¶ My Last-Minute WWDC21 Wishlist

There’s nothing like waiting until just a couple of hours before the WWDC21 keynote to share my wishlist, but hey, I put the Pro in Procrastination.

iPadOS

At the very top of my wishlist is iPadOS becoming a much more capable system to do things. For years iPad hardware has been way ahead of iPad software. I’ve still not fully tapped the potential in my 2020 iPad Pro, and this year’s M1-based iPad Pro moves that goalpost even further.

Some things that would help are bringing pro apps to the iPad because there is inherent infrastructure needed to support those kinds of apps that would benefit everyone.

I’d like Apple to bring Xcode, Terminal, Final Cut, and Logic to the iPad. To really get my attention, introduce some frameworks that make it possible for something like Audio Hijack to exist on iPadOS.

And then there are UI things that would be nice. Making multitasking easier would be great. And being able to put widgets on the Home Screen just like the iPhone would be fantastic. And while we’re at it, I’d love to have the App Library from iPhone as a place in the Dock.

macOS

For the most part, I am a big fan of macOS Big Sur’s new UI. But there are a few areas that could use some improvement.

The notification UI drives me up the wall. I’d like a big X in the corner all the time with a nice, big click target to dismiss the notification. Right now, the on-hover dismissal button takes too long to appear, and is difficult to click accurately. Also, revise the options for snoozing to something more sensible.

I’d also like to have a keyboard shortcut to bring up Control Center and navigate it with my keyboard easily.

Finally, let me drop widgets on my desktop. Files and folders live on the right side of my desktop by default, and the left side is wide open. It’s a perfect place to drop some widgets.

iOS, watchOS, and tvOS

I can’t say I have anything huge from an operating system level for these three systems. I’m confident that Apple will have some nice things in store that I didn’t know I wanted.

Apps

Last year Apple did a great job dogfooding Catalyst with iMessage on macOS.

This year I’d like to see that go further. Catalyst feels like a stopgap on the SwiftUI train to the future, and I’m hoping Apple will show us the potential of SwiftUI by dogfooding it on a major app or two. Two that I can think of off the top of my head: Calendar and Contacts. These apps currently look and behave quite differently on Mac and iOS/iPadOS, that a re-envisioning in SwiftUI seems appropriate.

I can’t tell you how much I would love to do things like duplicate calendar events or manage contact groups on iOS without needing to use a third-party app. (I know, I’m really living the dream, here, aren’t I?)

And I’d also love it if the calendar event editor on Mac were the same as on iOS. Right now, the notification options are different, and so is the travel time field.

Tools

TestFlight for Mac. Seriously, that’s the entire section.

Conclusion

All of these systems are fairly mature, and the main things needed are refinement. Ultimately, it is better for everyone when Apple dedicates itself to using the same tools they give developers. Catalyst made a considerable leap forward when Apple used it to make iMessage on the Mac — an app that can’t afford to suck. For SwiftUI to take its next big step, I think Apple needs to use it for another big app on the system. And the iPad needs to come into its own as something unhindered by the limitations needed for phones.

As a final note, I want to say thank you to everyone at Apple that has made WWDC21 possible. I can’t wait to celebrate your work.