Apple Watch, First Thoughts

As promised, I will now give my initial thoughts on the Apple Watch that Apple announced a few days ago. First let me just say that if you haven't gone and watched the video of the Watch it is worth it just so you can see the bands snap closed. Apple has such a great way of presenting a product, if they made a garbage can it would have a cooler video than most luxury cars.

It is beautiful
A lot of people have said and are going to say, "its just strapping a screen onto your wrist." And that is true, in many ways it is, but only Apple could take that concept from nerdy to fashionable. All smartwatches, beyond basic fitness trackers, are going to be a screen on you wrist, but nobody has made one that looks so nice as Apple's does.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Pebble Steel and I am totally convinced that it is the best looking smartwatch on the market right now, but let's face it, it isn't 14 karat gold. That being said I will not be throwing my Pebble out any time soon.

The bands
It is a testament to Apple's design prowess that the bands on the Watch are one of the things I am most impressed with. I was telling some friends the other day; leave it to Apple to take an experience as bad as changing your watch band and make it fun.

The bands will be easily switched by pressing a release on the bottom of the Watch, no need to go to jeweler to remove pins. This will mean people can easily have multiple bands to switch out, but it also has a more practical purpose for some people, namely left-handers. The switchable bands me that left-handers, most of whom wear their watches on the right hand, can easily swap out the two sides of the band to orient the watch correctly on their wrist with the crown the correct spot for left-handed operation.

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, First Thoughts

Alright, now that there has been a couple days for the news to settle and the hands-on reports are out, I wanted to give my non-hands-on impressions of the new iPhones.

I like them

No surprises there, right? I normally like what Apple puts out and once again I think they have made some fantastic new products this year.

iPhone 6 and 6 plus
I am admittedly a phablet hater. I think they look dumb when people use them and that the reside in a space that does not need to be filled. So I don't foresee myself ever owning a 6 plus. Even the 6 might be a little big for me, that remains to be seen until I hold one in my own hands in a few weeks.

One thing I would like to note is that Apple took their sweet time making a bigger phone because they were unwilling to just jump on a bandwagon without thinking through the user experience first. They thought through things like screen resolution on a bigger screen, and one handed operation, and how the operating system would look different on it.

The screens look really good on both phones, but when you are watching on a screen that is lower resolution than the screen you are looking at it is hard to tell...

They both look like gorgeous pieces of design, they are amazingly thin and incredibly elegant from the pictures and videos. Of course if I were spinning in slow motion on a white background I might look elegant too... never mind I wouldn't.

The Letdown
The main thing that disappoints me about these phones is the camera. The fact that there hasn't been any major improvement since the 4s is hard to understand. Each year brings us an incremental improvement, and slow and steady wins the race I guess... But the iPhone is the most popular camera in the world so I would have thought they would want to do more. I was really hoping that with a protruding camera we would get an optical zoom finally, but alas it was not to be.

My feeling on this is that Apple probably has a better camera in the wings, but they are holding it as one of the major improvements for the 4s. They couldn't give everything to us at one time (then who would buy next year?). Regardless the optical zoom probably needs more development before it is ready.

The upshot of the camera staying the same is that I feel less reason to buy any new phone soon, the 4s still has essentially the same camera as the latest model, and it can update to the new operating system, so it should hold fine for now.

Apple Pay
The big benefit of the iPhone 6 and plus in my mind right now is Apple Pay. Why? Because as Tim Cook said, credit cards are old technology that is insecure and needs to be replaced. Is that a reason to run out and buy one? No, not yet. But we know that millions of people will buy these phones, and that means the can begin to take place. This is something that really nobody but Apple could do, and I am excited about it.

Will there be security problems with Apple Pay? Absolutely, and people will make a big deal out of them. That is why Apple is so brave to enter the space. The deal is that there will not be as many security problems as there are with credit and debit cards. Apple waited to do this until they had technology like touch ID in place to help make it more secure. This is in stark contrast to other companies who have ran helterskelter into the mobile payment space producing fractured products with low security and no vision.

Alright, that pretty much sums up my thoughts on these new phones (ok let's be honest, I could talk for hours about them, but those are the important things). I don't want to make this post to long so I am saving talking about Apple Watch for my next post. Thanks for reading, and remember, live better.

Apple's September 9th event rumor roundup

Here we go again. Apple will be holding another event tomorrow. And everything currently points to it being a big one. From the fact that Apple is returning to the Flint Center where Steve Jobs first announced the iMac, to pictures of a huge "structure" they are constructing outside it, it seems September 9th will be a day Apple fans will remember.

Here is an image of the invitation that was sent out for the event:

Apple's invitations usually contain a hidden message, but it is almost impossible to pick it out until after the event. However it is worth noting that this invitation is significantly less colorful than last years when the iPhone 5C was announced.

Anyway, here are my predictions on some of the more popular rumors.

iPhone 6: yes we will see the iPhone 6, and I think that will likely be the name of it as well. All the models (if there is more than one) will ship with iOS 8 of course. I am hoping that the 16 GB option will disappear and that 32 GB will become the new starter. I also think the new phones will also come with a 64-bit A8 processor and a new M8 processor for movement tracking.

4 inch: I am doubting there will be a new 4 inch iPhone, but I do think the 5S will move down into the second tier spot and the 5C will move into the free spot, so there will still be options for those wanting a smaller screen.

4.7 inch: This model seems all but confirmed by rumors and photo leaks at this point. I would be very surprised not to see it. It also seems likely that it will be getting a sapphire screen which will make it much less likely to shatter.

5.5 inch: I hope we don't see this model, there have been a few leaks indicating it, but I really hate phablets, and so my personal side is causing me to say no on this one. It just seems to big to the point that it would be filling the same spot the iPad mini already does.

WWDC 2014 Keynote Recap

Alright, so as a follow up to yesterday let's talk about what we actually saw at Apple's WWDC keynote, and how it stacked up against what we were guessing.

iOS 8: Yep, we got it, just as everyone knew we would.

We also got the new health data tracking app, called simply Health not Healthbook, which will pair with many different health monitoring devices so long as developers use the new Healthkit SDK.

Notification center got some big and much needed bumps, including responding to notifications directly from them (Yeah!) and 3rd party widgets, which has been long in coming.

Sandboxing isn't going away, but for the first time ever apps are being allowed to talk to each other, through the security of iOS. This is part of what will make widgets possible for notifications, and it will also make possible my two dreams from the last post of having Pinterest integrated and having a Dvorak keyboard. Honestly this is probably what I am most excited about.

There are a ton of other new features in iOS 8 that we will be discussing as we get closer to the release this fall.

OSX 10.10: Yep, we got it too, and it is named for another California location: Yosemite. It will be free update just like Mavericks was and will have a lot of features to make it and iOS 8 work awesomely together. As Craig Federighi said it will be really handy. The biggest thing is that the two OSs will now have handoffs that will be seamless. Your devices will sense each other and you can pick up doing something on one, right where you left off on the other. This will even allow you to send emails and text messages from you computer, and be able to use your phone's hotspot with no configuration.

iCloud: as predicted iCloud got mentioned a whole bunch. The big news here is big advances in Photos and keeping them up to date on all devices. Along with that will come some new cheaper pricing on data for storing those photos and your other information. The opening tier (after the 5 gigs free) will be 20 gig for 99 cents a month.

Beats: Of course the deal to acquire Beats music got mentioned, via a cameo phone call with Dr. Dre. But as expected their were no product announcements around the new acquisition, it is just to soon, and apparently Dre hasn't been to new employee orientation yet.

Apple TV: zilch, nothing, nada. Complete and total silence on the Apple TV front, it was basically like it didn't even exist. So much for moving it from hobby status. Well I guess I should be glad I didn't hold out for a new one. I did watch the keynote on my Apple TV 3rd gen, so I guess that counts for something.

Home Automation System: Sort of. Apple did not introduce any hardware for your home. But they did introduce the HomeKit SDK for developers to unite home automation into a seamless iOS experience as they build products. I hope this SDK will make home automation a lot better and less fractured.

iWatch: Nope, just as predicted, the fabled iWatch is still just a fable.

Alright, those are just the answers to the question from yesterday, there were a lot of other reveals and some really exciting announcements. Mostly the excitement is for developers right now, and that excitement will come to consumers in the fall when we start to see what devs have built with this new stuff.

You will of course see a lot of the online press talking Apple down in the next few days because they didn't release new hardware, but that is silly because this is the developer's conference, it was never suppose to be about hardware. The really big news, I am sure, was a new programming language. But that is hard for most of us to get excited about. In short, Apple stayed true here to the audience they invited, and they were kind enough to let the rest of us look in.

WWDC 2014 Rumor Roundup

Aright folks, today is the day. At 11:00 MDT (no one ever puts up Mountain time, but I live here so I will) Apple will be holding the WWDC keynote. You should be able to watch the keynote live streamed to any Apple device. You can follow me on twitter for live updates during the event.

I am going to go over a bunch of the major rumors here, but before I do I want to make sure everyone is clear on what WWDC is, it is Apple's WorldWide Developers Conference. The main focus of the event (which goes from the 2nd to the 6th) is on Developers who produce things for Apple's products. So while most of us who are Consumers are looking for new products to be revealed at the keynote today (because we love buying more from Apple) the focus of the event is really on software that will be released later this year. After all the tagline for the event is: "write the code, change the world"

Alright, so that being said let's go over what might be announced today.

iOS 8: If there is one guarantee for this year's WWDC it is that iOS 8 will be announced. This is the traditional location for iOS announcements so that developers can prepare for their launches in the fall. We have already seen a banner up at WWDC displaying the 8.

While a new iPhone or iPad is almost certainly not going to be announced at this event, iOS 8 will most likely give us clues into the next generations capabilities.

Rumors for iOS 8 include a new health oriented app called Healthbook, more communication between apps (i.e. less sandboxing), the killing of the game center app, a redesign of notifications, and improvements to the Apple Maps app.

In addition I am holding out hope for two thing that seem small but would make a big difference for me: a Dvorak keyboard option, and Pinterest integration. Neither of these are likely to happen though.

OS X 10.10: Another near certainty is the next version of the Mac operating system. There don't seem to be any big rumors about it though. It will likely be named after another location in California and be a free update through the app store.

iCloud: You can expect to hear something about iCloud during the keynote, and hopefully some big improvements. Wouldn't it be nice if they also bumped the amount of storage you get for free?

Beats: Apple would be remiss if they did not mention their acquisition of the music company at a conference just days after happened. But the news is still to new for me to expect any product announcements based on it.

Apple TV: The 4th gen Apple TV has been rumored for over a year now, so let's hope we see in today. Many rumors include adding 3rd party apps to the system, adding Siri control, getting a new remote, adding a game controller, and ousting cable companies with an al la carte video streaming service. We shall see if any of the materialize. Some seem more likely than others.

Home Automation System: This was the late comer to the rumor party. The concept is that Apple will be entering the internet of things with a system to automate your home from your iPhone. While I think that Apple is the only company that could make a good home automation system at this point, I doubt we will see this today. The rumor was turned down a little bit to instead of being a system form Apple being a program for developers to submit their products to, similar to the "made for iPhone" sticker.

iWatch: As much as I really want to see this product come to life, I doubt we are going to see it today. That being said if Apple want's to release it this year and have apps available for it, they will have to release information on it today. I would love to see this happen, but it still seems unlikely at this point.

Alright, I think those are the major rumors at this point. If I missed any put them in the comments below. Don't forget to follow me @halduauthor for real time reactions.

ToDo List Quest: Apple's stock Reminders app

Reminders is the stock todo list app that comes built into every iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac. Most of apples stock applications get a lot of use because they are the default. Even though they are often more bare featured than counterparts in the app store they have the convenience of already being on the device (and you can't delete them) and of being integrated into the operating system.

Apple's Reminders App
is the standard task app

It takes time and effort to go digging through the app store to find a different app to replace one that is already on the phone. For this reason I would guess that Reminders is the most widely used todo list app on iOS devices. Let's look at some of its main advantages:

Siri:
Apple's artificially intelligent assistant gets a lot of flak, so this may not seem like a huge feature. But, I have heard many people say that Reminders is one of the primary features they use Siri for. It saves you having to in put all the details of you todos when you can just speak them to Siri in natural language.

Because Reminders is built into the operating system it is the only todo list app that can boast native integration with Siri, although some apps like Remember the Milk have found a workaround. Siri can take a lot of the work out of actually getting your tasks into the system, and she can also alert you when a task needs to be done.

Sync:
Reminders has built in iCloud sync across all of your apple devices and the iCloud web app. The sync works seamlessly and is completely free, unlike an app like Remember the Milk which will give you only one sync per day with a free account. Reminders also provides you with the option of sharing your list with a family member or coworker so you can stay on the same virtual page for projects and tasks.

The only email integration that Reminders has is the ability to drag and drop emails from the stock Mail app on a Mac into the Mac Reminders app to create a new reminder with that email.

Also Reminders has full integration with the apps Drafts, again the is because it is built into the operating system. This allows you to quickly create individual reminders or lists directly from the Drafts app, something that requires workarounds for most other apps.

Simple:
The Reminders app is an easy app to use. It is well designed by apple to be a simple list app that helps people accomplish there tasks without getting in the way. It is a nice looking app that is clean and uncluttered. People will not have trouble learning how to use it or be overwhelmed by its features.

Conclusion:
The status quo is always a strong argument, so for many people Reminders may prove exactly what they need for task management. That is not the case for me. While it has many good features listed above I find the lack of more advanced options like tagging to be to be to important right now. Although I have to say I am surprised at how well Reminders did on my criteria comparison, I am not ready to switch over to it yet. I am going to continue the quest to see if I can find something to help me live better.

If you use the Reminders app and have any thoughts suggestions or questions please leave them in the comments below. For those who are interested in using Reminders with GTD I found this guide from SimplicityBliss.

This has been a post in the ToDo List Quest, if you would like to read the other articles please click here.

RIP iPad 2

The iPad 2, the only iPad with a number officially in its name, has been put to rest by Apple. It was removed from the Apple online store and replaced at the same pricepoint with the previously thought dead iPad with retina and lightning port (the 4th gen iPad).

One of Apple's longest running products the iPad 2 has really had a remarkable life. This long life is particularly interesting considering the fact that both the iPad 3rd gen and 4th gen (until now) had such short times on Apple's shelves.

Personally I always found it very odd that they kept the iPad 2 around as the low entry model for so long instead of just moving the last years model into that spot. This is the pattern they had been following with iPhones up until the last release where the 5 went into early retirement.

I guess the reason that the iPad 2 lived so long is that people kept buying them. Now personally I can't fathom doing such a thing as buying a two or three year old model new just to save a hundred bucks. This especially became true when the iPad mini came out cheaper than the 2. But I guess many people could and did do such a thing. I think I know more people with 2s than any other iPad model. Most people just don't grasp what the difference in processing power means and in a side by side store demonstration can't tell the difference between a retina screen and a non retina screen.

However, as well as the iPad 2 has done it really was time for it to die a while ago. And now with Apple offering refurbished iPad Airs for just $419 their really was no reason for people to ever buy a 2 for $400. The refurbed Air is my recomedation for anyone buying an iPad right now.

The big question now though is whether or not th iPhone 4s is going to die as the free iPhone option. With the iPad 2 dead it has no more 30 pin charger friends in the Apple store (except the iPod classic, but who counts that). And it may make sense at this poine for Apple to unify the line. They did just release a lower end 8gb iPhone 5C in other countries, but no word on if that will come over to America or not.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens the next few months while we are in Q2, it is about time for another Apple event...

Apple's iPad event, my thoughts

iPad Air: This thing is absolutely amazing. The fact that they were able to shrink the iPad that much really impresses me. The biggest change was kind of spoiled by the iPhone launch which showed us the A7 processor, but it is going to make an incredible difference to have 64 bit processing in a tablet.
I don't think most people comprehend what this is going to mean, people ho-hum about processors because there is always a new one coming out, but the processor is what makes your iPad go so you should probably care about it, but the fact that you don't is evidence that Apple is succeeding in their goal of making devices and specs disappear into the user experience.
What people don't see, because it feels so natural, is that iPad has untethered people in a way the laptop never could. With a 64 bit device that will untether more people because suddenly you can do processor intensive work away from your desk that you never could before. For many people going all iPad can suddenly become a reality.
Retina iPad Mini: I'll admit I did not think we were going to get this device, so I am all the more blown away by it because of my skepticism. I'm really amazed that they have given it an A7 processor and a retina display. I guess the battery performance enhancements of the A7 were the only way they could have got the retina display to work and still have given all day battery life on the iPad mini.

Mavericks: Because if my internet situation have been unable to upgrade either my MacBook or my wife's MacBook Pro to OSX Mavericks yet, but I hope to soon. What I will say is that I think Apple is awesome for releasing this operating system for free. It makes me happy to see that they recognize that we have already spent a lot of money on their computers and so they are willing to let us keep them up to date for no cost. I am excited to see the performance improvements that should come from upgrading.

iWork: Now iWork does not excite most people, because most people have been tethered to the oppressive MS Office Suite for so long that they think productivity apps are something that you just have to deal with problems on because you have to use it. This is not the case with iWork, which, like everything Apple does, just works.
So, I am excited for the updates to iWork. Apple has shattered the industry's pricing model which makes me happy every time they do it. But the thing I am most excited for is collaboration on all kinds of projects through iCloud. Lets face it we have all been stuck on google docs far to long. And while I love the annoynous animals on those, working on something that actually works will be a far better experience.

Final thoughts: in this event Apple leveled the iPad models. They made it so essentially the only difference between an Air and a Mini is the screen size. I believe this shows that they are not interested in making cheap products, they are interested in making great products that people will use. They know that people want different sizes of tablets and they also know that people want the same power out of a Mini that they get from an Air, so they have made that the case.
They have essentially said that they will not make a cheaper product, but if you want something that costs less they will sell you an older excellent product at a lower price. Which is fine by me because Apple's "old" products are still leaps and bounds ahead of any of the competition. Why? Because Apple designs with the consumer in mind from the beginning and they only bring to market those products that are the very best quality.
Unlike companies like Samsung who rush as many different products to market as they can hoping that somebody will like some of them. This is why Android products feel outdated so fast, they were not designed with you in mind to begin with. Contrast that with the iPad 2 which I still see being used by people everywhere everyday and which Apple can continue to sell because it was such an amazing product to begin with.

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Thanks for reading, and remember, live better.

College Apps: What about Microsoft Office on the iPad?

Note: This post was written before Microsoft released Office for iPad. I still stand by what I wrote here though, and you can read my thoughts on office for iPad in this post.

Now let's answer that crucial question:

 

What about Office?

If you have lived on this planet anytime since 1998 chances are you've been wound up in the world of Microsoft office. Unfortunately our world seems to run on this bloated suite of software, and if all you have is an iPad your going to run into trouble right off the bat. For some odd reason Microsoft has never decided to bless the most popular tablet in the world with its good graces. Although a couple months back they did decide to make a stupid Office version for iPhone, available only to 365 subscribers. There's some typical Redmond innovation for you.

The good news is that if the iPad has taught the us anything it is that we don't need Microsoft, or Office, anymore. There have been a number of Office competitors released for the iPad since its creation, personally I prefer Apple's own suite:
iWork Suite -- it turns out that for years Apple has been making a suite that is as good if not better than the three basic Microsoft Office offerings. They can be had for a much lower cost as well. The best part is that they allow exporting in all of the MS Office file formats, making it easy for you to share files with you unenlightened classmates and teachers.

• Pages -- is a breath of fresh air after years of the tortuous experience of MS word for years. The iPad version is clean and easy to use. 
• Numbers -- is an excellent, easy to use, spreadsheet program. But, as I said earlier, it is the area of iWork that is the most lacking to advanced users. However, that type of advanced work is really best done on a computer still, the iPad just isn't ready for it yet. 
• Keynote -- has been Apple's strongest iWork offering on the Mac offering a much more intuitive experience than MS PowerPoint. On the iPad it has seen a little bit of trouble with issues entering text, but it is still the most robust presentation software out there for a mobile device.

iCloud -- there is even more good news for students going iPad only at college. Apple has recently rolled out the iWork suite to iCloud. This means that if you choose to save your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations to iCloud you can access and edit them from any computer with a web browser. Since most students have access to school computer labs this is the perfect solution for those times when you need more screen space or a large keyboard. 

There you have it, the easy way to leave Microsoft Office behind and just use your iPad. If you have found any other apps that make good substitutes I would like to hear about them. Tweet at me or leave a comment. I would especially like to hear if you've got good substitutes for the less known portions of Office.

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Thanks for reading, and remember, live better (you can start by not using Office anymore).

Update on 9/10/13: Apple has just said that all new iOS devices get iWork for free! So now there is really no reason to care one bit about office.

Parental Controls Part 2

With Apple's recent announcement at WWDC that they will be making it easier to find kid appropriate apps in the app store I thought it might be time to revisit the Parental Controls and go over the items I did not cover in part 1.

Again go to Settings > General > Restrictions. If you have already set up restrictions then you will have to enter your restrictions pass code. We will pick up where we left off in part 1.

Privacy Settings (red box)
There are a number of options here as you can see in the screen shot.


When you click on any of these items you will have two options (orange circle):

• Allow Changes
• Don't Allow Changes

If you have children primarily using the device you probably want to toggle all of these to "Don't Allow Changes." The reason is that many apps will ask on launch if they can access such things as Location, Contacts, Photos, etc. All the child has to do is click yes and its done. Location services is probably the biggest one here because there are many apps, particularly free apps that advertise that will ask for your location but do not need it for anything having to do with the app.


You will also see a list of all the apps that currently have access to that setting or account. In this case this is my Twitter and we can see that both the Twitter and Flipboard apps have access to my twitter account. I can toggle these permissions on or off.

It is a good idea, even if you do not have children, to go through this list and see what permissions you have given out to apps, you might be surprised what apps are trying to track you. If an app does not have a good reason for accessing this information then turn it off. For example I need Weathercube to know my location so it can give me the proper weather, but I do not need Fruit Ninja to know my location because it is just a game.

Allow Changes (yellow box)
This is the name of the next section for some odd reason, don't ask me why because that is the same thing we were doing before.
This allows you to restrict the changing of "Accounts" which means email, calendar, and contacts accounts. Setting this just means that if you have you device hooked up with your iCloud, or Gmail account your children won't be able to delete it, it also means that they will not be able to set up syncing with some other account.




The "Volume Limit" can be a little confusing. You cannot actually set the volume limit here, you can only choose wether or not that limit can be changed. To actually set the volume limit go to Setting > Music (green arrow).
This is important because especially with young children you do not want them putting the volume up too loud and damaging there ears. So you may want to set a volume limit and then select Don't Allow Changes here.

Game Center (blue box)
The last section just has to toggle switches. You can choose not to allow multiplayer games through game center and to not allow the adding of game center friends. This is just a way to keep your children from accidentally encountering an online predator through game center.

Well that is it for restrictions. There is one more parental control item that deserves its own post to explain so I will be getting to that later. Please make sure you take the simple steps you need to to protect your children on an iOS device. If you have not already read Part 1 you may want to do so.


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Thanks for reading, and remember, live better

Initial Thoughts on WWDC

Well as we expected WWDC has brought some big changes for the iPad. Yesterday I was able to watch the first half of Apple's Keynote, then I had to go to class after which I immediately had to go to work for the rest of the afternoon. You can imagine how antsy I was all the rest of the day, since the part that I missed included the announcement of iOS 7.

Since then I have watched some more of the Keynote and read several other articles summarizing it. And I have to say that my first thoughts are that I am very excited, but then I always am after an Apple announcement. However I am also a little sad. Here are a couple of my thoughts.

Excitement
iOS 7 and OSX Maverick are really exciting. The improvements that they have made look fantastic and are bringing some functionality that a lot of us have been waiting for a long time.

Control Center
This is probably the one I am most excited about. To be able to access those essentials immediately from anywhere on the device. For those of us using bluetooth keyboard, or another bluetooth device frequently, this is great because you no longer will have to search for the bluetooth in the settings app. I wish they would let us choose what apps are available here but it doesn't look like that is coming yet.

Air Drop
I think this is really going to useful. It will be so much easier to use Air Drop between devices rather than having to email it or upload and download from Dropbox or iCloud. Especially if you have multiple Apple products in your home this will make it much easier. I really liked the dig at Samsung about bumping your phone as well.

Multitasking
So the new interface looks very nice for multitasking. I love the part where you swipe up to close out an app, none of this hold down for a second. I do wish they had announced a close all apps option though. But the best thing about this is the smart use of battery power to open apps when needed and not when they aren't needed. I am excited for that.

Notification Sync
This is something I am very pleased to see, but it really should have come with notification center last year. I get very tired of having multiple notifications that I have to clear everywhere (particularly in Calendar). This will be very nice.

Sorrow
There were a few things that made me sad, because the march of progress sometimes has to leave things behind.

Skeuomorphism 
Jony Ive is the king of design, and I love a lot of what he has done in iOS 7. It looks really beautiful from what Apple has shown us. But I am one of those who mourns the loss of the skeuomorphic design that Steve Jobs liked so much. But I'm sure I will get over fine, and I won't have to get over it completely, which leads to my next point...

Dropping the iPod Touch 4th gen
While I noted this might happen in my 5th gen post, I was really hoping that it wouldn't. However, I know that it is probably for the best, since it is unlikely that my little 8-gig touch with A4 processor could handle the update. I understand that it is better to drop devices than to have them become very buggy, which is what happened to the 2nd gen with iOS 4; it was just a bad deal. Of course this also means that everybody on the 3GS will also be dropped. Just because we understand does not mean we like it. Looks like I might be joining the jailbreak community.

Auto updating apps
I know some people, particularly the crowd at the Keynote were very excited about this, but I am not. There are many times when you might not want to update to the newest version of an app. For example I don't always update right away because I want to see if there is another release the next day to clear up bugs discovered by those who did update. Or if you are the type of person like me who might use an older device, say when iOS 9 is coming out in a couple years and the iPhone 4 is dropped, that won't be fun because all your apps will try to auto update to versions requiring the newest OS, that's going to make it pretty much useless. Here's hoping you can turn this feature off.

Let me know what your favorite things from the WWDC keynote are, leave a comment below or Tweet to @halduauthor



Those are just a few of my thoughts, I'm sure I will have many more as we approach and then actually recieve the release.

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