WWDC 2025 is simply across the nook. The occasion is taken into account one of the vital necessary within the tech world, as Apple reveals its plans for the way forward for every of its machine platforms.
WWDC has by no means simply been about new options. It’s the place Apple units the course for its platforms and, typically, your entire business. These bulletins proceed to outline how we work together with know-how. Whereas we look ahead to the keynote to kick off on June 9, let’s look again at 10 of the most important software program bulletins Apple made at its developer convention.
1. Mac OS X Jaguar (WWDC 2002)
Jaguar was the second main replace launched for the Mac working system after Apple transitioned from the basic Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X. Introduced at WWDC 2002, the replace stood out not just for its enhancements but additionally for its massive cat-inspired title.
When you’ve been following Apple for a very long time, you in all probability know that every model of Mac OS X was named after a feline, similar to Leopard and Lion. This started with Apple engineers giving the inner codenames “Cheetah” and “Puma” to Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1, respectively, however the public didn’t know that.
Apparently, Steve Jobs preferred the inner names a lot that Apple determined to make use of them to advertise Mac OS X, with Mac OS X 10.2 “Jaguar” the primary to be introduced with feline branding. It wasn’t simply the title, although. Jaguar was additionally a serious improve when it got here to options, because it launched GPU-accelerated graphics for the primary time with Quartz Excessive, which additionally allowed Apple to refine the system interface with smoother animations.
Apple
2. Highlight (WWDC 2004)
Trying to find one thing with Highlight on an Apple machine appears so apparent these days, however looking for your recordsdata on a pc years in the past might be a protracted and tough process.
At WWDC 2004, Apple unveiled Highlight as certainly one of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger’s marquee options. Not like different search strategies that existed earlier than, Highlight listed all the information on the pc in order that customers might simply and rapidly discover something they wanted. Jobs wowed your entire viewers with a reside demo of Highlight, because it not solely situated recordsdata, but additionally looked for paperwork, emails, contacts, and extra, with customers with the ability to refine their search by specifying a date or file kind.
Highlight has change into a reference for your entire business, and 21 years later, the characteristic continues to be current throughout all of Apple’s units.
3. Dashboard (WWDC 2004)
Additionally unveiled as a part of Mac OS X Tiger, Dashboard launched a completely new secondary desktop that supplied fast entry to widgets. On the time, the concept of getting widgets was a novel one. Customers might do issues like rapidly test the climate forecast and the inventory market at a look with out having to open a selected app.
The devoted Dashboard characteristic was ultimately discontinued by Apple, however widgets reside on not solely in macOS, but additionally in iOS. In truth, the primary variations of Apple’s iPhone apps, similar to Climate and Shares, had been impressed by these authentic Dashboard widgets.
Foundry
4. Time Machine (WWDC 2006)
Introduced at WWDC 2006 as a part of Mac OS X Leopard, Time Machine was Apple’s resolution to make knowledge backup a lot simpler. Whereas previously customers needed to again up their recordsdata and apps manually, Time Machine got here with the promise of doing all of it routinely and periodically.
Greater than that, Apple has additionally launched a cool interface that lets customers “journey again in time” to retrieve earlier variations of recordsdata, emails, and settings in the event that they lose one thing. Time Machine is basically a sensible backup that customers don’t even have to consider.
Time Machine stays certainly one of my favourite Mac options to this present day. All it’s a must to do is plug in an exterior disk to your Mac and allow Time Machine in Settings.
5. iPhone SDK (WWDC 2008)
The primary iPhone was unveiled at Macworld San Francisco in 2007, however do you know that it didn’t have an App Retailer? The one technique to create apps for the iPhone on the time was to construct internet apps appropriate with the cellular model of Safari.
Apple rapidly realized that wasn’t the most effective technique, and at WWDC a 12 months later, Jobs introduced the primary iPhone SDK (the iOS title got here a number of years later). With the SDK, builders had been lastly in a position to create native apps for the iPhone, opening up an entire new world of prospects. The accompanying iPhone OS 2.0 launch additionally included the App Retailer, and the remaining is historical past.
Many apps that everyone knows and love in the present day had been born due to the iPhone OS SDK. This consists of WhatsApp and Instagram, each created by impartial builders who wished to showcase the potential of the iPhone and the App Retailer.
6. iCloud (WWDC 2011)
After many issues with MobileMe, Apple got here up with a brand new on-line service referred to as iCloud – a brand new platform that got here with the promise of not solely fixing what the corporate had performed fallacious previously, but additionally seamlessly syncing knowledge between iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Earlier than iCloud, customers nonetheless wanted a Mac or PC to switch knowledge to an iPhone or iPad, or vice versa. Now, all our knowledge is accessible on each machine, and every little thing occurs routinely within the background. iCloud additionally paved the best way for companies like iCloud Drive, iCloud Images, and Household Sharing.
It’s notable that iCloud was the final Apple product personally launched by Steve Jobs. The Apple co-founder didn’t have a lot stage time at WWDC 2011 as a consequence of his well being situation, and he handed away in October.
Apple
7. iOS 7 (WWDC 2013)
iOS 7 represented probably the most dramatic visible change within the historical past of Apple’s cellular working system so far. At WWDC 2013, Apple unveiled a brand new, fully flat interface underneath the course of Jony Ive. Skeuomorphic components with textures imitating real-life objects gave technique to strong colours and white backgrounds.
The brand new interface didn’t simply rework the look of the iPhone. It led many different builders to additionally undertake the flat interface of their apps and web sites, creating a brand new development not just for Apple platforms however for your entire business. However along with the brand new interface, iOS 7 additionally launched many options which have change into important for iPhone and iPad customers. These embody AirDrop, Management Middle, and improved multitasking.
Since then, Apple has made different adjustments to iOS, however the fundamentals of the design language launched with iOS 7 are nonetheless current all through the system. Based on rumors, Apple will lastly introduce one other main replace to the iOS interface this 12 months with iOS 19—so perhaps we’ll have a brand new addition to this listing.
8. iPadOS (WWDC 2019)
In a transfer to handle the rising divergence between the iPhone and iPad, Apple cut up iOS into two at WWDC 2019 and launched a standalone OS only for the pill. Whereas nonetheless primarily based on iOS, iPadOS added particular and long-awaited options to benefit from the iPad’s bigger display and superior {hardware}.
With iPadOS updates over time, Apple launched multi-windows for a similar app, a desktop-class Safari looking expertise, assist for exterior storage within the Information app, Image-in-Image, mouse and trackpad assist, and the flexibility to make use of the iPad as a Mac show with Sidecar. Experiences say this 12 months’s iPadOS replace will convey higher multitasking and a extra Mac-like expertise.
Foundry
9. Discover My (WWDC 2019)
It didn’t get fairly the eye as iPadOS, however at WWDC 2019, Apple additionally launched a big enchancment to its Discover My service: offline machine monitoring. Based mostly on an end-to-end encrypted Bluetooth sign, the brand new Discover My community permits customers to find iPhones, iPads, and even Macs after they’re not linked to the web.
The iPhone, iPad, or Mac sends its location to different Apple units close by, in order that the proprietor can see the place their units are by way of the Discover My app. This not solely improved Discover My and helped folks recuperate their misplaced units extra simply, but additionally paved the best way for the launch of AirTag, a tiny Bluetooth tracker primarily based on the identical know-how.
10. App Monitoring Transparency (WWDC 2020)
This won’t be as memorable as iOS 7 or Dashboard, however App Monitoring Transparency was an necessary addition to iOS that had a huge effect on the business.
Introduced as a part of iOS 14 at WWDC 2020, Apple’s first pre-recorded occasion in the course of the pandemic, App Monitoring Transparency (ATT) is a privateness characteristic that requires apps to ask for the consumer’s consent earlier than monitoring them throughout different apps and web sites. ATT has dramatically impacted the internet marketing market and knowledge assortment.
Whereas Apple has stood up for consumer privateness with App Monitoring Transparency, the characteristic was extensively criticized by corporations, together with Meta, whose fundamental income comes from ads reliant on consumer knowledge.
