Leading up to WWDC24, the tech web is abuzz with new feature expectations. A big one is Apple playing up AI in its ecosystem (yet the company has touted a “Neural engine” for years). But I’m only interested in the potentially biggest change to iPhone since iOS 7, something Android has had for well over a decade.
Anti-AI
Despite a super-hype cycle, AI doesn’t seem to have any practical benefit or use-case to me. Actually, I’m a bit concerned that Apple shoe-horning AI into its devices will make them worse, not better. Sometimes, “smart” things are dumb! They try to be or do too much when all you really need is the simplest solution.
One example is email. I hate "smart” inboxes that try to sort my email into its own categories because: 1) It’s never 100% accurate, so wrong emails are in wrong inboxes, which means I must sort it myself anyways, and 2) I have to figure out how the "smart” inbox thinks so I can then manage it. Spare me that effort please; I’m smart enough to sort my own emails. Just dump everything into one inbox; I can even create rules myself, like move emails from a certain address to a specific folder. But I digress.
Pro-choose your own app icon placement
Rumors suggest iPhone’s longstanding Home screen layout and design will get a big refresh, maybe even a full rethink. So it might look or work differently, maybe both.
I’d like to see a fresh coat of paint. Since the iPhone started with heavy skeuomorphism and flipped to super-flat design, I’d like to see Apple flop back to a mix of the two, somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
Most of all, I want buttons to once again just look like actual buttons! Not links, not text that’s missing the underline that would indicate a link or button, and not just glowing icons. I want button icons that have shadow or depth to look like they’re depressed. A button can have text on it, but text by itself is not a button and is not necessarily a hyperlink either.
As for how iPhone’s Home screen functions, I would love to finally be able to — shock! — place app icons anywhere on the grid. So instead of all the apps auto-flowing or snapping to the top left, it could work like Android.
- Drag an app icon to the spot on the grid you want
- Lift up your meaty finger
- And the app icon just stays where you left it — genius!
Seriously, please Apple, allow gaps (space, breathing room, optimized app margins; pick a nice marketing spin-term for it) between app icons and widgets. Like Android. For reals. Call it revolutionary, magical, or “courage.”
Final thoughts
What else might I like to see coming for Apple’s software and hardware? Some of these are the usual suspects:
- Calculator app on iPad
- Word count in Apple Notes
- Ability to export all Apple Notes at once as discreet .txt or Pages files
- Full Markdown support in Apple Notes or TextEdit
- Option to show dated Reminders in Calendar app
- StandBy mode for iPad (like on iPhone)
- Stage Manager improvements/refinements
- Password Manager as stand-alone app (not buried in Settings)
- Apple Pencil support on iPhone
- All new sub-$999 12” MacBook SE with M1 chip and fun colors like the purple and orange iMacs
- iPhone SE 4 with USB-C
I’m sure there’s more or better I’d like to see. Many times, it’s nice when Apple surprises and delights with new things I didn’t think of but actually would love to have and use. We’ll just wait and see while WWDC24 anticipation builds.
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