I’m stealing an idea from Justin Williams over at CarpeAqua. He had a great post about all the things that Apple needs to introduce at WWDC 2013 in order to meet all of the rumors that are floating around out there. I’m going to look at those rumors and put myself on record with my predictions.
Here are the rumors that Justin identified along with my predictions.
- A completely refreshed design language for iOS 7 that sheds the Forstall and oozes Ive. – Partially going to happen.
- Modernized and updated system apps for iOS that match the new Ivey design language. – Partially going to happen.
- A services/sharing architecture on par with what is offered by Windows Phone and Android. – Not going to happen (yet… maybe next year).
- An update to iMessage that makes it reliable. – Going to happen.
- An update to iMessage that allows people to leave group chats. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- Multiple people on FaceTime calls. – Might happen as well.
- Xcode 5 with better refactoring tools, smarter smart sense and less crashes. – I don’t use XCode, so I can’t comment on this.
- A separate documentation viewer from Xcode itself so that command-tabbing between code and documents is possible and I can remove that weird purple icon DashCode uses from my Dock. – See previous comment.
- Transitioning the beta testing process from device limits and towards Apple ID’s so anyone with a targeted ID can install a beta product on any device they own. – Not going to happen.
- The ability to distribute betas over the App Store. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- Analytics tools for App Store developers so we can see where referrals and sales funnel in from. – Not going to happen.
- Real-time sales analytics. It’s 2013. Next day sales charts just won’t do. – Not going to happen.
- The ability to finally, once and for all delete old app IDs from the portal. – Not going to happen.
- The death of the provisioning profile to make deploying to devices less of a headache. – Not going to happen.
- The removal of the 100 device limit for iOS beta testing, or at a minimum deleting a device gives the slot back to you before your iOS developer program renewal date. – Not going to happen.
- A faster, more reliable iCloud. – Going to happen.
- An updated iCloud that obviates the need for services like Dropbox. – Going to happen.
- Syncing with Core Data and iCloud to actually work so that we can stop writing blog posts about it. – Going to happen.
- A backend service that ties to iCloud that enables Apple platform developers to deploy a web service to tie their apps together. Think Google App Engine, but with a flat UI designed by Jony Ive. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- The ability to customize the lock screen on iOS. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- The ability to organize your springboard free-form. – Not going to happen.
- The ability to add widgets to your home screen. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- Quick access to key service toggles like Airplane Mode and Bluetooth. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- A more reliable Game Center so Loren doesn’t break it again. – Not going to happen. In fact Game Center may go away.
- The ability to Find My Friends without having to open up an app covered in leather. This will allow vegetarians to finally use the product. – Going to happen.
- Updates to iTunes Match make it more like Rdio and less like an unreliable mess. – Going to happen.
- An updated notification center that supports swiping away notifications – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- An updated notification center that supports quick actions from a notification – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- An updated notification center that offers Game Center achievements for successfully tapping the tiny “X” on the first try. – Not going to happen.
- The ability to download Mac apps from your iPhone or iPad and have them show up on your Mac when you get home. – Not going to happen.
- The ability to download iPad apps from your iPhone and have them show up on supported devices automatically. – Not going to happen.
- A web-based front-end to iTunes that doesn’t involve ever launching iTunes again. – Not going to happen.
- Selective backup restoration from an iCloud backup. – Not going to happen.
- Read and write access to Photo Streams. – Not going to happen.
- The ability to set new default apps for things like the camera, calendar and browser. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- Deeper integration for third-party services beyond just Twitter and Facebook. – Going to happen.
- The return of Google Maps. – Not going to happen.
- A Q&A session with Tim Cook at the conclusion of the Keynote where he answers questions from anyone not named Robert Scoble. – Not going to happen.
- The ability to update apps in the background without weird geofencing hacks to accomplish it. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- A new App Store app that isn’t a complete turd. – Not going to happen.
- An update to OS X that is not only stable and fast, but incorporates new features both pulled back from iOS and to further push it ahead of Windows 8. – Going to happen.
- The ability to disable that god damned Mac App Store updates notification without having to actually update or open the Mac App Store. – Not going to happen.
- Port UIKit back to OS X so that I can stop reading tweets from people bitching about how old and dated AppKit is. – Not going to happen.
- Retina screens for every Mac. – Not going to happen.
- A new Mac Pro. Finally. – Going to happen
- Air Drop support across the Internet and not just your local network. – Not going to happen.
- Pull all the Google-centric code from WebKit 2 and make the next version of Safari suck less. No more reloading all my tabs please. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- The ability to read your iBooks on your Mac. – Might happen. (I give it a 50/50 chance.)
- MapKit for OS X. – Not going to happen.
- Siri support for the Mac. – Going to happen
A Borrowed Idea 