If there ’s a “ certain thing ” you’re able to expect at WWDC , it ’s that Apple will preview young versions of its operating system . Sure enough , the company spent a considerable portion ofMonday ’s keynotetelling us aboutOS X Yosemite , the next major revision to its screen background OS .
And major it is , starting with the iOS 7 - inspire ocular makeover . But though many expected that rhytidoplasty to be the day ’s biggest atomic number 76 X word , Yosemite’spreview was most telling for the mountain of major new features Apple expose . Here are eight Modern features — among those we be intimate about so far — that we wish we did n’t have to wait for .
Continuity
Not astonishingly , given how many of us own both Macs and iOS devices , our favorite new “ feature of speech ” is actually a fistful of features that aim to make it easier to work with , and switch between , all those twist . Apple labeled this grouping of featuresContinuity , and the idea behind them is to make shift from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad , or vice versa — to habituate the practiced twist for a peculiar task — as seamless as possible .
Shared AirDropAirDrop , Apple ’s easy - to - use feature for getting files from one twist to another , debuted for Macs back in 2011andfor iOS last year . Yet the OS X and iOS versions weren’t — and still aren’t — compatible . One of our big wishes for iOS 8was for Apple to fix this , and with persistence it has : AirDrop will workbetweenMacs and iOS gadget , so you could well transmit a file from your Mac to your nearby iPhone , or from your iPad to your Mac .
HandoffIf you start working on a file or email content , or viewing a website , on your iPad or iPhone , there ’s presently no leisurely way to switch over to your Mac and make out the undertaking there . But with a Mac running Yosemite and an iOS 8 machine nearby , each will watch the other to see what you ’re doing , and provide to countenance you shift that activity to the other gimmick .
So , for instance , if you ’re composing an e-mail message in iOS Mail , your Mac ’s Dock shows a special Mail picture ; click it , and the message appear in Mail on your Mac . If you ’re viewing a web page in Safari on your Mac , a Safari ikon appears on your iPad ’s lock screen ; nobble it , and that webpage opens in iOS . ( We ’re look forwards to seeing if this act upon for third - party apps , too . )
Mac / iPhone phone integrationThe combination of Yosemite and iOS also makes it easier to expend your phone and Mac together . For exemplar , whenever your iPhone is nearby and a call comes in , your Mac can display caller - ID information , and you’re able to even accept the call on your Mac , using it as a speakerphone . you’re able to also lead up vociferation on your iPhone from your Mac : just click a number in the Contacts app , or even on a web page or in an e-mail message , text content , or calendar event .
Instant HotspotSpeaking of sound integration , you ’ve long been able-bodied to practice your iPhone as a cellular - data point hot spot when you need to get your Mac online but you ’re out of range of a Wi - Fi web . Under Yosemite and iOS 8 , the raw Instant Hotspot feature displays your iPhone in OS X ’s systemwide Wi - Fi menu ( assuming , of line , that your iPhone is on and nearby ) . prefer it , and your iPhone mechanically sets up a inviolable Wi - Fi hotspot and your Mac connect to it — no mussy , multi - step configuration necessary . Apple says that the menu will even display your phone ’s sign military posture and battery life , and your Mac will unplug from the sound when not accessing the internet .
SMS relayingFinally , we ’ve all have the frustration and confusion of browsing a Messages conversation on our Mac , iPad , or iPod touch and bring in that messages sent using SMS — rather than Apple ’s iMessage service — are missing . Under Yosemite and iOS 8 , your telephone relay SM messages to all your other devices , so the entire conversation show up on every one . You ’ll even be able tosendSMS messages from your Mac — great for exchanging messages with people who do n’t use an iPhone . ( And if , like us , you often had problem with even iMessage messages showing up on all equipment , that ’s supposed to work better , too . )
iCloud Drive
One of our big kick with iCloud has long been that it ’s essentially a black corner lying in wait : information can be saved , synced , and get at only from within those apps that have been specifically coded to expend iCloud , and get at only by the specific app that originally make unnecessary the single file . Which means , for good example , that if you save a PDF to iCloud from within Preview on OS X , you ca n’t open it in another Mac app , and you ca n’t access it from your iPad or iPhone . ( Yes , there are ways to get at locally stored iCloud document using the Finder , but it ’s not something most people desire to , or should , be doing . )
We asked for more - receptive , more - Dropbox - corresponding storage , and we gravel it . Apple ’s new iCloud Drive feature blend the existing per - app storage simplicity with a feature that works likewise to Dropbox . Click iCloud in the sidebar of a Finder window , and you could reckon all your iCloud - lay in text file . Documents that have been saved in , and associated with , particular apps ( Pages , for instance ) are grouped in app - specific folders ; other documents , including those you ’ve manually tangle into the iCloud folder , seem loosely ( or in any booklet you make ) . Any data point in the iCloud folder is synced with iCloud and available from all your Macs , and on all your iOS machine . And iOS apps will be able to view your iCloud Drive , making it loose to open up those text file in your iOS app(s ) of choice . Apple ’s even making iCloud Drive useable on Windows .
Notification Center’s Today view and widgets
Though it’snot perfect , we really wish the Today opinion in iOS 7 ’s Notification Center , which shows you at a glance what you ’ve got coming up . OS X Yosemite ’s Notification Center gain and expands on this view . In addition to showing you a trailer of your day , Yosemite ’s version lets you enable widgets exhibit atmospheric condition and stock info , your reminder , a human beings clock , and info from social networks . Apple is even allowing developers to supply — through the Mac App Store — third - party thingumajig that you may sum up to the Today view . ( So long , Dashboard ? )
Spotlight, refined
think it or not , Spotlight has been around for almost a decade ( since Mac OS X 10.4 ) , but for the most part , it ’s been limited to research your effort for datum ; looking up dictionary definitions ; and sending WWW lookup to your browser app — and in our experience , many mass do n’t even screw it can do the latter two . Yosemite bring Spotlight its first major overhaul . In addition tolookingdifferent ( it now pops up in the middle of the screen , rather than sticking to the upper - right corner , and it inherits Yosemite ’s new flat looking ) , it also gains quite a few skills .
For example , though Spotlight still searches local content , its final result will also let in apps from the App Store , culture medium from the iTunes and Books Stores , and news from popular websites . It can put up hint from Bing , Wikipedia , and Maps — the latter rent you typesushito find local eating place , for example . It can give you movie showtimes , lets you execute instant unit conversions , and even offers machine - discharge suggestion for search terms .
Mail Markup
Sometimes email attachments are just photos . But oftentimes they ’re PDFs you take to bless ( or otherwise gloss ) , or images you ’d like to mark up . Yosemite ’s appropriately named Markup feature article lets you do just that right from within a reply window in Mail . Instead of having to save the file to your movement , spread out it in a dissimilar app , save it , and then bind it to your outgoing email message , Markup lets you annotate on the tent flap and then send the outcome with a click .
allot to Apple ’s website and keynote demo , you ’ll be able to lend signatures ; delineate lines , shapes , and arrow ; tot callout text edition and cartoon bubble ; and even soar up in on part of an prototype . If you have a Magic Trackpad ( or MacBook trackpad ) , you ’ll be capable to eviscerate using your fingertip .
Mail Drop
One of the biggest challenges to sharing photo and other files via email is that the expectant the file(s ) , the more probable the message will be blocked by a server , somewhere along the way , that places limits on content / adhesion size . Because of this , an increase bit of apps and services let you upload a bad data file to a removed host and then , instead of beam the actual file via email , you send a link to the file ; the recipient clicks the connectedness to download the file . ( Some Mail plug - ins even automatize the process for you . )
This coming works , but it still require the sender to be technical school savvy enough to configure such a workflow . With Yosemite ’s Mail Drop feature article , Apple hop to make the process seamless . You just add your fastening like you normally would , compose your substance , and then institutionalise . OS X uploads — mechanically and invisibly — enceinte file cabinet to iCloud . If your recipient is using Mail in Yosemite , OS X will download — again , automatically and invisibly — the file cabinet and present it in the message just like any other attachment ; if the receiver is using another email client , another weapons platform , or an early variant of OS X , the content will contain a radio link for downloading the file . Apple says Mail Drop will work with files ( or even folders of files ) up to 5 GB in size , and that file are inscribe in transportation system for security .
Messages conveniences
Over the preceding duad years , Macworldeditors have had so many problems with Messages for OS X — and the underlying iMessage serving — that many of us have transfer to using AIM onthird - party clients . But based on the improvements Apple talked about during the tonic , some of us just may switch back .
For dispatcher , group messaging has finally nonplus some care . While in a grouping - message treatment , you ’ll be able-bodied to easily add and remove player , to vary the thread name ( “ Vacation Planning ” ) for easier identification on all your devices , and to leave a thread . And each fellow member in the conversation can apportion his or her position , a la ascertain My protagonist , which should be great for family and friends traveling together — or , say , editors at a tech publication covering a crowing conference .
For those times when your friend(s ) get a spot too chatty , you ’ll be able to toggle Do Not Disturb for a specific thread , rather of having to enable it for your entire equipment . Yosemite will also make it easy to reckon all media in a thread , sans messages .
And a new feature article called Soundbites should be a hit , as it lets you quickly enter and institutionalize audio clips as part of Messages conversation — everlasting for those time when it would be easy to just speak a message . ( Even safe , when you ’re on your iPhone , you ’ll be capable to listen to received audio recording , and show and send your own audio clips , from the lock cover by plainly moving your iPhone : Lift it to your pinna to put down , depress the telephone to send . )
The public beta
For Apple , the Beta Seed Program will be a lawful testing programme that should give rise far more data — germ reports , computer hardware configurations , and the like — than the party could ever generate from developers and employee alone . But it ’s also a boon for third - party developers . These developers will be able to test their own computer software , wide and publicly , on Yosemite before the OS is formally release , which should have in mind that many more Yosemite - optimise apps will be ready on Day One . ( And , let ’s be true , that ’s as good for Apple as it is for users . )
Of course , as Mac geeks , we ’re agitate by the opportunity to get our hands on Yosemite several months early . But it ’s not something we urge to everyone . Beta computer software is , by definition , not concluding - release quality , so there are obligate to be bug , some of them serious . If you ’re even consider bless up for the Beta Seed Program , you should have multiple good stand-in , and you should ideally do your examination on a Mac that is n’t your main computer .
But if you have the resourcefulness to do these thing ; you ’re moderately tech savvy ; you ’re willing to put in the metre to describe bugs that you hail across ; and — perhaps most authoritative — you understand what beta means ( and wo n’t blame Apple or third - political party developers for any problems you might have , or data you might lose ) , then , by all means , sign up up .
Bonus: The new (old) Dock
This is n’t a large one , but it ’s a welcome one : One of the little thing a number ofMacworldeditors leave out from Mountain Lion and earlier adaptation of OS X was the two - dimensional , semitransparent Dock . Apple did away with this graceful , easy - to - view Dock right smart back in Mac OS X 10.5 , butwith a quick Terminal tweak(or the use of a third - party tweaking utility program ) , you could still opt for it up until OS X 10.8 . But in OS X 10.9 Mavericks , Apple removed even that hidden option — you were stuck with the ( in my opinion ) ugly , cluttered , 3 - D appearing . With Yosemite ’s raw interface , the monotonic , translucent wharfage is back . And I do it it .
