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title	description	author	date
WWDC 2022 thoughts	Cheers, “mehs,” and jeers from today’s Keynote at Apple’s latest Worldwide Developers Conference.	Bryce Wray	2022-06-06 14:49:00 -0500

As I joked (sort of) earlier today on Twitter and Mastodon:

{{< stweet user="BryceWrayTX" id="1533830520030765057" >}}

So, now, here are this Apple fanboy's initial takes on what that event revealed.

Cheers

At long last, my wife and I will be able to share our iCloud-based photos automatically. Here's what the Apple website says about it:

Share photos and videos seamlessly with up to five other people, so everyone can collaborate on the family’s collection and enjoy more complete memories. With iCloud Shared Photo Library, family memories are in one place for everyone to enjoy at any time, even if you’re not the one who snapped the shot or edited the photo.

So, it appears, I'll finally be able to kick Google Photos to the curb. That announcement provoked a loud "Yes!" and a fist-pump from me.¹

Another "at long last": there will be an Apple Weather app on iPadOS.

We'll be able to edit or retract a just-sent text in Messages? Cool.

The new M2-equipped MacBook Air will go like the proverbial hotcakes. It's an awesome little package. (And, fortunately, Apple didn't go with the pastel color choices that had been rumored. Pink and purple MacBooks, the world doesn't need. Sorry, kids.)

"Mehs"

I've never cared one way or the other about macOS version names. Ventura? Fine. I'd just as soon Apple would go with numerical names across all its various OSs. These location-based version names made sense when macOS was "OS X" and each annual release was v.10-dot-something, but both ceased to be true years ago.

Hmm: there are two M2-based MacBooks, and the new-design MacBook Air is only $100 apart from the old-design 13-inch MacBook Pro. Curious positioning, there, Apple.

CarPlay's new multi-screen features look very interesting --- but, if they're not going to be available until late 2023, isn't that going to be a little weird for the supporting car manufacturers? At least, it will be weird if Apple really is going to be making its own car(s). Guess we'll see.

I don't give a flip about AR, so --- unlike many who'd been predicting the announcement of "RealityOS" --- wasn't bothered by its non-presence in this Keynote.

I'm not crazy about this "no-password" movement (in this case, Apple Passkeys), but I also know that Big Tech wants it, so it's inevitable. I am curious just how cross-platform it really can be. Also curious how the 1Passwords and Bitwardens of the world will roll with it. Since it was no secret that Apple, Google, and Microsoft are pushing hard for this, one can reasonably suppose that's why the various password management app makers are making more of a push toward enterprise customers, given that the consumers will gradually follow their devices into the password-less future. (Or not.) Hey, I'd just be glad if businesses all did real two-factor authentication, but I dream big.

Jeers

I was intrigued to see them actually spend some quality time talking about the MacOS Mail app in macOS Ventura, but was crestfallen when the changes didn't address what has long been my biggest problem with it: its weird, non-standard handling of attachments. (That said: the changes that were announced for it, such as undoing a just-done send and scheduling sends for later execution, are also overdue given what other apps have long been able to do).

It's cringe-invoking for Apple to try portraying Safari as still a leading browser just because, years ago, it happened to be a pioneer. Imagine a car company saying, "Yeah, this 2015 model doesn't quite stack up with what our competitors are doing now but boy, howdy, it was a killer in its day." Apple needs to cut Safari loose from the yearly OS updates, just as Microsoft cut Edge loose from the semi-annual Windows updates, and give it a real chance to compete with the Behemoth That Is Chrome. It won't happen, but it should.

Whoever engineered the presentation audio apparently didn't care enough to avoid there being dramatic differences between the presenters' volume and music's volume. As a result, when they'd cut from one presentation to the inevitable music segue, I was blasted out of my chair. Not cool, folks.

Footnotes

1. Important caveat: that assumes that I've understood this announcement correctly. Last year, I was excited to hear about getting own-domain support in iCloud Mail, only to find the real thing had --- and still has --- some show-stoppers that prevented my planned use of it. Am hoping not to be similarly disappointed by the final appearance of the iCloud photo-sharing when it actually becomes available. ↩