WWDC20 highlights

Written by Nate Ayers

July 1, 2020

Highlights from Day 5 at WWDC20.

On Monday, Apple kicked off its all-online Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, and since then tens of millions of people have watched the WWDC20 Special Event Keynote via live stream and on demand, across all platforms. There were more than 4 million visits to the Apple Developer app, and developers from around the world streamed 206 engineering sessions, including developers from Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, and the UK. All week Apple developers have been engaging with more than 1,000 Apple engineers via the all-new Developer Forums and one-on-one Developer Labs, diving deep into the newest capabilities coming to macOS Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14. Yesterday developers dug into the latest in machine learning with the Action and Vision app, built using Create ML and the Vision framework. Friday’s 51 sessions gave developers opportunities to explore new features, such as face sharing with watchOS 7 and Scribble for iPad in iPadOS 14. This week we’ve been showcasing the biggest moments from WWDC20, including highlights from developer sessions, the most talked-about demos, the newest design features and capabilities across Apple platforms, and conversations with Apple executives. We’ve curated some of the best of what to Watch, Listen, Learn, and Play. And for a complete rundown of the Developer Forums, Labs, and 200+ engineering sessions, visit the Apple Developer app. Here are some highlights from Friday.

Watch: Meet Watch Face Sharing and the Details of UI Typography

Developers learn how to share watch faces inside watchOS and iOS apps, or host them on the web, and explore best practices for using watch face preview images. Then, in another session, they discover how to achieve exceptional typography in their app’s user interface that will enhance legibility, accessibility, and consistency across Apple platforms. Visit the Apple Developer app for watch face sharing, and get up to speed on the latest advancements to the San Francisco font family at developer.apple.com.

One Apple Watch Series 5 shares a watch face with another Apple Watch Series 5.
Lines of code are displayed next to an image of an iPhone 11 Pro whose screen shows a typography lesson.

Learn: Meet Scribble for iPad

Developers discover how people can take advantage of Scribble and handwritten text in iPadOS apps that use standard text input controls or that implement a custom text editing experience. Learn more in the Apple Developer app.

With Apple Pencil in hand, a user enters text onto an iPad Pro.

Play: Swan’s Quest Chapter 4

In the grand finale of this week’s Swift Playgrounds Challenge, players learn how to sequence multipart harmonies and discovered how to play pitched instruments with MIDI codes. Created for Swift Playgrounds on iPad and Mac, Swan’s Quest combines frameworks and resources into educational experiences for coders of all ages and experience levels. For a complete recap of chapters 1 to 4, visit “Voices in the Dark” (chapter 1), “A Time for Tones” (chapter 2), “The Notable Scroll” (chapter 3), and “The Sequence Completes” (chapter 4), visit the Apple Developer app.

Swan’s Quest, the interactive adventure created for Swift Playgrounds, is displayed on an iPad Pro.

Highlights from Day 4 at WWDC20.

Watch: Stacks, Grids, and Outlines in SwiftUI

Now available on iOS and iPadOS for the first time, outlines are a new multiplatform tool for expressing hierarchical data that work alongside stacks and lists. Developers learn how to use new and improved tools in SwiftUI to display more content onscreen when using table views, create smooth-scrolling and responsive stacks, and build out list views for content that needs more than a VStack can provide. Watch the full session at developer.apple.com/wwdc20.

Stacks, grids, and outlines in SwiftUI.

Listen: A Conversation with the Cast and Creators of “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet”

The cast and co-creators of Apple original “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” revisit one of their favorite scenes from the series and answer questions from the Apple developer community. Listen to the discussion in the Apple Developer app.

The cast and co-creators Megan Ganz and Rob McElhenney of Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet.

Learn: Widgets Code-Along

In this three-part coding series, developers create widgets for their apps for the new Home and Today screens of iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Developers discover how to create a widget project, learn fundamental concepts for widgets and their structure, configure the widget and its provider, and start exploring timeline concepts. Learn more about the Widgets Code-Along in the Apple Developer app.

A widget project for iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Play: Explore the Action and Vision App

In this session, Apple developers reveal how they designed the Action and Vision app using Object Detection and Action Classification in Create ML, along with the new Body Pose Estimation, Trajectory Detection, and Contour Detection features in the Vision framework. Developers explore how to create an immersive application for gameplay or training, from setup to analysis and feedback. For more information, visit the Apple Developer app.

A demo of Body Pose estimation in the Action and Vision app.

Highlights from Day 3 at WWDC20.

Watch: A WWDC20 Conversation

Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, hosts a conversation with former Attorney General Eric Holder on the topic of race in America. This wide-ranging discussion touches on the fight for equal justice, how technology can empower people to change the world for the better, and ways to help in this moment. Watch their conversation in the Apple Developer app.

Apple’s Lisa Jackson and former Attorney General Eric Holder.

Learn: Design Great App Clips

App Clips offer fast, convenient ways for people to perform everyday tasks without needing to download or navigate through a full app. In this session, developers explore how to identify key elements from their iOS app to make a great App Clip. Visit the Apple Developer app for more information.

An App Clip for etsy.com displayed on iPhone 11 Pro.

Play: Tap into Game Center: Leaderboards, Achievements, and Multiplayer

Game creators learn how to level up their Game Center integration, enabling players to compare scores on leaderboards, earn valuable achievements, and engage with other players. Learn more about Game Center in the Apple Developer app.

The new Leaderboards integration in Game Center displayed on iPhone 11 Pro.

Highlights from Day 2 at WWDC20.

Learn: Build Trust Through Better Privacy

Developers learn about Apple’s privacy pillars and its approach to privacy. In this session, they discover how to adopt the latest privacy features across Apple platforms that can help create more personal experiences while giving users greater transparency about tracking and permissions, when their app is using the microphone or camera to record, control over location with approximate location, and much more. Visit developer.apple.com to learn more about the latest privacy features coming to all Apple platforms.

User location privacy settings in iOS 14.

Learn: WWDC20 Coding and Design Starter Kit

Developers of all ages try their hand at building an app in SwiftUI from scratch, creating widgets for the new Home Screen on iPhone, and solving coding problems with accessibility and music in mind. Sessions will be held all week. For more information on the WWDC20 Coding and Design Starter Kit collection, visit developer.apple.com.

Apple engineer Jordyn Castor.

Play: Detect Body and Hand Pose with Vision

Developers take the new Vision framework, which enables apps to detect body and hand poses in photos and video, for a test drive at Apple Park. To see the session, visit developer.apple.com.

A child playing a Ukulele to demo hand pose detection.

Monday, June 22, 2020

Highlights of Monday’s biggest news across iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7 and tvOS 14 from WWDC20.

Craig Federighi onstage at WWDC20.
Jenny Chen demos handwriting on iPad Pro at WWDC20.
Julz Arney shows off Apple Watch dance workout at WWDC20.
Yah Cason discussing Home app updates at WWDC20.
Yael Garten demos Siri at WWDC20.
Kevin Lynch presenting watchOS 7 features at WWDC20.
Vera Carr presents new Maps features at WWDC20.
Emily Schubert showcasing digital car keys at WWDC20.
Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies.
Katie Skinner onstage at WWDC20.
Andreas Wendker at the Platforms State of the Union at WWDC20.

Learn: Tim Cook Surprises Swift Student Challenge Winners During the Swift Student Challenge winner meetup, Tim Cook and Esther Hare dropped by for a 15-minute Q&A session. To learn more about some of the WWDC20 Swift Student Challenge winners, visit apple.com/ca/newsroom.

Tim Cook and Esther Hare with WWDC20 Swift Student Challenge winners.

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