WWDC 2022 — new report says these four big upgrades are coming

WWDC 2021 — new report says these four big upgrades are coming

WWDC 2021 — new report says these are four biggest upgrades

(Prototype credit: Shutterstock)

Apple is planning to reveal changes to four key $.25 of software at next calendar week's Worldwide Programmer Briefing, with Safari, Health, Maps and iMessage all set for special treatment.

That's according to the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern, who tweeted that the quartet would all exist getting "big updates," and that these would be appear at WWDC 2021. Obviously, this is far from an exhaustive list of what to expect when the conference kicks off on Monday (June 7), but given that all four are arguably a footling undercooked compared to their main rivals, it certainly makes sense.

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The Health updates will be worth paying special attending to, considering they may well requite us an indication of what to await from the upcoming Apple Watch 7. Nosotros've heard that blood glucose tracking may finally be on the manner (though perhaps not this year), and it will be interesting to meet if other health metrics are added to the overall package.

On a more than basic level, one rumor suggests that food tracking will be added to the app to brand information technology more of a rival to MyFitnessPal.

Speaking of rival apps, it would exist a good time for Apple to show that iMessage hasn't been forgotten, as Facebook continues to deal with the fallout of its WhatsApp privacy changes.

Apple has obviously made a large play on privacy of belatedly, just other quality-of-life improvements such equally improved iCloud syncing and a better way of searching former messages would be welcome, and could requite users more than reason to make Apple's solution their main way of communicating. Given the WWDC hashflag on Twitter has a picayune iMessage thumbs upward logo, we may see a lot of changes here.

On the subject field of privacy, this could be where Apple finds the biggest wins in terms of improvements to Safari. In contempo years, the company has implemented a bunch of changes to prevent unnecessary user tracking, such as the Sign in with Apple feature that lets people sign up to websites with disposable addresses. Continuing this approach could put clear water between Safari and Chrome, and encourage non-Mac users to make the switch.

iOS 14.5 Maps update — (Image credit: Tom'southward Guide)

Finally, there's Apple tree Maps, which remains a long way adrift of Google's offer. Here, information technology should be less nigh breaking new ground and more about improving the feature set that'south already present, although once once again the company could make a big play on keeping user data private, given the current headlines Google is getting almost location sharing on Android.

Stern herself says that there volition be "bigger stuff" to come, and notes that these iv apps are simply the ones that she has confirmed via her sources.

We're certainly expecting a lot more to exist revealed in the keynote on Monday and throughout the post-obit days. Among them, we predict plenty of item nearly iPadOS 15, including the potential addition of home screen widgets as iPhones received with iOS fourteen, a first proper look at macOS 12, and info on tvOS 15. New hardware is too a distinct possibility, with a MacBook Pro 2021 in 14- and 16-inch versions tipped for a big reveal next week.

For more on our software and hardware predictions for the upcoming festivities, be sure to read our total WWDC 2021 preview, and if y'all want to follow it live you can also cheque out our How to lookout WWDC 2021 guide.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine besides. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth fourth dimension.