Apps

Here are the best WWDC 2024 features you missed

Comment

Image Credits: Apple

Apple announced a number of new features and updates onstage during its keynote address at WWDC 2024, including updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, VisionOS and the introduction of Apple Intelligence.

Now that people are using developer betas and exploring the sessions at the event, more features that were not announced onstage are surfacing. Remember that only certain devices will be compatible with iOS 18 when it’s released later in the fall. Here is a non-exhaustive list of those features.

Updates to Messages app

  • Apple didn’t mention the support of Rich Messaging Service (RCS) onstage, but it briefly showed the feature in a tile while showing the iOS feature collage. RCS support means that Android users will be able to send and receive high-quality media while chatting with their friends using Apple products. RCS will also enable typing indicators and read receipts. However, all RCS-enabled messages will still be green bubbles — so that battle is not over.
Image Credits: Apple
  • Another messaging-related update is that on iOS 18, you can see who hit tapback on which emoji.
  • Plus, you can add text effects to emoji while sending them.

iOS 18 offers new design aspects

  • Users have the option to hide icon text by making them large through the customization menu.
  • Apple has said that it will provide an API to developers to customize app icon tints.
  • iOS 18 allows users to swap out lock screen action buttons. Through API-based integrations, developers can now get users to access their camera apps directly from the lock screen — in a way making them the default camera app.
  • Safari has a new tab group creation UI when you swipe right from the tab switcher screen.
  • A device requesting Bluetooth permission has a new UI displaying the map with the current location of the device.

Some settings in iOS 18 have been updated

  • Apple launched the new Control Center with a multi-page interface and better customization. Along with that, the company added a useful button to turn off the device directly. So, users don’t have to long-press the power + volume button.
Image Credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch
  • There is a new Apps menu in Settings, which replaces all listed apps on the main page.
Image Credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch
  • Search in settings now shows Spotlight-style suggestions.
Image Credits: Screenshot by TechCrunch
  • Apple has said that there will be Mobile device management (MDM) controls for admins to turn off AI-powered features such as ChatGPT and Math Notes.
  • The iCloud page in settings has a new design.
Image Credits: Screenshot by TechCrunch

Language and input updates

  • Multilingual keyboards are a new feature now. This means you can type in multiple scripts and languages without changing keyboards.
  • Live Text now supports Arabic.
Image Credit: Apple
  • Apple is adding inline completions in French and Spanish.
  • The company has added Hindi as a language option in the translation app.

Utility

  • The Weather app has a new Home and Work location setting.
  • The Weather app shows a visual graph of Actual versus “Feels like” temperatures. Plus, there is a visual indicator of how much “Feels like” is making a difference from the actual temperature in the main app.
Image Credits: Screenshot by TechCrunch
  • The Voice Memo app will let you record in stereo.
Image Credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch
  • You can now define the recommended charging limit in the settings.
  • The new update will tell you if you are connected to a slow charger.
  • Calendar now has a multi-day and list view to easily give you an idea about upcoming events.
  • You can pinch to zoom on the Calender app’s monthly view to look at your schedule at a glance.
  • The Notes app finally lets you assign different colors to the text.
  • You can now share Wi-Fi credentials as a QR code through the new password app.

Photos app gets a makeover

  • The Photos app now has a wallpaper suggestions album.
  • There are new utility types in the Photos app, including Receipts, Handwriting, QR Codes, Documents and Map Illustrations. Along with this, there are other categories such as Recently Viewed, Recently Edited and Recently Shared.
  • The edit button for a photo has been moved to the bottom bar from the top right.
Image Credits: Screenshot by TechCrunch

More accessibility features

  • iOS 18 now has motion cues with dots on the screen to reduce motion sickness while sitting in a vehicle.
  • The new update also lets people set Eye Tracking so they can control devices through eye movement.
  • iOS 18 allows you to define vocal shortcuts. That means when you speak a custom phrase, your iPhone will perform an action related to that. For example, you can define a phrase to go to the home screen, open the camera, trigger a shortcut or invoke a Siri request.
Image Credit: Apple
  • Additionally, you can define sound actions through the Touch menu to map actions to sounds like Click, Cluck, Eh, La, oo, and Sh.
  • iOS 18 will allow users to experience music through haptics such as taps, textures and refined vibrations that match the track’s audio.

This is probably just a set of features that people using the beta in the early days, including us, have found. We will keep updating this story as more features crop up.

If you want to highlight some features found in the developer betas of the new Apple platform updates, you can reach out to this reporter at im@ivanmehta.com.

More TechCrunch

Fisker is just a few days into its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the fight over its assets is already charged, with one lawyer claiming the startup has been liquidating assets…

The fight over Fisker’s assets is already heating up

A hacker is advertising customer data allegedly stolen from the Australia-based live events and ticketing company TEG on a well-known hacking forum. On Thursday, a hacker put up for sale…

Hacker claims to have 30 million customer records from Australian ticket seller giant TEG

Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje‘s weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Elon…

Tesla makes Musk best-paid CEO of all time and Fisker bites the dust

Dot is a new AI companion and chatbot that thrives on getting to know your innermost thoughts and feelings.

Dot’s AI really, really wants to get to know you

The e-fuels startup is working on producing fuel for aviation and maritime shipping using carbon dioxide and other waste carbon streams.

E-fuels startup Aether Fuels is raising $34.3 million, per filing

Fisker was facing “potential financial distress” as early as last August, according to a new filing in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, which the EV startup initiated earlier this week.…

Fisker faced financial distress as early as last August

Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, has agreed to pay a $112,500 fine for failing to provide full information about an accident involving one of its robotaxis last year.…

Cruise clears key hurdle to getting robotaxis back on roads in California

Feel Therapeutics has a pretty original deck, with some twists we rarely see; the company did a great job telling the overall story.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Feel Therapeutics’ $3.5M seed deck

The Rockset buy fits into OpenAI’s broader recent strategy of investing heavily in its enterprise sales and tech orgs.

OpenAI buys Rockset to bolster its enterprise AI

The U.S. government announced sanctions against 12 executives and senior leaders of the Russia-based cybersecurity giant Kaspersky. In a press release, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets…

US government sanctions Kaspersky executives

Style DNA, an AI-powered fashion stylist app, creates a personalized style profile from a single selfie. The app is particularly useful for people interested in seasonal color analysis, a process…

Style DNA gets a generative AI chatbot that suggests outfit ideas based on your color type

Rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts are surging among U.S. teens. A recent report from the Center of Disease Control found that nearly one in three girls have seriously…

Khosla-backed Marble, built by former Headway founders, offers affordable group therapy for teens

Cover says what sets it apart is the underlying technology it employs, which has been exclusively licensed from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

A new startup from Figure’s founder is licensing NASA tech in a bid to curb school shootings

Spotify is introducing a new “Basic” streaming plan in the United States, the company announced on Friday. The new plan costs $10.99 per month and includes all of the benefits…

Spotify launches a new Basic streaming plan in the US

Photographers say the social media giant is applying a ‘Made with AI’ label to photos they took, causing confusion for users.

Meta is tagging real photos as ‘Made with AI,’ say photographers

Website building platform Squarespace is selling Tock, its restaurant reservation service, to American Express in a deal worth $400 million — the exact figure that Squarespace paid for the service…

Squarespace sells restaurant reservation system Tock to American Express for $400M

Featured Article

Change Healthcare confirms ransomware hackers stole medical records on a ‘substantial proportion’ of Americans

The February ransomware attack on UHG-owned Change Healthcare stands as one of the largest-ever known digital thefts of U.S. medical records.

20 hours ago
Change Healthcare confirms ransomware hackers stole medical records on a ‘substantial proportion’ of Americans

Google said today that it globally paused its experiment that aimed to allow new kinds of real-money games on the Play Store, citing the challenges that come with the lack…

Google pauses its experiment to expand real-money games on the Play Store

Venture firms raised $9.3 billion in Q1 according to PitchBook data, which means this year likely won’t match or surpass 2023’s $81.8 billion total. While emerging managers are feeling the…

Kevin Hartz’s A* raises its second oversubscribed fund in three years

Google is making reviews of all your movies, TV shows, books, albums and games visible under one profile page starting June 24, according to an email sent to users last…

Google is making your movie and TV reviews visible under a new profile page

Zepto, an Indian quick commerce startup, has more than doubled its valuation to $3.6 billion in a new funding round of $665 million.

Zepto, a 10-minute delivery app, raises $665M at $3.6B valuation

Speak, the AI-powered language learning app, has raised new money from investors at double its previous valuation.

Language learning app Speak nets $20M, doubles valuation

SpaceX unveiled Starlink Mini, a more portable version of its satellite internet product that is small enough to fit inside a backpack.  Early Starlink customers were invited to purchase the…

SpaceX debuts portable Starlink Mini for $599

Ali Rathod-Papier has stepped down from her role as global head of compliance at corporate card expense management startup Brex to join venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as a partner…

Brex’s compliance head has left the fintech startup to join Andreessen Horowitz as a partner

U.S. officials imposed the “first of its kind” ban arguing that Kaspersky threatens U.S. national security because of its links to Russia.

US bans sale of Kaspersky software citing security risk from Russia 

Apple has released Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Camera, the company announced on Thursday. Both apps were previously announced during the company’s iPad event in May.…

Apple releases Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Camera

Paris has quickly established itself as a major European center for AI startups, and now another big deal is in the works.

Poolside is raising $400M+ at a $2B valuation to build a supercharged coding co-pilot

The space industry is all abuzz about how SpaceX’s Starship, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, and other heavy-lift rockets will change just about everything. One likely consequence is that spacecraft will…

Gravitics prepares a testing gauntlet for a new generation of giant spacecraft

LTK (formerly LiketoKnow.it and RewardStyle), the influencer shopping app with 40 million monthly users, announced on Thursday the launch of a free direct message tool for creators to instantly share…

Influencer shopping app LTK gets an automatic direct message tool

YouTube appears to be taking a firm stance against Premium subscribers who attempt to use a VPN (virtual private network) to access cheaper subscription prices in other countries. This week,…

YouTube confirms crackdown on VPN users accessing cheaper Premium plans