TheStreet’s Colette Bennett covers Apple’s announcements for what’s coming next.
Colette Bennett, TheStreet’s Senior Reporter, will be live-blogging Apple’s WWDC event, which is expected to start at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Please refresh your browser for updates.
1:46 PM EST: Apple Watch is getting three new running metrics to improve the watch’s ability to provide specific data for runners, including a heart rate zone tracker which will give you a voice reminder if you fall out of the zone you’ve set.
1:43 PM EST: Kevin Lynch, VP of Technology, is here to talk about Apple Watch now. Watch iOS 9 introduces a refreshed Siri UI and new banner notifications, as well as a Podcast app both kids and adults can use.
1:42 PM EST: AirPods now have Personalized Spatial Audio, which can be customized specifically to the user.
1:38 PM EST: CarPlay is up next. Apple has been working with carmakers to overhaul this too, and we are getting a look at what the new version of CarPlay will look like. It’s a slick interface that mirrors the widget system of the iPhone and stretches across the full dash of the car. Users can set the appearance of their dials. Vehicles that will use the system will be announced starting in 2023.
1:34 PM EST: Updates for Apple Home include matter, a connection system for smart home accessories with a focus on privacy. The Apple Home app has also gotten an overhaul, with new navigation, new categories, and a hub page with all of your smart home connected areas. A preview of this info can be added to the lock screen as a widget as well.
1:32 PM EST: Now they’re talking privacy and personal safety. Apple is adding a new feature called Safety Check, which was developed to help people in abusive situations help revoke access. It stops sharing your location and resets privacy permissions, and also restricts messages and FaceTime to the device in your hand.
1:30 PM EST: A new change to Photos, called the iCloud Shared Photo Library, allows you to share photos with up to five other people. You can also filter photos by who is in them and you can also set photos to go straight to the shared library right after you take them, right from the Camera app.
1:28 PM EST: Now on to Family Sharing. Apple has added a new way for parents to add age restriction to everything from music to games. A new Family Checklist makes it easy to make changes to the settings as needed.
1:27 PM EST: In Apple News, sports fans can follow their favorites teams in a new section on their phones called My Sports. It’s synced across all Apple devices and is free to use.
1:25 PM EST: Back to Craig, who has donned a white tracksuit and holds a basketball. It’s time to talk about sports.
1:23 PM EST: Moving on to Maps. The new map is coming to 11 more countries this year. Meg Frost, director of Apple Maps, is introducing a new feature called Multi-Stop Routing to save your drives.
1:22 PM EST: Apple Pay Later is a new feature that lets you split a purchase into four equal payments with zero interest and no fees. The payments are managed via Wallet and Apple Pay Order Tracking is also available for items purchased in this way.
1:20 PM EST: Now we are on to Wallet features. You can now send keys to friends via your phone (like to a hotel room) and Apple is working on allowing this between non-Apple phones as well.
1:19 PM EST: A new feature allows you to touch any image, hold, and transfer part of or the entire image to a text message. Wow.
1:17 PM EST: Live Text is also coming to Video.
1:16 PM EST: Dictation is getting a new tweak that allows users to change between typing and voice on the fly. You can also select text using touch and replace it with your voice. Dictation also automatically add punctuation.
1:14 PM EST: SharePlay is being highlighted for its ability to be used in apps to connect people. Now it’s coming to Messages, so you can use the function directly Messages to share a movie, a message, music, and more.
1:13 PM EST: Now we are on to Messages. They can now be edited, recalled, and you can mark threads as unread. All three of these features have been requested by users.
1:12 PM EST: Focus filters is also new, and allows you to use the phone’s Focus function to only see things you choose to (like browser windows or chats specifically for work).
1:10 PM EST: Live Activities is a new function that allows users to add widgets that update in real time, such as the score of a sports game.
1:09 PM EST: You can also set a lock screen gallery that will cycle through different photos throughout the day. Notifications have also been changed to roll in to the bottom of the lock screen instead of covering it.
1:05 PM: Craig Federighi is up. He’s talking about iOS 16 to start, which has new personalization features. The lock screen is the “biggest update ever” according to Federighi. It is fully customizable, with an editor that allows the user to add a filter, customize the appearance of the date and time down to the color and font, and add widgets.
1:04 PM EST: Cook says “today we are going to push our platforms further than ever” today. Could it be the VR headset we’ve heard about?
1:02 PM EST: Cook is talking about the newly launched developer center and its focus on helping developers thrive. It has 17 developer academy locations, including one solely for women.
1:00 PM EST: Apple’s personalized emoticons are being shown on the screen. Now, we are zooming across a landscape from overhead to zoom in on Tim Cook.
12:58 PM EST: Stream is beginning a few minutes early. It’s just music and visuals for now.
