At the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Apple rolled out its usual bevy of announcements about what changes Apple users can expect. There were no new devices (better luck next time, Apple TV) but there were some significant changes.
In brief, you can look forward to a new operating system given the very outdoorsy sounding name of Yosemite. There’s also something called iCloud Drive, that’ll allow you to sync all your Macs (and content from your iPhone). Safari is getting a bit of a facelift, and the ability to open more tabs than ever before, which is terrifying. You’ll also be able to take calls to your iPhone on your Mac, in case reaching over and actually picking up the phone sounds too strenuous.
Also, the iOS 8 will launch this fall, with plenty of nifty upgrades including more seamless notifications (you’ll be able to respond to texts straight from your lock screen), easier access to your favorite contacts, a new-and-improved autocorrect feature and, to the gratitude of one and all, a way to opt out of group texts.
There isn’t much in the way of revolutionary features, but the biggest one is something Apple’s calling HealthKit. Healthkit can keep an eye on your actual, physical vitals by syncing various other third-party apps you’ve downloaded to monitor pretty much whatever you want: your heart rate, your blood pressure and even whether or not you’re getting enough sleep. If you want, you can have the data sent to Mayo Clinic so that doctors can monitor your health in the event of an emergency. It all sounds a little creepy to read about it, but it’s easy to see the potential life-saving benefits …
