back to article Apple WWDC: There's no way iOS and macOS will fully merge as one

Apple held its annual developer prep rally in San Jose, California, on Monday to discuss additions and improvements to its software but not its hardware. "Today is all about software," said CEO Tim Cook in his opening remarks. And about using less of it, as Craig Federighi, SVP of software engineering, suggested. "Some apps …

  1. PhilipN Silver badge

    Walled Gardens

    OK something to be said for keeping two systems functionally separate in principle but if you are the gatekeeper the openings in the fence could be selectively and more intuitively accessible from within each system. They must be there since this third-party app or that will help you to do things - such as sharing screens (e.g. Teamviewer), and seeing the output from a Home (TM) CCTV on a Mac (e.g. various) - which are not native to the system.

    The Home potato patch surrounded by barbed wire in the walled garden - which I agree is a potentially very dangerous trouble spot for spreading potato blight - would have greater potential at least for me if I was not forced to handle it on a phone or iPad -

    or a frigging Apple TV! Whose brilliant idea was that?

    1. macjules

      Re: Walled Gardens

      or a frigging Apple TV! Whose brilliant idea was that?

      Shh, that was Steve Jobs' very last brainchild

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bringing iOS and macOS closer

    What they are doing with bringing some of the iOS APIs into macOS makes me think the rumors about ARM64 Macs are a lot more likely to be true now. Sure, they could make this work while leaving Macs on x86 but it would be easier if they were both using the same instruction set...

    This strategy is almost certainly better than merging the two. Making macOS apps live with the limitations of iOS would kill their 'pro' market, and making iOS apps have to deal with all the complexities of a full fledged PC would create a lot of extra work for developers. This way developers who want the extra work of developing an app that works on both can choose to do it, and those who only care about iOS can target it and continue to ignore the Mac.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Bringing iOS and macOS closer

      macOS apps live with the limitations of iOS would kill their 'pro' market

      Yet macOS pro apps have been turned into travesties of their former selves.

      This way developers who want the extra work of developing an app that works on both can choose to do it, and those who only care about iOS can target it and continue to ignore the Mac.

      MS started down that road, and then pulled Android Bridge when they realised what it meant... it would turn Windows Phone into an Android app runner. I'm not looking forward to the same happening to the Mac.

      1. Cowboy Bob

        Re: Bringing iOS and macOS closer

        Yet macOS pro apps have been turned into travesties of their former selves.

        I can't speak for the Final Cut as I don't use it, but I can tell you straight up that Logic Pro X is hands down the best version of Logic ever. So many more features than any other DAW out there for a fraction of the cost

        1. rg287

          Re: Bringing iOS and macOS closer

          I can't speak for the Final Cut as I don't use it, but I can tell you straight up that Logic Pro X is hands down the best version of Logic ever. So many more features than any other DAW out there for a fraction of the cost

          But on the flip side, Aperture no longer exists at all. Leaving photographers wondering what to use instead of LightRoom (because there's a reason we didn't use LR in the first place, and it was only reinforced by Adobe's move to a subscription model).

          1. John Miles

            Re: instead of LightRoom

            You could try the open source application Darktable - works for OSX and Linux, recently they even added Windows

            https://www.darktable.org/

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Bringing iOS and macOS closer

          I would guess part of the issues with 'pro' applications on macOS has been the Mac Pro tower debacle. By the time they have the next generation one in 2019 they'll probably have lost a good chunk of that userbase who grew tired of waiting, or compromising on something like the iMac Pro.

          I mean, in the grand scheme of Apple's humongous revenue and profit that's small potatoes, but they were the ones who were most loyal to Apple during the dark days of the 90s...without them Apple might not have survived to create the iPod, let alone the iPhone.

    2. Kepler
      Flame

      Re: Bringing iOS and macOS closer

      “This strategy is almost certainly better than merging the two. Making macOS apps live with the limitations of iOS would kill their 'pro' market, and making iOS apps have to deal with all the complexities of a full fledged PC would create a lot of extra work for developers. This way developers who want the extra work of developing an app that works on both can choose to do it, and those who only care about iOS can target it and continue to ignore the Mac.”

      Would someone please explain this to Steve Sinofsky — may he burn in Hell!* — with a CC to that pompous, loudmouthed jackass who now owns the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team?

      .

      * Unless of course you also can go back 10 or 15 years in a time machine, and successfully explain it to him back then — before the son of a bitch ruined Windows 8!

      If you can do that, and likewise prevent this double-sinner from also totally ruining Office — giving the finger to everyone who was quite comfortable using it the old way (WTF does he have against menus???) — then I will be happy to forgive him, and not consign him to the flames. I wouldn’t even bother making him do any time in Purgatory!

  3. RachelG

    Nature "documentary"

    The narrator was Stephen Fry wasn't it?

    1. DML71

      Re: Nature "documentary"

      It was indeed. I noticed his pronunciation of 'garage' was odd!

  4. Dan 55 Silver badge
    WTF?

    Dark Mode?

    That's been there since Sierra.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Dark Mode?

      Maybe it's getting buffed in anticipation of OLED screens for MacBooks?

    2. snozdop

      Re: Dark Mode?

      No.

      There's been a "Use dark menu bar and Dock" option, but this new Dark Mode is system-wide and application-wide, so includes windows, popup menus, dialogs, some icons and most other UI elements in apps that have been updated to use them.

  5. GettinSadda
    Thumb Up

    Waze and others on CarPlay

    I was seriously considering a shift away from Apple in the future simply to be able to get better nav software on CarPlay, so this is seriously good news!

  6. Paul Crawford Silver badge

    SW only?

    "Today is all about software," said CEO Tim Cook in his opening remarks.

    Have you tried asking the pro users who are going to other suppliers and Windows due to the lack of features on your pro Macbooks (such as several USB-2 ports, SD card reader, etc)?,

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: SW only?

      There's a difference between "pro user" and "developer".

      I don't suppose MacOS and iOS *developers* will be doing their development on anything other than Apple hardware - they may grumble but will live with the limitations.

    2. paulf
      Meh

      Re: SW only?

      FTA: "For iOS 12 we're doubling down on performance," [Federighi] said, noting that optimizations in the mobile OS would make even the older iPhone 6 Plus launch apps 40 per cent faster.

      As someone who's 6s+ was turned from a reasonably nippy, battery respecting, handset on iOS 10.3.3 that could go a month between reboots; to a slow, bug ridden, battery hammering kludge requiring a reboot every 1-2 weeks by iOS 11, colour me "I'll believe it if/when I see it". <Kif eye roll and sigh>

      1. katrinab Silver badge

        Re: SW only?

        Settings / Battery / Battery Health / Disable Performance Management Protections

        Should get it back to its old self.

  7. BebopWeBop
    Thumb Down

    And despite the lack of hardware announcements – sorry, no augmented reality goggle

    And no decent keyboards that don't fain at the slightest hint of dust either......

  8. Nimby
    Thumb Down

    crApple

    So half of the announcements were "Me too!" and the other half make me go "WTF!?" Brilliant. More reasons for me not to buy Apple, as if I needed more.

  9. Gene Cash Silver badge

    OpenGL deprecated

    Good to see Apple upholding non-proprietary standards.

    And also good to see Mac gamers getting screwed even worse than Linux gamers. That's quite the bar to jump.

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Re: OpenGL deprecated

      That's insane.

      This is Apple trying desperately to nail the long-dead parrot that is Metal back upright.

      The only effect will be to kill a load of Mac applications.

      It might speed up the uptake of Vulkan, because if you have to rewrite, you're not going pick the burning platform.

      At this rate, MoltenVK will be the only API used on Apple devices.

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