Apple's QuickType

Apple is building on what it has learnt with the iOS autocorrect system to offer predictive word suggestions directly in the keyboard. QuickType supports many languages, including English, Chinese, British English and Spanish.

QuickType is contextually relevant, per contact. Some contacts get informal word suggestions, whereas serious conversations get more serious suggestions.

Apple used an example of a question; ‘Shall we get a movie or dinner?’. QuickType realised the context and offered suggestions for ‘dinner’ and ‘movie’ directly in the keyboard.


Read more at http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/02/apple-announces-quicktype-puts-words-suggestions-in-the-ios-keyboard/#zc7u64BLPILXt7vA.99

Could Kit For App Dev

easily create cloud-connected apps

Apple has announced CloudKit, a new way for developers to create cloud apps. Apple takes responsibility for the server-side elements of apps. This leaves developers with a greatly simplified client-side development experience.

This means developers should not have to worry about managing servers for their iOS apps. Apple handles everything for free, with some limits. For instance, apps can store up to a petabyte of assets on Apple’s servers. Other rate-limits come into play at large scales

New Program Language Called Swift

Apple has introduced a brand new programming language alongside a brand new version of Xcode.

Swift is a big deal for developers. The language includes loads of features third-party developers have been asking for. It sits alongside Objective-C and C, meaning developers can interchange between languages in the same project.

Swift includes type inference, generics and multiple return types and much much more. Swift will enable Apple developers to create new games without worrying about Objective-C cruft that has built up over the last decade.

Home Kit API for IOS 8

Along with several other new APIs for developers, Apple has announced HomeKit which allows all home automation accessories/devices to work together. The new API will allow home automation developers to centralize all home automation in iOS without needing separate apps to access each device’s specific features. These devices include locks, lights, cameras, doors, thermostats, plugs, switches, and more.

HomeKit allows for secure pairing with devices and the ability to control individual devices. It also makes it possible to group several home automation devices into scenes that allow for easier control of any automation device in specific situations. One of the coolest features with HomeKit is the ability to control any home automation device with Siri based on certain commands or scenes previously configured with these devices.

IOS 8 EXTENTIONS

Apple has just announced at WWDC 2014 that as part of its iOS 8 extensions capability, users will be able to install systemwide keyboards, such as the popular Swype system. The keyboards will run in a secure sandbox and not have access to anything except text input, though they can ask for permission to use the network in order to provide more features.

These keyboards can be installed through third-party apps on the updated App Store.

Touch ID Open up to 3rd Party Develops

Apple just announce during its WWDC keynote that it’s opening up its Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone to third-party app developers. Apple showed off the personal finance management app Mint (pictured above) using the Touch ID feature to allow users to login instead of using a password. Previously Apple limited this feature to its own App Store and iTunes purchases as well as unlocking the device itself.

Apple also shared some stats on Touch ID noting that it has improved security by getting a much higher number of users using a passcode to protect their device

Apple brings iOS SMS and phone calling to the Mac

In addition to announcing new integration between iOS and Mac OS X with AirDrop support and its new Handoff feature, Apple announced today that it’s bringing SMS and phone calls to the Mac. That means that you can now have your SMS text messages and phone calls from your iPhone arrive as notifications on your Mac. Users will be able to respond to messages and even use the Mac as a speaker phone in order to complete a phone call. Previously iOS users only had access to iMessage messages and FaceTime on the Mac.

Apple’s new Handoff feature brings further integration between iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite by allowing users to pick up where they left off in apps across platforms using a single swiping gesture.
During the presentation, Apple’s Craig Federighi used the new calling feature on the Mac to make a call to new Apple employee and Beats Electronics co-founder Dr. Dre (pictured above)

IOS8 Pt2

More IOS8 Features

iCloud Drive: iCloud Drive allows users to work with documents across applications on iOS 8 using documents stored in iCloud.

Enterprise: iOS 8 includes a new enrollment program making enterprise device usage much easier.

HealthKit & Health: HealthKit is a feature that speaks with fitness and health apps to pull information from various apps into a single app called Health that centralizes results. The software features integration with the Mayo Clinic. It can present weight, activity, heart rate, and more.

Family Sharing: This feature brings together family photo streams, calendars, reminders, Find My Friends, and even shared purchases up to six family members on iTunes, App Store, and iBooks. This is connected by the credit card.

Photos: iCloud now stores all photos including more than what can fit on the device. Photos also includes advanced search features now with perimeters like time, location, and albums.

Photos also now features advanced editing features within the app. Photos and videos are backed up to iCloud at full resolution, but requires iCloud storage space. New pricing and storage tiers will be available.

Shazam: Siri will support Shazam for music recognition in iOS 8 as well as feature a hands-free mode with the Hey Siri command.

IOS8 !!!!!

New IOS8 Reveled Today At WWDC

Apple has officially announced iOS 8, the next version of the iPhone and iPad mobile operating system, at its developer conference in San Francisco. The update includes some noticeable user interface and design changes from iOS 7 while maintaining the same design language. Continuity between the Mac and iPhone has already been previewed at length during the OS X Yosemite demo prior to iOS 8′s unveiling. Specific features below:

Quick Reply: iOS 8 features the ability to quickly respond to messages from Notification Center as well as the lock screen

Favorite Contacts in Multitasking: Favorite contacts are now available in the multitasking view

Safari for iPad has new tabs view: The same tabs view from Safari on iPhone is now available on iPad as well as OS X Yosemite’s sidebar

Quick reply for third party apps: This includes apps like Facebook 

Mail gestures and management improvements: Similar to Mailbox, gesture based actions and deeper integration with Calendar and better multitasking within Mail

Spotlight: Spotlight now has more advanced features on iOS similar to OS X Yosemite including in-line results from Wikipedia and music on iTunes. Spotlight is also built-in to Safari’s search field as an alternative to Google Search

Quicktype: iOS 8 features a keyboard feature called Quicktype which is an alternative keyboard with suggestive typing with context awareness. Typing learning is private to the device so not shared or accessible by others; securely implemented.

Continuity: Same continuity features demoed under Yosemite.

Messages: Support for naming threads and group message management. This includes Do Not Disturb support per thread and the ability to leave the thread. Sharing is also made easier with the iOS 8 version of Messages including attachment management and voice, photo, and video sharing. Location sharing is also made much easier.

Messaging is very similar to Facebook’s Messenger app in terms of sharing photos and videos quickly as well as voice. Audio and video messages are allowed to delete after a period of time to avoid large files clogging up storage similar to Snapchat and other message apps. Audio messages can be heard from the lock screen using a Raise to Hear feature.