Corner Geeks 5 Part 2: WWDC 2011 - iOS5

June 14, 2011

Check out Justin Lee’s keypoint summary of the keynote or just refer to Apple’s iOS5 page or the features page for their info about iOS5.

Brief Show Notes

• Lots of ‘finally’s
  • Notification Centre
    • Similar to Android: swipe down from top to see all notifications
    • But done better than Android
      • When notification comes in, shows snippet of info at top of screen then disappears
      • Notifications shown on lock screen
      • Direct access to act on notification from lock screen (swipe notification to access)
    • Also has 10 msg limit per app. MobileNotifier (the jailbreak app) has more. UI could be better on mobilenotifier though.
  • PC-less activation (makes it more of a standalone device and with iCloud could be a fuller laptop replacement)
  • iTunes-less
  • Wireless sync
  • Camera Upgrades.
    • Shutter button.
    • Launch from lockscreen (Double-tap home button and click on icon)
    • Crop photos, red-eye reduction, one-click enhancement filter thing (auto white balance, levels, etc similar to Preview on OS X)
    • Can create albums on iOS!
  • Delta Updates!! (no more 600+MB per update) Over the air!
• Nice to have
  • Reading list (similar to instapaper / Read It Later): only Safari? no where else to access?
  • Reader view
  • Reminders (similar to Locale / Tasker for Android but those are commercial apps)
  • News stand: for magazine subscriptions.
  • Twitter Integration.
    • Twitter’s trying to be what OpenID wants to be? Online Identity?
    • Syncs Twitter Photo to contacts. (similar to what Android does)
    • Nice that it allows user to try diff apps without relogin (Though currently this still doesn’t work yet. Apps need to rewrite their apps. Even official Twitter App)
    • Twitter sharing in Photos / apps nice
    • Android sharing superior as doesn’t have to wait for Google to implement new share options: app needs to support receiving data
  • Photo editing
  • iPad
    • Tabbed browsing
    • Split keyboard
    • Airplay mirror for iPad2. Great for presentations.
      • Requires Apple TV and thus only has HDMI output.
      • AirPlay for Windows Media Center – Beta 1
      • AirServer For AirPlay To Mac OS X
      • AirPlay alternatives I’ve considered:
        • UDP streaming via VLC
        • WiDI
• iMessage (lot of focus on security. mention encryption)
  • Replaces iOS SMS app. ie: could be seamless for normal users.
  • Allows iPod and iPads to use. Not sure about Mac, but it’ll be great if it could. (WhatsApp! not available for non 3G / cellulare devices like iPod Touch / iPad WiFi only)
  • Alternatives
    • WhatsApp
    • KakaoTalk
    • Beluga
    • Kik
  • Competitor Ecosystem Alternatives
    • Google: GTalk
    • Microsoft: Skype?
    • RIM: BBM
• Some stuff not mentioned on keynote but is pretty cool
  • Typing shortcuts / macros. ie: the default on the OS was “omw” would autocomplete to “On my way”
  • Some UI improvements. Toggles in options.
  • Custom vibrations for incoming calls.
  • LED light can be used as notifications (older phones have had this: on Android side depends on manufacturer)
• iOS5 beta and jailbreak
  • Your iPhone uidd needs to be registered as a developer iPhone to activate
  • Update: How to fully activate iOS 5 beta (the right way)
  • You can circumvent using a backdoor but leaves device useless. How to: Bypass activation on iOS 5 betas
    • Can’t use phone
    • Can’t sync
    • Somehow double tap and gestures don’t work (without voiceover) which means:
    • You can use notifications centre.
    • Also notifications doesn’t work.
• Available in the Fall (September earliest?)