back to article Everything Apple touted at WWDC – step inside our no-hype-zone™

Apple kicked off the 2015 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco on Monday by revealing three new OS releases due out by the end of 2015. Here are some of the key points from the introductions of OS X El Capitan, iOS 9 and WatchOS 2 – without all the usual dreadful hype that surrounds these sorts of PR events …

  1. Phil Endecott

    > Apple will also require developers to use HTTPS for all network traffic on

    > iOS 9 apps

    That seems surprising, to say the least....

    I mean, what about something like an ssh app?

    No, I think someone has got the wrong end of the stick. Anyone know what has actually been announced?

    1. 142

      From the developer release notes:

      "App Transport Security

      App Transport Security (ATS) lets an app add a declaration to its Info.plist file that specifies the domains with which it needs secure communication. ATS prevents accidental disclosure, provides secure default behavior, and is easy to adopt. You should adopt ATS as soon as possible, regardless of whether you’re creating a new app or updating an existing one.

      If you’re developing a new app, you should use HTTPS exclusively. If you have an existing app, you should use HTTPS as much as you can right now, and create a plan for migrating the rest of your app as soon as possible."

      Though not related, there's some more VPN / Proxy functions you might be interested in too... https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/releasenotes/General/WhatsNewIniOS/Articles/iOS9.html

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Probably mistranslated

      I'm sure what they meant is that apps using HTTP to communicate rather than HTTPS has been deprecated, not that you must use HTTPS protocol for everything even when your app requires a different protocol. If they required that not only SSH apps, but all mail apps would go away, being unable send an email when speaking HTTPS over port 25 :)

      1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

        Re: Probably mistranslated

        being unable send an email when speaking HTTPS over port 25

        There are people who keep trying (according to my mail server logs).

        In any case - it is all moves in the right direction. Quite like to annoy non-USA governments which do not have the power to subpoena Apple account data quite a bit. It will be interesting to see on how this will work in countries with "Great Firewalls".

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Probably mistranslated

        They're probably tackling the most pressing problem first by stating it that way, but I suspect the idea is to require all comms to take place of encrypted channels.

        The problem with email is that the RFC does not mandate encryption, nor does a secure connection with your own provider guarantee encryption all the way as inter-MTA traffic (for instance, between your provider and the recipient's) is also not mandated to be encrypted.

  2. Ed Mozley

    Search

    I'm pretty sure I read an article a while back about search companies' frustration at not being able to get at the content within apps to index and learn more about people.

    This search API seems to be a game changer in that regard. Apple will have a level of access to data that Google can only dream of.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Search

      In the news:"We do it in a way that does not compromise your privacy - we don't mine your email, your photos or your contacts in the cloud to learn things about you," said Mr Federighi, contrasting Apple's approach with Google's Android.

      "We honestly just don't want to know."

      in other news: "The OS can also identify unknown phone numbers by looking into your Mail messages and looking up contact details."

      1. chr0m4t1c

        Re: Search

        These are not contradictory things, the OS looks at data on the phone to match the number, it doesn't send the data to Apple for recording and analasys.

        In reality it's not that much different from looking in your contacts so that a name can be displayed for an incoming number.

  3. Chris Daemon

    OS X El Captain Howdy, with "bugfixes and improvements", iOS with more ways to spend your moneys, WatchKit "We weren't ready at launch" 2. Gotit.

    Did I miss the News app?

    With Apple offering Apple Pay, Apple News, Apple Music (nee Beatz), etc... Apple is becoming AOL!

    1. ThomH

      Per a roundup elsewhere, you can finally develop and test software on your own iOS device without paying a developer subscription.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Link Win8.1, Like Lollipop

    So is there anything that can't be described as "like Windows/Android already does"? Maybe HealthKit?. Other than that - meh.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Link Win8.1, Like Lollipop

      So is there anything that can't be described as "like Windows/Android already does"?

      Maybe the ability to enable/disable permissions to individual resources before and after app installation? But iOS had that for ages.

      For the rest I'd agree, although I'm interested to see if iOS 9 and OSX are indeed going to be smaller and faster. Especially the "faster" promise is one that Microsoft has been using for, errr, yes, almost 3 decades, but Apple seems to mean "with the same hardware" as opposed to Microsoft's "if you much a much, MUCH, MUCH faster machine to go with it...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Link Win8.1, Like Lollipop

        OK, assuming it means what you say it means I'll give you the permissions thing - if I wanted to install lots of apps on my phone then this would bug me on Android (and when a built in app that I can't remove wants extra permissions it's really annoying - live with the outdated app that may not work or may have security holes or install a new app that can do more with the phone!)

        But the Windows thing was pure FUD. Vista was a dog on slow hardware, and only went very well when it was very good hardware running it. But from there things have got much, much better.

        My 10" Eee PC was poor on XP, unusable on Vista but worked very well (except for the screen size) on 7 - far better than it did on XP.

        My current laptop (admittedly a very expensive one) works so much better on Windows 8.1 than on 7 (With the exception of BlueTooth as the manufacturer did not release drivers for it).

        And I am testing Windows 10 on 8 year old hardware (including a spinny disk) and it flies! Without any special drivers at all.

        Vista sucked, but the releases since have all been huge improvements over the previous version in terms of performance.

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Link Win8.1, Like Lollipop

        Android M does have granular permission control, post installation.

    2. Tachikoma

      Re: Link Win8.1, Like Lollipop

      Well I chuckled at:

      "iPad users will also be able to watch videos while using another app by pulling the video into a corner, resizing it down to a picture-in-picture box"

      Which I had on my Galaxy S3 around 3 years ago, and while a lovely tech demo, was completely pointless, so I assume iPad owners will become equally as bored with the novelty.

  5. Greg J Preece

    The one that jumped out at me:

    iOS 9 will also have a smaller footprint, requiring 1.3GB of free storage space compared to 4.6GB for iOS 8.

    Bloody hell, how bloated was iOS 8?

    1. Phil Endecott

      That's wrong. It's referring to the amount of free space that you need to do the update from 8 to 9, compared to the amount of free space needed to do the update from 7 to 8.

      I'm waiting to learn if this improvement is because 9 will drop compatibility with 32-bit binaries.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Dropping 32 bit compatibility

        How could iOS 9 drop compatibility with 32 bit binaries when it runs on 32 bit hardware like iPad 2 and iPhone 4S? Until they drop compatibility with all pre-A7 CPUs, they can't even drop 32 bit code from the OS let alone 32 bit app compatibility.

        But I agree, it refers to the amount of free space needed at install time, iOS 8 didn't take up all that much space (I think a little over one GB) The problem was that if you did the install over the air (rather than connected to iTunes) it was really inefficient in however it was doing it. Guess they heard the criticism and addressed the issue for iOS 9.

  6. Daniel B.
    Joke

    El Capitan?

    So they're naming their next OS X release after a DuckTales character that's 400 years old, and obsessed with gold?

    1. ratfox

      Re: El Capitan?

      I find rather weird their idea of naming their releases about something that 99% of the world has never heard of. The big cats were infinitely better.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: El Capitan?

        Os 10.12 will be codenamed Fundament because that's where Apple's marketing department are disappearing.

      2. chivo243 Silver badge
        Stop

        Re: El Capitan?

        Got that right. Who is naming this stuff? Where do I sign up for this all too easy job....

        Sounds like the Bay City Rollers.... grab a map and close your eyes and point to the next new name.

      3. Whit.I.Are

        Re: El Capitan?

        I found the whole big cat thing stupid stupid stupid. When you're told you need version "Mountain Tiger" or later, how the flip are you supposed to know whether the "Snow Panther" you're running is a newer version or not. At least Androids sweetie names are alphabetical...

        1. Dan 55 Silver badge

          Re: El Capitan?

          Well with Leopard/Snow Leopard and Lion/Mountain Lion the names are recognisable and it's easy to tell which is the original and which is the bugfix. But whoever decided to name them landmarks in Planet California and come up with Yosemite/El Capitán really hasn't stepped foot outside of the state.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: El Capitan?

      So obsessed that they would change the very recipe of Gold itself, of course this was to create a stronger lighter more hard wearing Gold, Natch!

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: El Capitan?

      Apple has a history of strange names for operating systems, remember Mac OSX 10.2 "Bet Lynch".

      1. Naselus

        Re: El Capitan?

        I look forward to OS X 10.12, 'Inigo Montoya', and OS X 10.13, 'Boomshakala 'ude boy'.

    4. Whit.I.Are

      Re: El Capitan?

      I had to Bing that one - turns out it's a rock formation in Yosemite National Park. Who knew...

      1. Andrew Newstead

        Re: El Capitan?

        - which James Kirk fell off at the beginning of StarTrek 5.

  7. Mike Bell

    Shift Key

    Nobody said a word about it in the keynote but I swear I saw a standard iOS keyboard being used where the keys toggled from upper to lower case. That would be a radical move by the Fruity Firm.

    1. John Robson Silver badge

      Re: Shift Key

      That would be lovely...

    2. Whit.I.Are

      Re: Shift Key

      That's the one reason I really hate iPhones.

    3. paulf
      Holmes

      Re: Shift Key

      See the second feature in this MR report - keyboard now switches between lower and upper case to follow the Shift setting.

      http://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/08/ios-9-tidbits-and-hidden-features/

  8. PhilipN Silver badge

    The Fall

    Please say Autumn.

    The Fall is a British band of not inconsiderable merit, to the point where taking their name in vain is distracting.

    Or religious types may say it is something to do with those 2 chavs in the Garden of Eden.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Fall

      Nein! Nein! Nein! Nein! Nein!

    2. Tim Almond

      Re: The Fall

      "Released in the Fall"

      To get hold of the software, you have to go on stage while Mark E Smith is tweaking the amplifiers and hope he doesn't take a swing at you.

    3. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: The Fall

      "Please say Autumn."

      We're a UK-owned company, but our writers and editors are Americans. Fall means autumn, and autumn means the Fall.

      Let's all work to get along, huh?

      (PS: US readers > UK readers in the latest monthly stats. Sorry, Brits. We're trying out best with bonkers boffins headlines.)

      C.

      1. Cuddles

        Re: The Fall

        I say we all just agree to call it "tomato" and be done with it.

      2. poopypants

        Re: The Fall

        So no love for the Southern Hemisphere? Typical geographical hegemony that one has come to expect from the latitudinally privileged.

      3. Brennan Young

        Re: The Fall

        Grammarist.com says

        «Fall and autumn are both accepted and widely used terms for the season that comes between summer and winter. Some who consider British English the only true English regard fall as an American barbarism, but this attitude is not well founded. Fall is in fact an old term for the season, originating in English in the 16th century or earlier. It was originally short for fall of the year or fall of the leaf, but it commonly took the one-word form by the 17th century, long before the development of American English. So while the term is now widely used in the U.S., it is not exclusively American, nor is it American in origin.

        Autumn came to English from the French automne in the 15th or 16th century, but it didn’t gain prominence until the 18th century. After that, while fall became the preferred term in the U.S., autumn became so prevalent in British English that fall as a term for the season was eventually considered archaic. This has changed, however, as fall has been gaining ground in British publications for some time.»

  9. Ribblethrop

    Over in the US, 'El Capitan' is a rock formation in the Yosemite National Park.

    Back here in Europe, 'El Capitan' is Francesco Schettino, captain of the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia.

    It will be hard to patiently wait for next years' 'Il Duce' release, and the Russian-only releases, 'Man of Steel', and 'Man of Fire'.

    I'll get my coat.

  10. This post has been deleted by its author

  11. Sebby

    I'm just hoping OS X 10.11 is the next Snow Leopard, really. Nothing else matters and it's way past time.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Flame

      They can start by taking discoveryd out back and shooting it. OS X was never particularly good at networking but Yosemite is bordering on useless.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Already happened in the 10.10.4 betas

        1. Dan 55 Silver badge

          It's Apple. You know they're more than capable of bringing it back half-fixed in 10.11. That's how we get the Groundhog Day Wifi bugs.

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