Corner Geeks 5 Part 2: WWDC 2011 – iOS5

MP3 link (right click > save as)

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?)