With the keynote event for the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) only weeks away, there has understandably been a lot of chatter about the looming iOS 16 that is expected will headline the presentation.
Now, a bit more insight into what may be included in the next version of the smartphone operating system has been provided by Bloomberg’s seasoned Apple watcher, Mark Gurman. In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman stated that “there should be major changes across the system,” encompassing “new ways of interacting”, as well as “some fresh Apple apps.”
Gurman didn’t delve into any specifics beyond the above, but we can use other available information and speculation to imagine what he might be implying.
As far as possible new apps are concerned, for instance, we already have a fair degree of confidence that Apple is developing an Apple Classical music streaming service. However, Gurman’s reference to “apps” in the plural sense suggests there could still be scope for something else to be announced that would take Apple fans by surprise.
And what about those “new ways of interacting”? Well, it has been reported that this might be a reference to interactive widgets. Home screen widgets do already exist in iOS, but while they can display information, it isn’t currently possible for the device user to interact much with them, beyond simply tapping them to fire up the given app. Imagine widgets in a future iOS that could allow you to skip an audio track or type a note…
Finally, “major changes across the system” – what else might that mean? Gurman has previously stated that iOS 16 will include “fairly significant enhancements across the board, including an update to notifications and new health-tracking features”. So, perhaps he’s at least partly referring to these potential improvements, although that still leaves a lot of vagueness.
Anyway, this year’s WWDC is set to kick off from June 6 – the same date the keynote will take place – so we won’t have to feed off mere speculation for much longer.
