black has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25
• 2TB - Wi-Fi + Cellular - Silver has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25

iPad 13-inch Pro (Nano-texture)

• 1TB - Wi-Fi Only - Space Black has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25
• 2TB - Wi-Fi Only - Space Black has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25
• 2TB - Wi-Fi Only - Silver has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25
• 1TB - Wi-Fi + Cellular - Space Black has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25
• 2TB - Wi-Fi + Cellular - Space Black has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25
• 1TB - Wi-Fi + Cellular - Silver has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25
• 2TB - Wi-Fi + Cellular - Silver has changed from Jun 24 - Jul 1 to Jun 18 - Jun 25

iPad 11-inch Air

iPad 13-inch Air

iPad 11-inch Pro

iPad 13-inch Pro

iPad 11-inch Pro (Nano-texture)

iPad 13-inch Pro (Nano-texture)

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.