WWDC 2017: the latest news from Apple’s big developer conference – The Verge

Here’s how Apple is making iMessage take on Facebook Messenger bots

2017-06-09T14:05:35-04:00

At the wrap of Apple's WWDC keynote, we learned that the company was set to announce Business Chat, a new tool that will allow businesses to add a live chat / customer support feature. But unlike what currently exists with Twitter's DM feature or Facebook's Messenger for Business, Apple's platform won't require businesses to have a social media presence, as customers can simply search for them on Spotlight, Siri, or Maps.

During a WWDC session today, Apple elaborated more on just how it works. Business Chat essentially combines the app component of Messenger and the customer service portion from Twitter, letting you talk to businesses to ge …

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How serious is Apple about VR?

2017-06-09T12:00:06-04:00

I was really excited to see Apple talk about VR at WWDC this year. It's a sign that Apple can embrace a market it doesn't entirely control, or possibly even fully understand.

Microsoft, Google, and Facebook all now offer some form of AR or VR hardware and software stack, and the ways they're investing in the future of these markets are fairly clear. But I'm still left with a lot of questions about where exactly Apple is headed.

First, let's make it clear what was actually announced:

Metal 2, an expanded version of Apple's Metal graphics API. Metal 2 now allows developers to bypass the macOS windowing system and render directly to a device …

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AirPods will automatically pair with your Apple TV running tvOS 11

2017-06-08T14:05:44-04:00

Apple didn't talk much about tvOS 11 during its Worldwide Developers Conference this week, yet it still released the developer beta. We're slowly getting an idea of what to expect. 9to5Mac reports that AirPods will automatically pair with a user's Apple TV. Previously, the earbuds only automatically paired with iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches that were associated with the same iCloud account.

So maybe with tvOS 11 you'll be able to watch TV without needing a whole speaker setup or even dealing with manually pairing. How many people want to watch TV with their AirPods? I'm not sure, but Roku did add a headphone jack to its remote. Maybe that' …

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How will iMessage payments stack up to Square Cash and Venmo?

2017-06-08T13:07:47-04:00

Earlier this week Apple announced it will soon be rolling out peer-to-peer payments, effectively (bad pun alert) swiping at services from Square, PayPal-owned Venmo, and giant banks that already let you pay friends through mobile apps.

Apple is well-known for biding its time while it watches other companies enter a market, then coming in later with a product or service it thinks will somehow be better. The peer-to-peer payments service is no exception; the question is whether Apple's will actually be better than the others.

The short answer is we really don't know yet. I only saw glimpses of "Apple Pay Cash" at WWDC this week, and wasn't a …

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Apple will now let hobbyists build their own HomeKit devices

2017-06-08T10:11:54-04:00

Though Apple didn't have much to say about HomeKit during its keynote presentation on Monday, it turns out the company's smart home system is seeing some very notable changes this year. The updates center on two things: making HomeKit more flexible for users, and making it much easier for developers to start building new products.

The second of those is arguably the bigger deal. Until now, anyone that wanted to create a HomeKit product had to join Apple's licensing program just to get started. That big hurdle is being removed, and Apple will now allow any registered developer to start building a HomeKit device. Forbes says that devs can eve …

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Drag and drop on iOS is more powerful than it’s ever been on the desktop

2017-06-08T09:00:01-04:00

My first reaction to Apple's WWDC announcement of iOS drag and drop was basically, "Lol welcome to three decades ago." But after watching a more in-depth technical explanation of the technology at Apple's follow-up Platforms State of the Union, I'm starting to wonder if Apple has a new "pinch to zoom" on its hands: a technology that doesn't just allow for multitouch devices to compete with point-and-click desktop experiences, but in a way, it surpasses them.

iOS's drag and drop from a user's perspective is fairly simple. You press and hold on an object, and it's pinned to your finger. Then you drag the item to wherever you want it to go, an …

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Apple’s HomePod looks like a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none

2017-06-08T08:30:01-04:00

When Apple announced HomePod at WWDC, I was thrown for a loop. After months of rumors, the Cupertino company was expected to launch some sort of Siri-focused speaker that would serve as the vanguard in an effort to elevate the digital assistant to a viable competitor for Alexa, Assistant, and Cortana.

A speaker that will "reinvent home music"

Instead, Apple zigged when it was expected to zag - launching HomePod with a focus on music. As Apple put it onstage, its goal is nothing less than building a speaker that will "reinvent home music" in the same way that the iPod did for portable music so many years ago.

Much of Apple's presentation was …

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The 6 best new features in iOS 11

2017-06-08T08:00:02-04:00

Apple unveiled iOS 11 during its Worldwide Developers Conference this week, and while it might not feature an overhauled Messages app like last year, the company's smaller but iterative changes add functionality that some users might have always wanted. Do Not Disturb While Driving, for example, mutes notifications when your iPhone thinks you're moving. It'll auto-reply to your texts, too, which is a welcome feature after other companies, like Samsung, introduced a similar product. The whole App Store is undergoing a redesign, as well, so that's cool.

We compiled a couple lists of all the features we learned from the WWDC keynote, and now w …

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Where does the smart home fit into Apple’s HomePod?

2017-06-07T11:00:07-04:00

It's impossible to miss one of Apple's biggest ambitions for the HomePod: control over your home, and a central placement within it.

It's right there in the name. And yet, the way Apple is trying to set the HomePod apart from direct competitors like Google's Home and Amazon's Echo, the HomePod ends up positioned oddly far from what seems like such an obvious goal.

In case you missed its announcement Monday, the HomePod is Apple's first shot at a smart speaker. It can be used alone or wirelessly synced up with other speakers, and it has built-in Siri for answering questions and taking commands.

Google and Amazon make it much easier to get t …

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Apple still hasn’t fixed Siri’s biggest problem

2017-06-07T09:04:58-04:00

If you were listening to Apple's keynote address at the Worldwide Developer's Conference this week, you might have walked away thinking that this is the year (and the version of iOS) that Siri finally feels like a capable digital assistant.

Apple announced it was adding a new visual interface to its digital assistant, the ability to handle follow-up questions, and even language translation. Siri is also getting a new voice completely generated by machine learning algorithms. SiriKit, the development tool that lets third-party companies integrate with Siri, is becoming more robust, too. You'll be able to type to Siri in iOS 11, and, of cours …

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