Last week, tech journalists from around the world tuned in to watch the 2018 WWDC Keynote conference and be the first to hear Apple’s newest announcements for iOS, watchOS, Apple TV and macOS. Of course, the BIGteam was watching to round up some of the biggest takeaways and advancements from the conference!

Augmented Reality on the iPhone and iPad
Apple announced that one of its goals with iOS 12 is to make augmented reality available for everyone, and they certainly rose to the challenge. Take Apple’s revamped  ARKit app, for example (now called ARKit 2). In this app, users are able to share the same augmented reality on different devices as long as they are pointing their devices at the same AR playground. Apple also created Measure, an app that is able to pick up on and measure simple objects such as a rectangle, or even more complex 3D objects, such as a box.

 
 
 
 
 
Memoji
Facing competition from Bitmoji, Apple decided to create something very similar. Meet Memoji, where you can customize your animojis to look just like you! You can also animate these emojis with your own facial gestures, such as smiling or sticking your tongue out.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Group FaceTime (Finally!)
After years of asking for Group FaceTime, Apple finally delivered! Now you can FaceTime up to 32 people at once, and use funny face filters, Animojis and Memojis all while FaceTiming! This way, you won’t  have to download a third party app to video chat all 32 of your best friends.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Managing your Time
With iOS 12 comes a revamped Do Not Disturb setting. Not only can you program your phone so it won’t display any notifications throughout the night, now you can see how you are spending time on your phone. You can opt to look at your weekly screen report which tells you exactly which apps are getting your attention. You then can set yourself time limits for those apps, and your phone or iPad will remind you when you have reached your daily limit. For example, say you are using Instagram at 9 p.m., a reminder may pop up saying that you have reached your daily Instagram time limit of two hours.
Interactivity on the Apple Watch
The updates to the Apple Watch are focused on the interactiveness of the device, which now allows you to challenge your friends to fitness competitions or even use the new app “walkie-talkie” to chat.

 
 
 
 
 
Dolby Atmos Comes to Apple TV
In last year’s Apple TV update, Apple announced that all available titles would be upgraded to its new HDR viewing system, Apple TV 4K. This year, audio is the one that gets the upgrade. Dolby Atmos, an audio format that moves sound in the 3D space around you, is coming to Apple TV. Your iTunes library will be updated to this format for free on all supported titles.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Mac Goes to the Desert with Mac Mojave
On Mac’s newest operating system, there will be a dark mode that you can use instead of the classic light option. Your desktop will also help you create stacks (almost like a folder) for all your documents and images. For example, if you drag an image from your recent family vacation onto your desktop, it will be added to the correct stack. Additionally, Apple News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home, all traditionally iPhone apps, will be making their way to the big screen in Mojave.

 
 
 
 
 
Privacy
One of Tim Cook’s biggest announcements was that Apple is taking a stand in protecting its users privacy and data. Safari will no longer allow sites to track its users via certain website features, such as comments and “share” or “like” buttons used by Facebook. Mojave will also include updates to privacy. For example, it will now be harder for companies to fingerprint users based on certain identifiers of your device, such as the fonts you may have downloaded or the way your device is configured.
What were your favorite announcements from WWDC? Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us at @BIGfishpr!