Apple surveys visionOS developers on Persona feature

Reports show that Apple is sending survey for Persona feature for Apple Vision Pro.

Survey apparently is being distributed among developers using Developer Kits.

https://twitter.com/aaronp613/status/1702364571053248573
https://twitter.com/aaronp613/status/1702364571053248573

Apple seems to be working on improvements for Persona and is looking for overall perception of the feature.

It is expected that video communication apps will be able to access virtual 'selfie' camera to make similar experiences available in their apps.

Reference: Apple wants to know what developers think about their ‘Persona’ on Vision Pro

WWDC23 highlights

WWDC23 week is over, all announcements are already made, Apple and developers are going through highlights of the conference.

Apple lists important sessions on spatial computing, developer tools, Swift, UI frameworks, design, graphics and games, ML, privacy and security, and other topics.

Apple also asks developers to take part in survey that could shape the future of conference.

macOS 14 Sonoma

Developers highlight FaceTime reactions, presenter mode for screen sharing and various of other features.

Widgets availability for macOS should help bringing more apps to Mac from iPhone and iPad.

Another area of interest is support for web apps.

tvOS 17

Apple TV is to support VPN apps with tvOS 17. This will put tvOS on par with other Apple platforms.

Also, tvOS will improve sound for dialogs to make voice more audible. This feature requires second generation HomePod (original HomePod and HomePod mini are not supported) and Apple TV 4K.

iOS/iPadOS 17

DockKit SDK and Standby mode bring interesting capabilities for apps and also could hint on more standalone home devices.

Autocorrect in standard keyboard is expected to become much better with iOS 17.

iCloud

iCloud Drive now could be switched off and third-party apps will still be able to sync via iCloud.

Vision Pro

Analysts expect that more affordable version of Vision Pro will be released in 2025.

M2 Ultra

Benchmarks for M2 Ultra show significant improvements over M1 Ultra chips. New chip is 20% faster than previous generation.

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References:

Apple starts WWDC22 with many great announcements for developers

WWDC22 is here! Apple's annual conference started with Special Event day, Keynote, State of the Union and Apple Design Awards.

Apple Developer Center

It actually started on Sunday June 5th. Apple presented its new Apple Developer Center to public. Center provides an opportunity to development teams to participate in workshops hosted by Apple and meet Apple teams while working on interesting projects. Overall, Apple Developer Center brings Apple Store aesthetics to developer-focused venue.

Apple did not provide any announcements on how often it would invite developers to visit Developer Center, but general recommendation is to monitor for emails and news in Developer app.

Keynote

Before going into OS updates, let's mention Apple M2 announcement which is iterates over success of M1. New chip is presented in new MacBook Air with design following recent MacBook Pro principles. New MacBook Air is fan-less and provides full day battery life.

M2 MacBook Pro 13" is also announced with no body changes.

iOS 16

iOS 16 brings many new features including:

  • Personalizable Lock Screen with widgets based on WidgetKit;
  • Live Activities which extends notifications on Lock Screen with realtime updates;
  • Focus mode API for developers – Focus Filters;
  • Live Text API;
  • Shared With You API;
  • Collaboration API to allow easy collaboration start via Messages app;
  • Improvements in Apple Pay, Apple Pay Later, Apple Pay Order Tracking;
  • SharePlay in Messages;
  • Developer mode should now be explicitly enabled on devices to allow debugging or UI automation testing;
  • Simpler way of integrating Siri support – App Intents.

iPadOS 16

iPadOS gets more desktop-like features:

  • M1 iPads will now be able to use Stage Manager – display up to four applications per screen (totaling with 8 apps when connected to external display) at the same time, and resize app windows;
  • Finally iPad gets its own Weather app.

watchOS 9

watchOS 9 brings many features focused on fitness and health including:

  • AFib constant monitoring will help people to monitor their condition and check how their behavior affects it;
  • New monitoring features will help better understand the quality of the workouts and overall fitness progress.

macOS 13 Ventura

macOS also gets attention this year:

  • Continuity camera now allows using iPhone in video conferencing;
  • Also FaceTime calls could be handed off to Mac easily;
  • Stage Manager is here to help with window clutter.

Xcode 14

Xcode 14 focuses on developer performance and adds multiple useful features for developers. Xcode Previews were rebuilt and are expected to run more smoothly.

Frameworks

As always, many existing frameworks get important updates:

  • SwiftUI gets new charts library, new approach for navigation and navigation views;
  • Metal 3 focuses on performance for resources and shaders;
  • Nearby Communications (UWB) improvements;
  • MapKit brings Maps features including Look Around to third-party apps;
  • WeatherKit for weather apps;
  • And many more...

App Store Review Guidelines are updated

2.5.4: Deleted requirement that apps using location background mode include a reminder that doing so may dramatically decrease battery life.
4.2.3: Deleted requirement to include sufficient content in the binary for the app to function at launch.
4.7: Deleted restriction on lotteries or charitable donations in code that is not embedded in the binary.
5.2.5: If your app displays Apple Weather data, it should follow the attribution requirements provided in the WeatherKit documentation.
5.3.3: Deleted restriction on purchasing lottery or raffle tickets or initiating fund transfers in the app.

Apple Developer

New Human Interface Guidelines are published

New Apple Human Interface Guidelines are now unified across platforms, provide links to relevant talks and design resources.

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