This is a regular update my Now page. I publish them as a blog post for archive purposes. You can also view all my past now entries.
It's almost WWDC time. As always, I've already blocked my work calendar so I can watch the keynote live. Also, for the first time, I will be making my wishlist public. For years I've made lists like this one in private on Apple Notes. This year I'm excited that I have my own place to post these and start a sort of series where I can look back each year.
My favorite part of "WWDC season" is listening to the draft/predictions episodes from my favorite podcasts like Connected, Upgrade and App Stories. Β I also enjoy reading other people's wishlists, like this one from Jarrod Blundy. I was impressed on how Jarrod uses a shortcut for adding items throughout the year; a fantastic idea I will undoubtedly borrow.
I want to make clear that this is not a prediction list; they are my most wanted improvements for this year's iPhone, iPad, and Mac software updates. Most are minor quality-of-life updates that have been problems to me throughout the year.
Without further ado, here are my most wanted improvements for this year's lineup of updates:
Update 06/Jun/23 - I went back and added an emoji for the status based on what we know so far. A lot of them are so specific that I guess will remain unknown until I install the Public Beta (I made a promise to myself that I won't install the Developer Beta this year lol) I also made a list of my favorite features announced so make sure to check it out!
iOS
- π Ability to reorder lockscreens like watch faces in watchOS.
- π Add a second row of lockscreen widgets.
- π More homescreen widgets sizes, like a 1x1 icon widget for example.
- π Interactive widgets.
- π Time-based widgets (like Widgetsmith).
- π Allow apps to initiate live activities from other devices without the need to open the app - For example, if I start a timer on my Mac, I want the live activity to show up on the iPhone lock screen.
- πIf I pause the now-playing media, the live activity and dynamic sound should not disappear Β immediately.
- π Fuzzy spotlight search β if I search for a timer in spotlight, the clock app should show up for example.
- Reorder spotlight results (from Jarrod)
- π Weather widget with a neutral background that does not change with the weather.
- π Collaborative playlists in Apple Music β My wife created a playlist for both of us to listen to, but I can't add any music.
- π Dedicated Passwords app.
- π Calendar sets on the calendar app, similar to Fantastical.
- π In the Photos app, allow to hide pics from the main library bit still shows them in albums.
- π Allow me to name dogs similar to people in Photos.
- πIn shared photo libraries, allow to remove a photo someone else added without having to delete it β Currently, you can only remove photos you added yourself.
- π Open in... similar to Mac OS β When clicking on an RSS link, iOS shows a dialog that says Open his page on "app"?. But if you have multiple reading apps installed, you cannot choose the one you want. This should present a list of apps to choose from, similar to MacOS.
- Allow to change widget size without having to remove and add a new one, like in MacOS.
iPad OS
I primarily use my iPad Mini, so I don't care much about the Stage Manager debacle or making the iPad as powerful as MacOS. I mostly care about parity with ioS features and a few quality improvements for my use case.
- π Feature parity with iPhone β Add multiple lockscreens, Live Activities, and lock screen widgets.
- π Sync home screen layouts between multiple iPads, like TvOS syncs app layout between all the Apple Tvs in your home.
- π Add a single-day calendar view with no side column.
- π Improve home screen app layout for iPad mini β Currently there is a lot of extra space in the sides, it could easily fit an extra column/row of apps.
- π Improve how you view/manage multiple windows from an app.
- π Bring back the split-view keyboard.
- π Redesigne Control center Β for iPad to better utilize the screen size of the iPad.
Mac OS
Uff, the Mac is a tricky one because of how flexible it is. Nowadays, you can find third-party apps to customize anything you'd like on the OS. It would be nice if a few of those became native features.
- π Widgets outside of the notification center, maybe on the desktop.
- π Improved window management so I can stop using like 10 different apps to achieve window customizations.
- π Window preview on app switcher like on Microsoft.
- π Portrait sidecar - You can only use a sidecar in Landscape for some reason.
- π Native split-view for apps like safari β similar to how Arc does it.
- π Native focus mode for apps where they hide all the menu bars and sidebars.
- π Rethink & merge full-screen apps, spaces and stage manager.
- π Allow for 4 apps in Full Screen mode.
Watch OS
Even though I wear my Apple watch pretty much 24/7, I barely use the watch os itself apart from starting workouts each day. I mostly glance at the complications. Therefore my wishes here are few.
- π More digital time watch faces. We currently have just the infographic ones. (1 in 6 people can't tell the time)
- π Third-party watch faces.
- π Small and Large Photo complications for infographic watch faces.
- π Notification of watch battery on other devices.
TV OS
We use Apple TVs as our primary media consumption devices for both our tvs at home. I would love to see a dedicated segment for TV OS this year, as in past years; it barely got any mention. I wish for them to go all in and tie TV OS to some sort of Home OS.
- π Customizable screensaver β With widgets, date, weather, photos, cameras, etc.Our TVs are off for most of the day; I wish there was a way they could do a similar thing with the Oled screens as they do with the iPhone lock screen.
- π An easier way of editing app icons, maybe from the iPhone like with Car Play.
- π Improved and expanded control center Homekit controls.
- π Native Homekit app with a multi-camera view.
- π Home screen Widgets.
- π Separate the apple tv+ app from the TV queue app.
Homekit & Siri
While Apple made significant improvements to the home app last year, I still think there are still a little behind.
- π Timers on Homepods should be universal and not per homepod - When I setup a timer in the kitchen and ask for it the living room Homepod always says "no timers"
- πRevamped Automations - Ability to organize, group and rename them.
- π Native If statements in automation.
- π More icon options for all devices but specially for lights.
- π Native support for Robot Vacuums.
- π Home wallpapers sync across devices.
- π Remove the useless discover tab and add a rooms tab.
- π Better control center actions - being able to customize which items appear.
- π Let me change a thermostat temperature from control center, not just the on/off state.
β Other: Hardware
- π I really wish that the rumored iPad docking station gets announced. Similar to google's Pixel Tablet dock.
β
I hope you liked the list. I don't think Apple will be able to address all of these issues, but I'm optimistic that they'll be able to fix some of them. I didn't include anything about the upcoming Apple headset because I haven't used any other headset operating systems before, and I don't know what to expect. I'm really looking forward to being pleasantly surprised, though!
Also, following Jarrod's idea, I might come back to this post and grade how each of the items after Apple's keynote is over. I can't wait for June 5!
Iβm a product designer from Puerto Rico working at BOLD. I enjoy spending time with my wife and our dog max and write about tech, automation, lego. Read more about me.
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