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Posts tagged with "Summer OS Preview 2024"

iPadOS 18’s Smart Script: A Promising Start But Don’t Toss Out Your Keyboard Yet

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The carefully controlled demos of Smart Script at WWDC reminded me of every time Apple shows off the Photos app, where each picture is a perfectly composed, beautiful image of smiling models. In contrast, my photo library is full of screenshots and random images like the blurry one I took the other day to capture my refrigerator’s model number.

Likewise, handwriting demos on the iPad always show someone with flawless, clear penmanship who can also draw. In both cases, the features demonstrated may work perfectly well, but the reality is that there’s always a gap between those sorts of perfect “lifestyle” demos and everyday use. So today, I thought I’d take iPadOS 18’s Smart Script for a spin and see how it holds up under the stark reality of my poor handwriting.

Smart Script, meet John's handwriting (auto-refine enabled).

Smart Script, meet John’s handwriting (auto-refine enabled).

The notion behind Smart Script is to make taking handwritten notes as easy and flexible as typing text. As someone who can touch type with my eyes closed, that’s a tall order, but it’s also a good goal. I’ve always been drawn to taking notes on an iPad with the Apple Pencil, but it’s been the constraints that held me back. It’s always been easier to move and change typed text than handwritten notes. Add to that the general messiness of my handwriting, and eventually, I abandoned every experiment with taking digital handwritten notes out of frustration.

Smart Script tries to address all of those issues, and in some cases, it succeeds. However, there are still a few rough edges that need to be ironed out before most people’s experience will match the demos at WWDC. That said, if those problem areas get straightened out, Smart Script has the potential to transform how the iPad is used and make the Apple Pencil a much more valuable accessory.

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iOS 18 After One Month: Without AI, It’s Mostly About Apps and Customization

iOS 18 launches in public beta today.

iOS 18 launches in public beta today.

My experience with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, launching today in public beta for everyone to try, has been characterized by smaller, yet welcome enhancements to Apple’s productivity apps, a redesign I was originally wrong about, and an emphasis on customization.

There’s a big omission looming over the rollout of these public betas, and that’s the absence of any Apple Intelligence functionalities that were showcased at WWDC. There’s no reworked Siri, no writing tools in text fields, no image generation via the dedicated Image Playground app, no redesigned Mail app. And that’s not to mention the AI features that we knew were slotted for 2025 and beyond, such as Siri eventually becoming more cognizant of app content and gaining the ability to operate more specifically inside apps.

As a result, these first public betas of iOS and iPadOS 18 may be – and rightfully so – boring for most people, unless you really happen to care about customization options or apps.

Fortunately, I do, which is why I’ve had a pleasant time with iOS and iPadOS 18 over the past month, noting improvements in my favorite system apps and customizing Control Center with new controls and pages. At the same time, however, I have to recognize that Apple’s focus this year was largely on AI; without it, it feels like the biggest part of the iOS 18 narrative is missing.

As you can imagine, I’m going to save a deeper, more detailed look at all the visual customization features and app-related changes in iOS and iPadOS 18 for my annual review later this year, where I also plan to talk about Apple’s approach to AI and what it’ll mean for our usage of iPhones and iPads.

For now, let’s take a look at the features and app updates I’ve enjoyed over the past month.

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macOS Sequoia: The MacStories Public Beta Preview

Sequoia is not your typical macOS release. In recent years, new features of all Apple OSes have been increasingly meted out over time instead of dropping all at once in the fall. That’s been true of macOS, too, but this year, the magnitude of the staged release will be more pronounced, which has trickled through to the public beta released today.

macOS Sequoia will be a phased release. That means you won’t find everything announced at WWDC in the public beta. Some features, notably large parts of Apple Intelligence, won’t be available until 2025. That’s something worth keeping in mind if you’re thinking about installing the Sequoia public beta today. The beta is generally stable, but you’re likely to run into bugs, and with many features still to come in the months ahead, the upside of running it is more limited than in past years.

Apple Intelligence promises to round out Sequoia over time, but neither I nor anyone else outside of Apple has had a chance to try those features yet. So, for now, let’s focus on what you can expect if you install the macOS Sequoia public beta today.

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watchOS 11: The MacStories Public Beta Preview

Last year, Apple declared watchOS 10 the biggest update to the Apple Watch’s software since its introduction. I don’t think that was actually the case, but there were undoubtedly some notable changes to how we interact with our watches every day, with the introduction of the Smart Stack being key among them.

While Apple hasn’t forgotten about UI enhancements like the Smart Stack, this year sees the company turning its focus back to health and fitness tracking with some significant new features in those areas. I’ll be saving a deeper dive into the software update – including all the tiny changes and fun additions – until the fall, but with the watchOS 11 public beta going live today via the Apple Beta Software Program, now is the perfect time to go over the key features Apple has in store for Apple Watch users.

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