It ’s that time of the year when we pull out our promise hat — you were issued yours , right?—and attempt to guess what Apple might announce a twosome of weeks hence when they take the stage at this year’sWorldwide Developers Conference .
The main case at WWDC is broadly speaking the time to come of Apple ’s software program platforms , most crucially macOS and iOS . So , with that in mind , it ’s time to whip out that honest-to-goodness understudy : features that Apple ’s platforms still postulate .
This week we ’ll start with macOS , which just celebrated an important milestone , as the current generation of macOS ( formerly OS X and Mac OS X ) has now been ship as long as the classic Mac O was whenMac OS X first arrived on the prospect . Seems like only yesterday , does n’t it ?
After 17 - plus age , it ’s gotten harder to come up with feature that macOS still demand : our Macs are amazingly able devices . And rumor has it that this twelvemonth may be more in the venous blood vessel of a Snow Leopard - fashion maintenance passing than wedge - a - block with new features . Still , there are a few areas that Apple could bear to pore some much - needed attention .
Make Mail and Calendar more productive
One of the keen thing about the macOS is that it ’s replete with fantastic third - company alternative to many of Apple ’s own built - in apps . But close integration with the atomic number 8 and the fact that Apple ’s apps are pre - installedandfree means that a destiny of people end up sticking with the first - party options .
Mail , in particular , is an aging app that could use a top - to - bottom refresh . While Apple does tend to roll out one or two new Mail feature in every macOS release — last year it was a new Top Hits display in search — the app could use a little more substantial love . Plenty of competitor , let in Google ’s web - based Gmail , have added saucy feature , using algorithm to sort out detritus mail , mailing inclination , flight confirmation , and so on . With the current inundation of privateness policy update , such a characteristic would be more than welcome . Not to mention other commonly - used features , like setting reminders on emails , timed sending of emails , and — defy I even suggest — an pick for end - to - end encryption .
The same decease for Calendar . I have a bunch of calendars that I defend , some of which have redundant information on them . It ’d be great if Calendar were smart enough to condense that into a single upshot with tag to designate that it survive on multiple calendars , rather than squeezing in three copy of the exact same upshot . I ’d also care to see it provide an selection to condense the blank space within individual day — I do n’t want to see all the time where I’mnotdoing anything .
Play around with iTunes and QuickTime Player
verbalize of apps that need betterment . Oh , iTunes .
But iTunes is still an important app , and it could use a tweak or two . The dip - down menu that has you choose what culture medium you ’re reckon for coalesce with the sub - menu interface for choosing whether you ’re viewing your own library or the iTunes Store is unnecessarily inept . It ’s also time to scratch the iOS App Store and institutionalise it to the App Store app instead — focus iTunes on playing media and play it well .
While we ’re on the subject of medium , a Logos about QuickTime Player . Since Apple ’s architecture decisions will have the end result ofleaving QuickTime Pro 7 in the dust , it ’s time for the company to at long last beef up the editing and utility options of QuickTime Player X. Being able-bodied to imitate and paste sections of media , extract separate track , adjust playback speed , and so on would all be welcome addition . Plus an selection for playback controls that do n’t overlay on the media you ’re trying to watch would please more than a few folks .
Odds and ends
These are just a few of the big area that Apple could focus on , but there are plenty of small example as well . controller of HomeKit devices , for model : why ca n’t I turn my smart lights on and off just like I can on iOS ? Better systemwide musical accompaniment for animated GIFs would be on my list as well : I know it ’s an old formatting , but the internet ’s given it unexampled life , and they seem to only be supported in some apps and at some time . And , for heaven ’s sake , bring us a Photos update that have us haul - and - drib pictures from it into other apps .
Yes , the Mac is getting older and it ’s not as popular as the iPhone or iPad . But that does n’t mean that it does n’t deserve some tending . Apple executive Phil Schiller once told my colleague Jason Snell that “ the Mac keeps going forever , ” and hopefully it just preserve get proficient along the fashion .
