Here are the features I predict Apple will reveal on 11.6.12 for iOS 6. What do you think?
- Swipe from bottom and from the sides: the same algorithm that opens the notification center when you swipe the screen from above, will also be implemented to all other sides. When you swipe from bottom: the multi-task fast app switcher will show (no more agonizing double taps!), swiping from sides will switch back and forward between previous applications exactly like the 4-finger gesture on the iPad does.
- Siri API: developers will have an API to add question "templates" to Siri's vocabulary, for example: saying "Play %q from stitcher" will identify the word pronounced instead of "%q" and will send it to the Stitcher app. So, saying "Play the verge from stitcher" will launch the stitcher app and play "the verge" podcast.
- iMessage API: Since iMessages are free, Apple will open an API that will enable developers to send them programmatically, opening the flood gates for specialized messaging apps like delayed texting, location based texting and more.
- New notification interactions: till this very day, there are only two ways to interact with a notification coming from an app: dismiss it or open the app. As a developer you would like to give your users the power to delete an object in a notification, snooze it or open an automatic reply. The new API will let the developer add a button to the notification, or maybe even a select box. In fact, I think apple will add a "snooze by time" option to iOS's native calendar notifications.
- Social info: this app would like to know your gender and your age. Apple will continue adding social hooks like "find my friends" and "ping".
- Photo sharing: you'll be able to photo-tag friends from your contact list, and this will send them a link and pop the photo in their photos gallery.
- 3D iMaps: no doubt.
- AppStore on the Apple TV: no way, only when the iTV will be announced, which is not at this WWDC.
Left overs from iOS 5 predictions
I still really want these:- Widgets: app icons will now have various possible sizes, constrained to combinations of multiple icons. For example, to make a search widget, you can define your icon by 3x1, meaning 3 icons across and one vertical icon. The widget will occupy the space of 3 icons horizontally on the home screen and will behave exactly like an application with transparent background.
- Xcode for the iPad: This is more of a wet dream, but Apple is building on the iOS as their main operating system for the future, and to get the real hardcore users to move to it, they have to make an IDE available. The main reason I gave up on my iPad and gave it to my mom was the lack of a good IDE (plus she really liked it :-).
