The Future of iOS

Let’s start off by allaying thoughts about how the ultimate goal of ios app development is to become OS X, which is preposterous, seeing that it’s main aim is to be its own thing, and better than ever, not a game of catchup with OS X.

We see plenty of people who are seemingly more confident with their smartphones than their computers, partially because they get all clammy and feverish when faced with the task of organising stuff on their computer. These very same frail creatures turn into Merlins when presented with their smartphones, posting on a plethora of social media channels, navigating to city hotspots, and hailing taxis with apps. So we could say that iOS is catering to a segment of the population that isn’t so OS X savvy.

For years, it seemed like one’s Mac(book) was the hub of their life, but now it’s the iPhone because of the increased emphasis on convenience, and El Capitan helps make it happen. Users have been able to sync their data and content across their Apple devices, and use their favourite apps the same way across the board as well. Developers have found that it’s become easier to build apps for every screen and platform, with the notable difference being the interface.

Widgets

Something that Android apps has long offered to its consumers, widgets are simply windows to larger apps, difference being Android widgets can be found on the home screen but Apple’s Today screen is buried in its interface, and most of its deserved buzz is seemingly buried too. While developers can put up practically anything in widgets, users can perform simple gestures like checking into locations and sieving through daily headlines. This should be an area that will see some headway in the future to encourage adoption and take away another reason to use Android.

Interactive Notifications

Apple has allowed notifications to evolve from being traditional broadcasts to two-way conversations which can facilitate something as simple as being able to accept a calendar invite or interact with a friend’s status update without the need to even get onto the corresponding app. While it is still early days, there have been signs that companies have been taking advantage of this inspiration, and they mostly hail from calendar, navigation, and fitness apps.

More powerful apps

While there have been pretty formidable apps on the iPad, it has not really been possible to develop apps that have the capacity to replace popular desktop applications like Adobe Photoshop because of screen constraints. The iPad Pro should be able to dispel such notions, with its big enough screen and further accompaniment from the Apple pencil.

In other news

If recent versions of iOS are to be any indicator, their references to Li-Fi should ripple the waters, being experimental high-speed wireless networking protocol which engages pulses of light in a bid to transmit data and eventually poise itself to take over Wi-Fi. With modulations of a light source, data is transmitted and received with a light sensor, which is then reconstructed into an electronic signal. What this means is that, the same bulb that you switch on in your hallway can serve a dual purpose in the future, which is to behave as a data access point, with theoretical throughput capacities of up to 224 gigabits per second.

So you see

the real challenge for Apple in the foreseeable future really actually lies not with its developers, but in teaching its consumers how much functionality lies outside their app icons.

Photo: appadvice.com