Every year, WWDC is one of the most anticipated days for tens of thousands of developers, because at this time of year, Apple will release the latest technology and software updates. This year, I participated in the Swift Student Challenge, an affiliated event of WWDC24, and successfully became one of the 350 winners of SSC with my work, and got the opportunity to enter ApplePark to participate in the WWDC24 event.
With my excitement, I swiped my card and stepped into the magnificent ApplePark.
Apple Park, this palace of modern technology, stands in the heart of Silicon Valley like the light and shadow of a future city. Its architectural outline is round like a spaceship, perfectly showing the ultimate fusion of simplicity and technology. The glass curtain walls surrounding it reflect the bright sunshine and changing cloud shadows of California, as if it is an oasis in a dream.
The atrium garden is full of greenery, thousands of pear trees are in bloom, and the faint sound of flowing water and the whisper of the wind among the flowers add a bit of natural tenderness to this holy land of technology. This is not only the birthplace of technological innovation, but also the perfect combination of nature and humanity, reflecting the ideal of harmonious coexistence between man and environment.
Walking into Apple Park is like stepping into the door of the future world. Every wall and every window shows Apple's extreme pursuit of details and unremitting exploration of beauty. Here, technology and art blend, innovation and tradition dialogue, and every design is an imagination of the future.
Apple Park is not just a building, it is a stage for dreams, a gathering place for wisdom and creativity, and a starting point for exploring the unknown. Here, every step is at the forefront of time, and every thought may change the world.
This event is full of stars, not only the famous video bloggers on the Internet or the bigwigs of the company like Sam Altman, but also gathered together to participate in this annual feast for developers. The scene was crowded with people, full of impatience and expectation. After arriving at the venue and having breakfast, I went to the back row of seats and met many influential video bloggers on domestic platforms, such as "Film and Television Hurricane", and had a brief exchange. I went to the seat area belonging to SSC winners. Fortunately, our seats were behind the VIP (Enterprise Guest) area, and the area in front belonged to technology giants such as Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, etc. After taking our seats, we waited for the conference to begin.
The event introduced a series of stunning new features and characteristics. For VisionOS2, updates included improvements to Spatial Photos and the ability to turn ordinary photos into Spatial photos. VisionOS2 also enhanced gesture recognition and added a travel mode; developers were excited about new APIs and frameworks like the volumetric api series, which will need further exploration.
For iOS18, the update changed the layout and display of the Home screen and enhanced the expandability of the Control Center. Apple's focus on privacy was elevated again, adding hiding options for apps, contacts, and devices. New iMessage features like the much-anticipated "send later" and the ability to send messages via satellite received a lot of applause. There were many other innovative features.
On WatchOS11, new functionalities like effort rating were added, and it made Apple Pay on iWatch more convenient, along with opening more APIs.
For iPadOS18, new features included floating tabs, now available as APIs. The most cheered addition was the calculator finally available on iPad, alongside Math Note, which allows you to write expressions with a pencil. The calculator recognizes these and supports variables, changing the results in real time and featuring an automatic real-time graph generator. Smart script was added to refine people’s handwriting while keeping the font style intact.
For macOS Sequoia, new features included iPhone mirroring on Mac, allowing interaction with phone apps even when the iPhone is locked. There were updates to Keychain settings for enhanced security and convenience, improved Safari functions, and a game porting toolkit2 for developers to more easily bring Mac games to iPad and iPhone.
The highlight and most thrilling part was Apple Intelligence! It redefined AI to be more personalized while maximally protecting privacy, spanning across all apps and even comparing with free services like ChatGPT 4.0 to deliver more comprehensive results. Major upgrades to Siri made it more natural, relevant, and personal, allowing users to type to Siri or switch between typing and talking. Siri also gained in-app functionality and cross-app capabilities, with new features included in the App Intent API.
Interesting features included Genmoji, which lets you create your own emoji, and major upgrades to image editing tools in the Photos app. Impressively, Notes can now transcribe phone calls in real-time.
For developers, this includes:
* SDK: image playground, writing tool
* SiriKit
* App Intent
* AI to Xcode
WWDC24 broadened my horizons, sparked my interest, and importantly, allowed me to meet incredible developers and build a small network. I saw how a community is built. This motivates me to work harder and I hope to return in the coming years!
