Apple’s biggest event – the annual Worldwide Developers Conference – is confirmed and it will be hosted at McNery Convention Center in San Jose from 3-7 June 2019. Now in its 30th year, WWDC brings together the world’s best and creative developers. Expect to see future releases, technologies and frameworks of macOS, iOS, watchOS and tvOS and possibly new hardware, too (we hope anyways).
WWDC 2019 will feature technical sessions, hands-on labs and guest speakers to provide the developer community and the next generation of app developers with the knowledge and tools to turn their next great idea into reality.
Last year, Apple unveiled iOS 12, bringing a whole host of new features. With 1.4 billion devices running iOS globally, Apple’s mobile operating system will remain a key focus for the company.
Also big on Apple’s list is augmented reality (AR). By virtue of the sheer number of users, iOS is the world’s biggest AR platform and we’ll see Apple push AR in a big way.
It has been long rumoured that Apple is bringing more iOS apps to the Mac, as it has done with Voice Memos and Apple News in macOS Mojave and we may see more in upcoming releases of its desktop OS. Third-party developers are expected to be able to easily port apps from iOS to Mac. It’s a Microsoft-type of “write once deploy everywhere” concept, let’s hope it’s as seamless as it promises.
macOS Mojave was an incremental update that also for the first time, brought Dark Mode to macOS. What more can we expect from the Mac’s crown jewels?
Where Apple also leads is in the wearables market where the Apple Watch reigns supreme. It will be interesting how Apple can reinvent its smartwatch and watchOS platform. Clues point to a new sleep tracking feature that’s been long missing, and available on rival platforms like Fitbit.
Services is going to be a huge focus for Apple, and as you may know, the company is slated to announce a new TV/video streaming service (and possibly a news subscription service) on 25 March, prior to WWDC 2019.
tvOS will be central to the new video offering and it will be exciting to see what Apple has planned for this platform.
Another area where Apple is highly likely to place emphasis on is in the area of security and data privacy.
Will there be new hardware? If looking back at last year can give us any clues – all Apple announced were iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands – then sorry to burst your bubble, no.
That said, there can always be, “one more thing.”
If you’re a developer, you can apply for tickets today through 20 March, 5PM PDT via the official WWDC website. Tickets are issued through a random selection process, and developers will be notified of their application status by 21 March 2019 at 5PM PDT.
You can catch the live-stream of the conference via the WWDC app for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV as well as through the Apple Developer website.
Students are an integral part of the Apple developer community. Apple says last year saw student developer attendees spanning 41 different countries. Up to 350 WWDC scholarships are available this year – providing students and members of all STEM organisations a chance to earn a free ticket and lodging for WWDC. Find out more on the WWDC website.
