Latest news with #WWDC25
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Business Standard
5 days ago
- Business Standard
Apple Intelligence: New features coming to iPhones, iPads, Macs this year
At WWDC25, Apple previewed a wide range of Apple Intelligence features set to arrive on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch later this year. These include Live Translation in Phone, Messages, and FaceTime; on-screen content awareness through Visual Intelligence; enhanced creative tools like Genmoji and Image Playground; and intelligent automation via Shortcuts. Here's a roundup of key Apple Intelligence features launching across platforms later this year:Apple Intelligence: New features coming this yearLive translationLive Translation enables multilingual communication across Messages, FaceTime, and Phone. Powered by Apple-built models that run entirely on-device:In Messages, texts are translated as the user FaceTime, users see live translated captions alongside the original phone calls, spoken translations are read aloud in real READ: iOS 26: Check new features coming to these Apple iPhones later this yearIntelligent ShortcutsShortcuts are becoming smarter with Apple Intelligence:Users can automate context-aware tasks, like summarising documents or creating images based on a can draw responses from Apple's on-device model or route to ChatGPT, depending on user Genmoji featureBeyond generating emojis from text prompts, iOS 26 now lets users:Combine emojis and text to create custom expressions and features like hairstyle, emotion, and PlaygroundIn Image Playground, users can tap into new styles with ChatGPT, like an oil painting style or vector art. It should be noted that a picture and the description is only sent to ChatGPT when the user approves. ALSO READ: Apple iPadOS 26: Check key features coming to these iPads later this yearVisual IntelligenceiOS 26 introduces Visual Intelligence features that understand and respond to on-screen content:Users can ask ChatGPT questions about what they're viewing, or find similar products via Google, Etsy, and other objects can be highlighted for direct product viewing event details, the system can suggest creating a calendar entry, auto-filling time, date, and can activate Visual Intelligence by pressing the screenshot button combination. From there, they can choose to save, share, or explore with intelligence Intelligence on WatchWorkout Buddy uses on-device models to deliver personalised, spoken fitness insights based on workout data. It analyses metrics like heart rate, pace, and recent milestones, and delivers voice-based motivation during training featuresReminders can now automatically extract to-dos from emails, websites, or notes and categorise Wallet will detect and summarise order-tracking info from emails, displaying delivery status in one adds support for polls, and Apple Intelligence can suggest creating one based on the conversation Apple Intelligence features: AvailabilityApple has begun rolling out new Apple Intelligence features to developers through the latest developer beta build of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26 and a public beta will be available next month. Users who enable Apple Intelligence on supported devices set to a supported language will have access to these features later this year. Eligible devices include: iPhone 16 seriesiPhone 15 Pro, Pro MaxiPad mini (A17 Pro)iPads with M1 chip or laterMacs with M1 chip or later
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Business Standard
5 days ago
- Business Standard
iOS 26: Apple will let apps like Spotify access this new Music app feature
Apple previewed iOS 26, the latest platform update for iPhones, at its WWDC25 keynote, unveiling new features including full-screen animated artwork on the Lock Screen when music is playing. While the feature was showcased using Apple Music, Apple is extending support to third-party music apps such as Spotify. To enable this, Apple has introduced a new application programming interface (API) called MPMediaItemAnimatedArtwork. According to the company, the API will allow developers to provide animated video clips to display on the Lock Screen while audio content is playing. While this will work by default for Apple Music, implementation will remain optional for third-party developers. The feature will not be limited to music streaming services either—it will also support audiobook and podcast apps. Although no third-party developer has confirmed integration yet, more announcements are expected closer to the public release of iOS 26. Currently, iOS 26 is available through the Apple Developer Programme, with a public beta expected in the coming weeks. The update will roll out to all supported iPhones later this year as a free software update. iOS 26: What is new iOS 26 brings a major redesign under Apple's new Liquid Glass design language, with semi-transparent menus, dynamic shimmer effects, and redesigned UI elements. Lock Screen and Home Screen now support new customisation options including 'clear look' widgets and dynamic clock placement that adapts to your wallpaper. A new spatial effect adds subtle depth to wallpapers. Key updates across native apps include: Messages: AI-powered live translation, the ability to screen unknown senders, custom chat backgrounds, and in-chat polling for group messages. Apple Music: Adds support for full-screen animated Lock Screen art and real-time lyrics translation. Phone and Camera apps: Redesigned interfaces with simplified layouts, new tools like Call Screening and Hold Assist. ALSO READ:
Mint
6 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Rajrishi Singhal: What markets demand needn't be what society wants
Apple's highly anticipated developer conference this year has not only disappointed reviewers and equity markets, but also raised many disturbing questions. One, it has raised anxieties over the future viability of the iPhone manufacturer. More importantly, it highlights the divergence between what is good for society versus what is good for the stock market, belying the benign and popular perception of the role that equity markets play in society. Apple's developer conferences, called WWDC25 this year, are usually a marquee event in the tech world, providing independent developers and tech analysts an inkling of the company's progress with hardware and software. At WWDC25 on 9 June, Apple executives were able to share only a limited future path for the company, especially on its progress with artificial intelligence (AI). Apple's senior executives told the gathering that the promise made last year about upgrading Apple Intelligence, with voice assistant Siri as its centrepiece, would take some more time to accomplish. Also Read: China plus one: Apple and India might need to woo not just Trump but Xi too This left many analysts and developers cold. Even the stock market expressed its displeasure: Apple's common stock has tanked almost 25% from its 52-week high. The market's disapproval, interestingly, is not limited to Apple's slow progress in integrating AI, but also centres around the company's data privacy policies. The market's unhappiness seems to stem from the company's reluctance to use a customer's individual usage data or information as an input for training personalized AI models. Apple instead prefers to use insights based on aggregate consumer preferences, unlike competitors like Microsoft and Google. It would then appear that the market is rewarding companies that will profit from scraping individual data, rather than businesses which have red lines on using personal data. Also Read: Apple's Hotel California trap: It can check out but not leave China The market's simple logic is that companies using personal data for their AI engines can unlock new revenue sources by offering consumers hyper-personalized offerings. Plus, there is the subscription angle. For example, individual subscription rates for Microsoft's Copilot Pro are expected to be around $20 every month, its key selling point being its ability to unlock AI features in all Microsoft 365 products, such as Word or PowerPoint, allowing customers to generate drafts, summarize content or analyse data at a faster rate. Google AI Pro will also be available to customers at the same rate, but a turbo-charged version called Google AI Ultra will be available for $250 per month. When this columnist asked Google's Gemini how Apple's future AI plans can make money for the company, one part of the AI engine's reply stood out: 'Apple's strong stance on privacy ('intelligence without surveillance') is a powerful differentiator in an era of increasing data concerns. This can foster greater trust and loyalty among its user base, leading to continued purchases of Apple products and services over competitors. While not a direct revenue stream, it's a critical factor in sustaining its high-margin business model." Also Read: Dave Lee: Apple must make peace with developers for AI success Yet, the stock market did not seem impressed. Clearly, for market operators, short-term corporate profits have greater primacy over privacy concerns. Even if we were to disregard the normative issues of morality or ethics for a moment, the stock market's responses are visibly out of sync with society's needs or concerns. There is a reason for this: the stock market is focused on the limited constituency it serves. Its behaviour aligns almost perfectly with the objectives set out by institutional investors or companies looking to raise money. In the not-too-distant past, the market was bestowing the Apple stock with a premium too because the company had plugs and ports that differed from other manufacturers, guaranteeing the company exclusive, high-margin revenues, even if that meant consumer discomfort or the exercise of near-monopolistic power. Also Read: Big Tech in the dock: The EU could force Meta and Apple to change their coercive ways The statement that the market's singular focus on corporate bottom-lines and their impact on share prices does not necessarily align with what could be good for broader society might seem like belabouring a truism; but the need to reiterate this has arisen in the face of a growing tendency to conflate a stock market's signals with the desires or ambitions of society on the whole. One good example of the market-versus-society divergence is the premium that US equity markets placed on companies setting up manufacturing bases in China. This was happening at a time when the US political class and civil society were bemoaning the absence of democracy and human rights in the North Asian country, even while hoping that closer integration with the global economy would discipline its regime. Reality has turned out otherwise, but stock markets continued to glorify companies that moved production to China. Also Read: Apple's UK run-in: Privacy may matter less to its customers than it thinks The linking of stock market performance with broader social well-being in India found fresh oxygen during the covid pandemic when benchmark indices, after initially dipping sharply, spiked with help from technology and pharma stocks. This was used by many politicians as well as Indian fund managers aligned with the ruling party's political ideology to indicate the economy's recovery and society's triumph over the virus. Planners and policymakers must realize that a healthy society's needs, desires and ambitions extend far beyond quarterly earnings and the oscillation of benchmark indices. The author is a senior journalist and author of 'Slip, Stitch and Stumble: The Untold Story of India's Financial Sector Reforms' @rajrishisinghal
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
The App Store's new AI-generated tags are live in the beta
Apple's plans to improve App Store discoverability using AI tagging techniques are now available in the developer beta build of iOS 26. However, the tags do not appear on the public App Store as of yet, nor are they informing the App Store Search algorithm on the public store. Of course, with any upcoming App Store update, there's speculation about how changes will impact an app's search ranking. A new analysis by app intelligence provider Appfigures, for example, suggests metadata extracted from an app's screenshots is influencing its ranking. The firm theorized that Apple was extracting text from screenshot captions. Previously, only the app's name, subtitle, and keyword list would count towards its search ranking, it said. The conclusion that screenshots are informing app discoverability is accurate, based on what Apple announced at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 25), but the way Apple is extracting that data involves AI, not OCR techniques, as Appfigures had guessed. At its annual developer conference, Apple explained that screenshots and other metadata would be used to help improve an app's discoverability. The company said it's using AI techniques to extract information that would otherwise be buried in an app's description, its category information, its screenshots, or other metadata, for example. That also means that developers shouldn't need to add keywords to the screenshots or take other steps to influence the tags. At WWDC, Apple says it will use AI to tag apps to improve discoverability on the App Store This allows Apple to assign a tag to better categorize the app. Ultimately, developers would be able to control which of these AI-assigned tags would be associated with their apps, the company said. Plus, Apple assured developers that humans would review the tags before they went live. In time, it will be important for developers to better understand tags and which ones will help their app get discovered, when the tags reach global App Store users. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
TechCrunch
7 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
The App Store's new AI-generated tags are live in the beta
Apple's plans to improve App Store discoverability using AI tagging techniques are now available in the developer beta build of iOS 26. However, the tags do not appear on the public App Store as of yet, nor are they informing the App Store Search algorithm on the public store. Image Credits:App Store screenshot (developer beta 1, iOS 26) Of course, with any upcoming App Store update, there's speculation about how changes will impact an app's search ranking. A new analysis by app intelligence provider Appfigures, for example, suggests metadata extracted from an app's screenshots is influencing its ranking. The firm theorized that Apple was extracting text from screenshot captions. Previously, only the app's name, subtitle, and keyword list would count towards its search ranking, it said. The conclusion that screenshots are informing app discoverability is accurate, based on what Apple announced at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 25), but the way Apple is extracting that data involves AI, not OCR techniques, as Appfigures had guessed. At its annual developer conference, Apple explained that screenshots and other metadata would be used to help improve an app's discoverability. The company said it's using AI techniques to extract information that would otherwise be buried in an app's description, its category information, its screenshots, or other metadata, for example. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW This allows Apple to assign a tag to better categorize the app. That also means that developers shouldn't need to add keywords or take other steps to influence the tags. Ultimately, developers would be able to control which of these AI-assigned tags would be associated with their apps, the company said. Plus, Apple assured developers that humans would review the tags before they went live. In time, it will be important for developers to better understand tags and which ones will help their app get discovered, when the tags reach global App Store users.
