What We Did And Didn't Get From iOS5 / iCloud

So before the start of WWDC 2011 I wrote up a post listing some of my expectations for iOS5 and iCloud. So... How did I go? How did WE go?


Features We Did Get:

1. Single-Sign-On Auto-Configuration: When setting up an iOS5 device for the first time you will be asked to log into your Apple ID or create one. The first step towards iPhone / iPad and iPod Touch going truly Post-PC. Once your Apple ID is ready to go, iOS will guide you through setting up its special internet services like iCloud, Find My iPhone, Game Center etc. All these settings look like they will be backed up to iCloud as well, so next time you just have to enter your Apple ID and all your apps and settings will be downloaded in the place and state you left them on your last device.
2. Cloud-Synced Data: Text Messages and your Camera Roll will be backed up to your 5GB iCloud account once a day which is great because this was one of the most pressing missing features. There are also many other things that iCloud will back up. My only concern is it may only back-up over Wi-Fi. This is fine for Images/Video etc but you would think Texts could easily be backed-up over 3G for those who don't have a home connection. It also provides the option to sync with your computer's iTunes over Wi-Fi as well when your phone is charging which is cool.
3. Better Notifications: Notifications are much better displayed on the lock screen and you can access a history of your Notifications in a drawer swiped down from the top of your screen in a style popularised by Android. You can also configure your LED flash to blink when you get a new notification as well as set custom tones for certain apps like Mail. Unfortunately you can't seem to dismiss individual notifications, there is only a per-app "clear all" feature as far as I can tell.
4. Better iDisk Support or iCloud Replacement: Well it seems that iDisk and its hosted websites and shareable galleries have been canned and all of MobileMe's loyal suffering customers have been screwed over but we did get a solution from iCloud to back up our documents from iOS devices to the cloud. No word though on how Mac OS X accesses these files, which is a concern.
5. OTA Patches: Done and done. Just as I suspected after seeing my Apple TV get a OTA delta update.

Features We May Have / Sort Of Got:

1. Access My iTunes Purchased Content Anywhere: It seems that iTunes in the Cloud is not supporting access to our Movie / TV Show /Music Video purchases from iTunes. Music is all we seem to have so far.
2. Cloud-Synced App Save States: iCloud claims it will back-up "Device-Settings" and "App Data". Developers are also being given some API access to iCloud, primarily for documents but hopefully it will also allow apps to maintain there status between all your iOS devices.
3. Display More Information on my Wallpaper: Notifications will be displayed on the lock screen and the Weather and Stocks apps are visible as widgets in the notification draw. No sign yet of the ability of To-Do apps being able to display their lists on your wallpaper directly yet.
4. Location Aware Behaviours: No profiles but there has been some location aware functionality built in. The iPhone will backup its essential data to iCloud when you are on Wi-Fi once a day and it will perform a Wi-Fi sync with iTunes on your computer whenever it is charging and can detect your iTunes on your Wi-Fi network. The new Reminders app also allows you to set alarms based on your location. This could be cool but may also suck your battery dry.

Features We May NOT Have Got:

1. GameCenter APIs For the Web: This may have been added but since I don't have a dev account I can't look into it.
2. Grandfathered iDisk support: I didn't expect to lose my iDisk. Boo.
3. Better Google Sync support: Using the default gMail setup on iOS5 it still doesn't seem to auto-configure Google Sync. Boo. iCloud may automatically backup your contacts and calendars regardless of your email account but how can you get that information back to Google if you use Google's web apps?
4. Better Understanding Of iOS File Management: I realise that iOS tries to keep the file system invisible but I still have three really important questions about how its going to work. A) If I delete an app, do I delete all the documents it created / stored as well? B) How do I manage a file that is being worked on by two apps or the same app on two devices like a Mac and an iPad for example? With Dropbox that is easy but how does that work with iCloud? C) Is AirDrop not going to support iOS devices?

Features We Didn't Get:

1. Spotlight APIs for 3rd Party Developers: This is a really disappointing missing feature. They added a news stand folder for your magazines but no sign of search for In-App-Purchase content.
2. A Web-Based iTunes Store: Nope. The iBookstore has come to iTunes though.
3. GameCenter and Ping Merged: No, although Game Centre does seem have some Genius recommendations for games and there is deeper support for finding other Game Centre friends. Despite deeper Twitter support in iOS5, there is no sign you can find more Game Centre friends by searching your Twitter followers like you can with Ping. Crazy!
4. Ping support for Apps / Movies / Books / Games: No love for Ping, maybe its being killed off. I realise not many people use it but I'd still like to see what movies my friends are renting and apps they are buying and liking etc. More Ping and Game Center updates may come with the next iPod Touch I suppose.
5. In-App Purchases Hosted By Apple: No word of this, Apple really needs to add this to justify their 30% cut of the take.

Features I Forgot To Ask For:

These are features that I have noted were missing before but did not place on my checklist.

1. System level QR Code Integration: This has been added to Windows Phone 7 and I really wish iOS would have it as well. It's a great way for people to share and promote links and apps in the App Store whether it be from business cards, to posters, to ads in old media publications. There are good free apps available to do this but without it built in, it will only remain in the realm of the geeks.
2. A5 Specific Features. No specific mention of optimisations or benefits of the dual core A5 chip like Side-by-Side apps.
3. iPad Alarm Clock. No Sign of it.
4. Easier Bluetooth Toggle: At the very least put this toggle below wifi on the very first Settings page. Even better would be a widget in the app switcher or Notifications draw.
5. You still can't select text within a Text message bubble. Pathetic.
6. Open FaceTime: Silence.

I'll add obvious answers to this list as I use the beta more. Extra features like NFC support and more may also be announced along with the iPhone 5 so it may be a while before we get the complete picture. What features are still missing for you?

Questions Arising Immediately after WWDC 2011 Keynote

While you are catching up on what was introduced on the iOS front, please consider my questions...

• What is happening to my 20gb iDisk? :(
• What is happening to all the other MobileMe services that weren't mentioned in the iCloud announcement like preference sync between Macs etc?
• My MobileMe email account is already 4gb in size. No problem with iDisk's 20gb, but with iCloud's 5gb? Hmm....
• No word of voice recognition or anything to do with the tech they got from Siri. (Perhaps that's a good thing after seeing Microsoft's E3 keynote).
• Is iMessage a separate app from the Message app? This could be confusing...
• If you have uploaded all your music with iTunes Match in your first year, can you cancel your service and not lose anything as long as you buy all your new music from iTunes in the future?
• So will movies you purchase from iTunes not be able to be streamed to your iOS devices and not be backed up from iCloud? Sounds like a mess.
• I thought Apple would beat Microsft to side by side apps on tablets but maybe not.
• I haven't seen the official video of the keynote yet but Steve Jobs looked a little rough on the edges with the way he spoke.

Regarding Lion...

• So... to install Lion if you are currently running Leopard.... You have to buy a copy of Snow Leopard, install, then update until you have access to the Mac App store, then buy a copy of Lion and THEN finally install it.... Ok Then...?

I'll update this with further thoughts tomorrow.

On a positive note, a lot of the things I outlined below have been checked off. I dare say that I got more correct than almost any other Tech Pundit. Also Lion for $30 for 5 devices! Bargain!

Hopes for iOS5 and iCloud Checklist for WWDC

[UPDATE: See how the checklist held up here]

Apple's four year old mobile operating system is getting pretty long in the tooth and it's fairly complicated set-up requirements are resulting in few iPhone users taking advantage of some of its most useful features. This is my checklist of features or "Pillars" that iOS5 and its accompanying iCloud service need to be able to provide in order for this operating system to stay relevant.

Essential Changes/Additions to the Combined iOS5 / iCloud Platform

1. Single-Sign-On Auto-Configuration: Sounds complicated but its what makes Smartphones 'Smart'. Basically when a user signs into a iDevice with their Apple ID, their device is auto-configured for Mail / Contacts / Calendar / Find My iPhone GameCenter / Ping and iCloud backup services (With the option to un-check any of these services). When a user gets a new iPhone and turns it on (i.e. at an Apple Store) or is setting up a previsously formateed iPhone, instead of getting a symbol to connect to your computer you are simply asked for your Apple ID or to set one up if you don't have one. Hopefully if your Apple ID is a MobileMe account it will auto-configure MobileMe services or the replacement iCloud service (and possibly unlikely but hopefully if your ID is a gmail account it will auto-configure Google Sync). If the user does not use either of these as an Apple ID, alternative options for Exchange accounts should be provided. This Apple ID will then be associated with all your settings and iOS app save-states which I discuss further in the upcoming points.
2. Cloud-Synced Data: Hopefully iCloud will bring better support for syncing your data on your iPhone OTA. For example photos and Text messages are currently lost if you lose your phone and you haven't synced your iDevice back to your computer recently. This is unacceptable as this is really valuable data to the common user and few are educated about how to keep it safe. I would hope it would intelligently choose the best time to do these syncs, such as when it's charging and connected to WiFi as well as helping you get the right balance between caching and permanent storage.
3. Cloud-Synced App Save States: Just like how iBooks can sync the page you are up to between your iPhone and your iPad and just as how Steam Cloud allows you to pick up where you left off in a game you are playing on any computer that you are logged into. This ability needs to be available to all apps and all third party developers. Pause a video on my Apple TV, pick up where i left off on my iPad when I get into bed. Pause a position in a podcast or an audiobook on my mobile device and pick it up from where I left off on my computer without having to sync via usb.
4. Access My iTunes Purchased Content Anywhere: Any Apple device associated with my Apple ID should be able re-download or stream any content from iTunes I have purchased. Its not just apps I should be able to download, but music and movies as well. A purchase history list should also be added to the iStores on the iDevices much like the Mac App Store has. Being able to sync whole playlists would be even better. Build the playlist with a mouse and keyboard on your computer and have available to your iDevice whenever you want.
5. A Web-Based iTunes Store: Since I assume iCloud will replace much of the functionality of the iTunes desktop software, I think iTunes and the iTunes Store needs to move to the cloud as well. With all this cloud syncing going on, I would like to be able to log into the iTunes store on any web-browser and be able to peruse Books/ Movies/Music/Apps etc and have them made available immediately to my iDevices when I purchase something. It would also be neat if I was able to organise my playlists from the web as well.
6. Spotlight APIs for 3rd Party Developers: In-App purchases such as magazines, books and downloads such as podcasts and audiobooks from third-party apps need to be discoverable via iPhone's Spotlight search function.
7. Better Notifications: I haven't mentioned this first because it is so obvious that if Apple were not to do something about this than I would personally recommend anyone holding Apple stock to sell-sell-sell. Notifications need to slide in and out of view to alert the user of what is going on in background apps without interrupting what you are doing (Instead of now where they pause video and/or stop your video stream from working). A notification history also needs to be available so that if you unlock your phone you haven't lost to context of your alerts forever. The notification timeline needs to also be "glance-able information" when you turn on the screen.

Things I Would Hope Apple Implements:

• GameCenter and Ping Merged: They should be one service with additional abilities:
• GameCenter APIs For the Web: Let achievement tracking services like GiantBomb and Raptr have access to APIs that let you show off your GameCenter achievements as well as on other web services like Twitter and Facebook. This will provide much needed promotion of the service.
• Ping support for Apps / Movies / Books / Games: I want to see recommendations from my friends for not just music from the iTunes store but EVERYTHING it sells.
• Better iDisk Support or iCloud Replacement: Documents on Apple iOS apps like Pages etc need to be able to be synced between devices in a similar fashion to how DropBox currently works for many 3rd party apps. I'm assuming iCloud will provide this option.
• Display More Information on my Wallpaper: "Glance-able Information" like a To-Do List or App Notifications. It would be awesome if they added support for widgets but if not, at the very least, awesome apps like Stickies need the ability to export their notes as a wallpaper directly.
• Location Aware Behaviours: When my iPhone is connected to my local WiFi and is charging, the iPhone should be smart enough to choose that time to back-up my largest content produced on my iPhone to the cloud. I should also be able to set profiles for how I want a phone to behave in certain situations, like a lecture or a movie theatre. Dumb phones have had this feature for a decade now and I'm sure Apple could do it in a more intelligent way if they invested time into the feature.
• OTA Patches: Not Over The Air Updates, but OTA patches. I'd rather not have to download the whole ROM for the system whenever the iDevice needs to be updated.
• In-App Purchases Hosted By Apple: Shockingly, despite having to give 30% of revenue from In-App purchases to Apple, developers still have to host that content themselves. This often means a developer has less money to host those purchases on proper CDNs and the user experience becomes inconsistent between purchases.

Regarding A Filesystem on iOS

I also don't think there should be a file system on the iPhone like on the Mac. All documents should be kept in a universal pool with support for versioning of each document available via iCloud. Each app should have access to the document types it chooses to handle. Documents can be found by search and each app can keep it's own list of "Favourite" documents which it can cache locally.

How Do I Come To My Conclusions?

My wishlist is driven purely by observing strangers who are new to iDevices attempt to set them up, and conversations with long time users of iPhones who have never explored further into the iPhone than the SMS app.

I also notice that people seem to lose there phones A LOT. So I wonder what information is commonly lost when the average iPhone user loses their phone and how can we prevent that by combining the strength of a single-log-on setup and Cloud support in the background.

The Year's Biggest Week In Digital Media Live From Perth

So you're sitting in Perth, Western Australia, the most isolated major city in the world and you're wondering how to catch all the live events from WWDC and E3. Well I'm going to be keeping a keen eye on all of them and will be trying to keep this page updated with everything I know. It's this kind of globilisation which has got me campaigning for UTC to become the normal time EVERYWHERE but I'll talk more about that later.

The Schedule For Perth Viewers (WST)

Tuesday June 7, 2011 (Don't wake up tomorrow, it's tonight!)

1. 12.30am - 2am: Microsoft's E3 Keynote (UTC: 4.30pm Monday June 6, 2011)
2. 1am - 2.30am: Apple's WWDC Keynote (UTC: 5pm Monday June 6, 2011)
3. 3.30am - 4.30am: EA's E3 Keynote (UTC: 7.30pm Monday June 6, 2011)
4. 5.30am - 6.45am: Ubisoft's E3 Keynote (UTC: 9.30pm Monday June 6, 2011)
5. 8am - 10am: Sony's E3 Keynote (UTC: 12am Tuesday June 7, 2011)

Wednesday June 8, 2011

1. 12am-2am: Nintendo's E3 Keynote (UTC: 4pm Tuesday June 7, 2011)

Live Broadcasts / Coverage

Apple @ WWDC

No official live video stream has been announced yet. If no live stream appears your best bet is to follow some of the popular live blogs. This Is My Next should have a good live-blog here. Engadget should be rocking their live-blog here. I think Macworld is hosting their blog here. Twit should also be broadcasting video of their live commentary of the event here and will likely have "Post-Game" analysis as well.

The E3 Press Conference Live Streams

Each major player at E3 is streaming their own live coverage of their keynotes. Follow the links here:

1. Microsoft
2. EA
3. Ubisoft
4. Sony
5. Nintendo

E3 "Post-Game" Live Coverage
Giant Bomb will likely have the best "Post-Game" commentary being broadcast live after each night of E3. You can catch it live here at approximately 11am Perth time.