After releasing around 7 beta versions, Apple finally launched iOS 14 at WWDC20. Though this news got the consumers exciting, the developers didn’t seem to be too excited with the announcement.
In fact, iOS developers were only left disappointed as a major chunk of them felt that the announcement was sudden and uninformed. It’s been a ritual for Apple to launch the Golden Master to its developers a week before the launch of any of its operating system versions. With this Golden Master version, developers could test their apps, fix bugs and get it all decked up for final release. But this never happened with iOS 14. This sudden reveal did not sit well with iOS developers around the world.
But what good can disappointment do anyway?
As developers, it’s on us to move on and continue to develop stunning apps. If you’re a developer, the new launch requires revisiting some of our iOS app development practices and strategies.
To get an idea of what the new changes are, here’s an iOS 14 features list for developers.
What’s New?
App Library
The all new App Library is the first in our iOS 14 features for developers. With this, iOS users finally have the option to do away with their redundant home screens and customize them based on their preferences. With the new App Library feature, users can now group similar apps together and move them into one folder for easy access. The new feature also allows users to remove specific apps from home screen or screens entirely.
Also Read: Reasons to update mobile apps running on iOS and Android
Intuitive Widgets
Widgets that were sitting idly on the Today screen have now been given the power to be moved to the home screen. They can pack in more information now and can be enlarged or minimized in size as well. Also, there is a smart stack feature that lets users swipe through some of their most used widgets and automatically set the ones they would mostly need for the day.
Picture-in-Picture
This feature allows users to run apps such as video streaming services, video calls and more within another screen or application. This means they can continue doing what they want to while engaging in another activity. Users can move the box around for more convenience as well.
Default Email Client Modification
From being able to use only Safari or Mail, the all new iOS version allows users to change email and browser clients to the ones they prefer.
Siri’s New UI
Siri will no longer take up the entire screen of the iOS device when opened. Instead, a small blob at the end of the screen will appear, making the UI cleaner and more likeable. Siri will also pull up rich information that will appear as notifications. Siri can also now tell cycling directions, record and send voice notes and do more.
More Augmented Reality
With the ARKit 4, developers can drop location anchors for AR objects to fill places for immersive experiences. Facial tracking can also be seamlessly done by iOS devices with A12 Bionic chips. Also, a new Depth API module enables the development of 3D mesh surroundings and on iPad Pro (with LiDAR scanners), developers can build per-pixel depth information.
Optimized Accessibility
There are tons of accessibility features on iOS 14. There’s the Voiceover feature that dictates key screen elements, text, text embedded on images and graphics, interface controls, web results and more.
There is also a feature that amplifies volumes of videos, podcasts, music, phone calls and more depending on a user’s hearing abilities.
Sign language can now be detected by FaceTime and make people communicating through sign language more prominent on calls.
iOS 14 can now detect ambient sounds like fire alarms, sirens, doorbells and more and send out notifications on screen to users who are wired and aren’t aware of environmental sounds.
Enhanced Group Messaging
The enhanced group messaging feature now allows users to see the pictures of every member in a group and view them in their order of online activity. They can also send in-line messages, direct a message to a specific member and set a view-only notification when your name is mentioned.
Apart from group messaging, users can now pin up to 9 conversations on their messaging screen. This is really helpful to people who frequently get OTPs and verification messages from businesses.
Improvements In Maps
Maps has received a lot of new and useful upgrades. The best feature to be accommodated is the one with privacy at its fulcrum. With the new update, users can choose to send approximate location details and not their precise location.
Also, it can now show cycling directions to users and offer precise details on bike lanes, stairs and elevation changes. Speed and red-light cameras will be shown on Maps and it will also make navigating through congestion easier by suggesting alternate routes.
Besides, users who own an electric vehicle can pair their vehicle with the Maps and see extensive details like remaining charge, charging stations nearby and more.
Lastly, people visiting a new city or country can also check out popular places of interests and things to do with the new Guide feature of Maps.
Upgraded App Store
The new App Store is designed to offer the most relevant and most-sought information to users such as ratings, reviews, standout features of apps, category, controller support and more. Families can now share their App Store subscriptions among their family members. For the gamers out there, they can now see on Game Center what their friends play and check out their profiles.
Privacy Updates
With iOS 14, developers now have to seek explicit permission from their users to track data. Through the new framework called App Tracking Transparency, developers need to ask before they display targeted advertisements, share user data with 3rd party applications or businesses and use 3rd party analytics systems that transfer data for campaign assessment procedures.
On the other hand, developers need not seek permission for data that never gets transmitted out from their phones and for the data that is deployed for security and fraud prevention purposes.
iOS 14 Compatibility
Like always, iOS 14 is available to users for free. Latest models like all the new iPhone 12 variants are powered by iOS 14 by default. Users owning older models can download iOS 14 and install it on devices from iPhone 6 and later. IOS 14 is also compatible with 7th generation iPod Touch
iOS App Development For Businesses And User Experience
The launch of iOS 14 marks new changes to previously existing development strategies and practices. For businesses, the new update brings in a few hiccups with users having to manually accept for data sharing. But from a user experience perspective, the new update is built for convenience and solid privacy. Several minor updates have been made to make the use of the iPhone more seamless in everyday life.
Wrapping Up
How could something be so dramatic, surprising and disappointing at the same time? Well, iOS 14 has all the answers. To all the developers out there, let’s make a note of these changes and updates and tweak our apps accordingly. What do you think?
