Just over a week ago, I proposed that Apple's muddled design language has been a sore spot for consumers even as its hardware continued to evolve (albeit at an incremental rate). Using iTunes as the primary example, interacting with the same content across iOS, OS X, tvOS, watchOS, and even Windows is drastically, frustratingly different. At this year's Worldwide Developers Confernce, Apple seemed determined to rectify that by not only introducing new features to each of these platforms, but redesigning the interfaces to provide a more cohesive user experience across devices. Is it perfect? No. Will it solve all the problems plaguing the Apple ecosystem? Probably not. But it is a welcome step in a more proactive direction. Rather than bury its head in the sand with some hyperbole about the inherent "magic" of simplicity, Apple is working hard to bring that magic back to the fore, and it showed.
In some ways, this was Apple's most Apple-like press conference in years. Here are some of the reasons why.
Craig Federighi
There's nothing wrong with Tim Cook. He's done a fine job as CEO, particularly in a time where Apple is under tremendous scrutiny by its shareholders and the government, and under immense pressure from competition like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. As a presenter, though, Cook feels less like a rock star and more like the boss showing up to the company picnic. "Hi, everyone. I'm here. I'm in charge."
When Cook starts spouting numbers, it's with the sort of boardroom finesse of a seasoned business executive instead of the enthusiasm of someone drinking the Apple Kool-Aid. This may seem nit-picky, but the truth is that Apple's success has less to do with "groundbreaking" products and more to do with the culture and mystique surrounding the company as a whole. As an audience, we may love our Macbooks and iPhones, but that enthusiasm wanes after just a year of using them. Already my iPhone 6s feels standard rather than "premium." My 3 year-old Macbook Pro is starting to lose its luster in light of thinner, lighter, sleeker machines (even if they're grossly under-powered). Apple's job isn't just to sell us new products and services every year, it's to re-ignite that "Reality-Distortion Field" Jobs was so famous for: pulling us back into the aura of Apple where everything is "magical" and every new product is a revelation.
Cook is not the man for that. He does a fine job talking about Android to iOS migration, Apple's green energy initiatives, or educating the next generation of programmers, but he's not the man to be touting the "magical" new products or services we're there to see.
That's where Craig Federighi comes in.
Now, don't get me wrong. Just watching this iOS 7 reveal video featuring Craig makes me think this guy's been brainwashed by some Apple voodoo shaman, but listen to the difference in tone from when Cook is on stage talking numbers to when Craig is on stage talking about embedding Siri into macOS.
Federighi has what Cook needs: the ability to sound truly passionate about what he's showing you. Was anything at WWDC truly revolutionary? No. But I'm excited about it because Federighi made me believe these were features I not only wanted, but couldn't wait to have! Even with hiccups in the on-stage demo and a clear fetish for emoji, the promise of more responsive apps in watchOS and a redesigned iOS Music app give me hope that my experience with the products I use every day is only going to get better.
In contrast, Apple should be keeping Eddie Cue off stage when at all possible. Cue may be Apple royalty and a genius behind the scenes, but he was not meant to be on camera in front of a live audience. He swaggers onto the stage in "casual" dress and a smile that's a little too happy to be there. Whether intentional or not, it's an example of how the Apple hubris can harm when too prominently displayed. Remember: we're attempting to distort reality, here, and Cue takes me right out of it and reminds me that this is nothing but a product demonstration by a tech company. Cue seemed caught between being over-rehearsed, and not having rehearsed enough. Doing his best to sound excited, he often stumbled over key parts of his presentation, always looking down at the teleprompter even as the products he talked about flashed on the screen behind him.
On the flip side, Federighi comes across like a kid in a candy store dressed like a professional adult. His smile is the kind that's not just happy to be there, but excited to show you what he has for you. That excitement permeates the room and the audience. When he speaks, it's deliberate but never forceful. It's the tone someone uses when they don't want to openly disagree with you, but will give you just the right information to make you question your outlook. He's not forcing a product in your face, he's inviting you into his world, and whether your mind realizes that or not, it makes a huge difference not just in our perception of him, but our perception of the products he's displaying.
Even moreso than Sir Jonathan Ive, Federighi carries with him a vestige of Steve Jobs: the power to change our minds, and the childlike wonder that still manages somehow to be in awe of itself. That's where the Apple "magic" comes from, and it's very reassuring to see its return.
No Gadgets
Even if you're familiar with Apple's retail schedule and knew we wouldn't see a new iPhone until the Fall, you were probably expecting some sort of hardware unveiling at WWDC. Rumors are still circulating about a refreshed Thunderbolt Display, an Apple Watch 2, and a refreshed Macbook line with current-gen processors and even OLED touchbars. You probably hoped one of these would show up at WWDC. None did.
That's a sore point for many Apple fans who get their jollies out of upgrading to the absolute latest and greatest every year, but the lack of gadgets at WWDC made one thing crystal clear to everyone watching and attending the conference:
Apple is committed to its software development community.
Obvious, right? (Tt is a developers conference, after all!) However, the long-reaching effects of this message may not be immediately clear.
This may seem rudimentary to the way mobile software is distributed, but we often don't take into account how developers get their software to us.
A great example is the idea of the "free app." I know plenty of friends who simply refuse to pay for an app. They'll use the ad-infested free version if it means they don't have to pull out their credit card. There's something to be said for frugality, but most people don't even recall that on the other end of that app is a developer that sank time, money, and resources into getting it to you. That $1.99 may seem like a lot, but when you consider that Apple takes a 30% cut of every app purchased, suddenly your $1.99 becomes less than $1.40. A cup of coffee costs more than that.
It's not just Apple doing this. Virtually every mobile app store follows the model established by iOS.
Conversely, the App Store in OS X is at a crossroads as well. The difference here is that developers have a work-around: rather than hosting their software through Apple's App Store, they can just direct users to download their software directly from their own website. If I want a copy of, say, Scrivener, I can download it directly from the App Store, or I can go to Scrivener's website and download it there. The latter bypasses Apple completely and ensures that the money I fork over for the software goes directly into the developers' pockets.
Apple is all-too aware of this, and has decided to rethink its model. Soon, Apple will take just 15% of app purchases, effectively cutting its share in half and ensuring that developers receive up to 85% of the money paid for their software.
That sounds generous by Apple, and it is. It's very possible Apple will see a significant drop in App Store revenue because of this, and that's a risky situation considering shareholders like to pay attention to things like revenue streams. What choice does Apple have? They could simply keep the existing model and force developers to eat the cost of doing business with them. But that's not exactly prudent on Apple's part.
Why not? Because any anti-Apple zealot will tell you, Android is the most widely used mobile OS in the world. Now, we can get into the minutiae of the plethora of devices Android runs on (everything from $50 phones to $1,000 tablets), but the truth is that while iOS may be perceived as the standard-bearer for mobile computing, Android is the system more people see every day. It's the Windows 95 to iOS's Mac OS. It may not be as flashy, but it's flexible, customizeable, and growing more capable every day.
Apple can still pull the "But we're Apple," card, but if we're talking sheer numbers, developers who want to get their apps on the most devices develop it for Android.
By cutting their revenue in half, Apple is practically begging developers to keep iOS at the forefront of their development cycle, and that's very good for developers and users alike. It ensures that developers get the exposure they want on all platforms without the penalty of loss of revenue, and it ensure that iOS users get the best and widest selection of apps available.
A Better Experience
There was another message sent by Apple on Monday, and while it's a positive one, it's distinctly un-Apple-like.
Contrary to what they might have you believe, Apple is very much aware that its software isn't perfect and is committed to improving the experience of its software across devices.
Right out of the gate, Apple's vice president of technology Kevin Lynch admitted that load times for for watchOS were poor, to say the least. An on-screen demonstration showed us waiting several seconds between the time we tapped an app to the time the app appeared ready. To remedy this, Lynch described watchOS 3 as being able to keep certain apps running the background and constantly refreshing so they would be instantly accessible at a touch. (There was no word on how this would affect the Watch's battery life.)
Without outright saying, "We know it takes apps forever to load on Apple Watch," and using positive language like, "You deserve apps on Apple Watch that respond as seamlessly as apps on your iPhone" (paraphrasing), Apple manages to come out looking like a hero for addressing a problem that's existed since the launch of Apple Watch over a year ago.
The same can be said for the Music app in iOS. Even though he didn't outright declare what a mess the current Apple Music app is, Eddie Cue was adamant about the ease and beauty of the new user interface.
tvOS gets new features like the ability to download corresponding apps when they are downloaded on your iOS devices (i.e. download ESPN app on iPhone, it appears on AppleTV).
And of course, OS X--or rather macOS--now gets Siri and a host of other features that go along with that.
Apple probably could've held a press conference on iOS alone (which might have made the duration of its Messages demo a little more bearable), but instead it presented a picture of a cohesive experience and commitment to improvement across all major platforms, and that's something they should be commended for.
Not every problem will be fixed by the Fall roll-out of these updates, but it does show that Apple is at least listening to its customers and trying its best to improve the experience without sacrificing the parts that make it uniquely "Apple."
So, no, you won't be able to brag about being the first of your friends to get the newest iPhone. And yes, October will most likely bring with it the promise of new Macbooks, iPhones, and maybe even a new Apple Watch, so you have that to look forward to.
But even if you don't buy a new Apple product this year: even if you're still rocking that old 4th-gen iPad from 2012, Apple has promised you that your experience with those products will get better this year.
And that is something to be excited about.
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