What did Apple introduce and what did iOS developers think about it
Apple presentations are watched with interest by all kinds of people. But, probably, the most interesting to all developers of iOS applications: they see everything from the perspective of "what it is to use it", and from the perspective of "what it is like for us to work with it". And when everyone is massively updating iOS, they have already seen enough of the beta version.
Our Mobius conference in the program committee has a variety of iOS developers. And after the new presentation, we decided to ask what they think about both the presented devices and iOS 12 that goes along with these devices.
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If you didn’t watch the presentation, for you the first half of the post with the information “what was presented at all”, if you watched it, you can go straight to the part with opinions It will be interesting to know your opinion in the comments, especially if you are an iOS developer too!
What showed
- Last year’s iPhone X has a successor to the Xs (pronounced “ten s”). There are no surprises, a simple iterative update - the processor was updated, the waterproofness was improved, the option with 512 gigabytes was added. But there is a detail that is indifferent to the average user, but techies are interested in: the new processor is made according to the 7-nanometer process technology. Particularly impressive against the backdrop of Intel, whose attempts to go to 10 nanometers have long been stalled. Even with the help of eSIM, support for the “second sim card” was made, but support from operators is also required here, so the prospects in Russia are still unclear. Sales in Russia from September 28, price from 87 990 rubles (in the US from $ 999).
- In addition, there was an enlarged version of the Xs Max. The diagonal is 6.5 ”, the resolution is 2688x1242, it supports“ horizontal ”interface options (like Plus-versions of iPhones), they promise an hour and a half more battery life, starting at 96,990 rubles ($ 1,099). The main claim of people to him is his name (if you remember that very few people say “X” as “ten”, it turns out especially clumsy).
- And the new “base iPhone”, taking up the iPhone 8 niche, becomes Xr (“ten r”, seriously?). The same screen in the entire device - in general, the “Home” button and Touch ID are gradually becoming a thing of the past, and there is nowhere to go from the “eyebrow” and Face ID. The main difference is that the screen is not OLED, but simpler, LCD (if you want to convince yourself that this is not worse, then Habré only discussed the problems of OLED). Diagonal 6.1 '', resolution 1792x828 (that is, DPI is lower than expensive models). They promise an hour and a half longer work than the iPhone 8 Plus! In the Russian sale since October 26, costs from 64 990 pable ($ 749).
- Face ID recognition accelerated. It is not clear how much exactly, but it is recalled how the Touch ID accelerated earlier.
- But Core ML will accelerate "nine times", while consuming "ten times less energy."
- Photo / video enhancements: for example, the bokeh effect can now be applied after the fact, and the video is now with stereo sound.
- The fourth generation Apple Watch is significantly different from the previous one. The screen has increased significantly (there are options for 40 and 44 mm). And this is partly due to the framework, so that the device did not become gigantic (and the reduction in thickness allowed the company to proudly say “volume decreased”). The new sensor allows to receive electrocardiograms. The words “work time” were pronounced so enthusiastically, as if it had doubled, but it turned out that it simply did not diminish.
- The news, which is more important for someone than all these premieres: iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 remain on sale, and their prices are reduced to $ 449 and $ 599, respectively. But the iPhone SE is no longer producing, now the "seven" is becoming a minimum in terms of price and diagonal of the screen. And, by the way, not a single model with a headphone jack is made now.
- Finally, we now have specific release dates for new OS versions. iOS 12, watchOS 5 and tvOS 12 are released on September 17, and macOS Mojave is on September 24.
What do they think
Alexey Kudryavtsev (Avito)“Everyone is already used to the fact that product descriptions are leaking long before the presentation, and this year was no exception, so the wow effect did not work again. I was impressed by the watch with an enlarged screen, I want to take it myself. And on the iPhone it was upset that they didn’t show something smaller than 5.8 ''. And many hoped that they would finally update the MacBook Air, these hopes remained unjustified.
I have been using iOS 12 since the first beta. And if iOS 11 was blamed for instability, then even in beta versions everything worked more stable and noticeably more productive. From the innovations I would like to mention the grouping of push-notifications: I am engaged in work with a messenger and I think that our users will like this feature, grouping helps me a lot to clear the lock screen from unnecessary. Well, Screen Time helps to focus on the important.
I also installed a watchOS beta version on my watch (third generation). There, the OS itself became more convenient, but at the same time, performance and autonomy sank, the clock began to discharge faster.
Cyril Klebanov (Just LLC)“The features of new operating systems and frameworks were announced back in June, and today's presentation was devoted only to technical innovations: watches and telephones.
In the phones, the chip's process technology has decreased to 7 nm (which is potentially good for performance, compactness and power consumption), and with new A12 chips, Core ML is accelerated 9 times. Accordingly, “intellectual functions” associated with machine learning can be accelerated, and we, as developers, will be able to use more and more complex models for image processing, video and real-time user data analysis.
The second version of ARKit also helps to unlock the potential of the new hardware, especially the multiplayer interaction with virtual reality is interesting to me. This will be a new stage for the collective games: if before the children went out to play in the yard with a soccer ball, now with the iPhone Xs.
Every year I try to keep my health closer and I see that Apple is moving in the same direction. The function of tracking drops in the clock is suitable not only for snowboarders, but also for our elderly relatives. ”
Victoria Denisyuk (EPAM Systems)“Again, there are more different screen diagonals and resolutions, but now there is no fundamental difference for developers: there are already so many different iOS devices that we don’t make layouts specifically for everyone, and everything adapts quite easily. This is just a couple of cases to check.
Software plays a more prominent role for us, and here “new” does not mean “better”. Migrating to the next version of Xcode has always been time-consuming, it has not been without it now. UI-elements require processing for correct display on iOS 12, the current code needs to be refactored to meet the new requirements; automatic migration will not save here. If your project is quite large and includes third-party frameworks and other dependencies, be prepared for the fact that they may not be supported, and you will have to wait for the developers to update them. In general, everything is as usual. We hope that everything will come back to normal with the release of the release version. So far we have seen when building Segmentation fault: 11 and crashing the editor. Xcode in the App Store consistently has a rating of two stars, this time the miracle did not happen either. ”
Kirill Averyanov (VK)“We can say one thing about this presentation: all the attention is on the Apple Watch, and let's not forget about OneMoreThing.
Indeed, nothing new has been delivered to the iPhones, which is understandable, because last year there was a huge update. But, in my opinion, despite the second large model Max, the smaller Xs are no different from the iPhone X except for the name. And the iPhone Xr is a low cost model, which was once 5c. In general, this is a small iPhone update that happens every time the S-version is shown.
But Apple Watch was surprised by the design, but the problem with the battery is still a significant drawback.
But since we are developers, let's pay attention to the software, although the event is not about it.
It turns out iOS 12, which I have from the second beta. In this version, the main chips are Screen Time and Siri Shortcuts. And the second is unlikely to be widely used in Russia for third-party applications, but Screen Time is quite useful if you comprehend Zen productivity.
They also spoke about the acceleration of Core ML, but my opinion is the same: it all depends on the task. In global tasks, the model weighs a lot and is stored on the device, which is the main disadvantage. ”
Nikolai Ashanin (EPAM Netherlands)“Apple’s presentation is reminiscent of the Brezhnev stagnation era. After the not very innovative summer conference, I did not expect anything special from the autumn, traditionally weaker on the novelties. As a result, the only thing that is very pleased - the electrocardiogram in the clock, it is very cool. Now, for people in the upper age range, the watches are becoming more and more relevant.
Also interested in the development of the gaming industry and AR. AR remains the most high-tech technology of iOS: this is shown by interesting reports from the past of Mobius (for example, “Augmented Reality in Yandex.Maps” ), and the number of applications for this topic for the next Moscow Mobius .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/423109/
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