No, I did not confuse the events: last Monday’s was the keynote of Apple’s Alla Wwdc and not the opening of Google i / o. However, the “better together” mantra that we have often heard from Big G materialized on the stage of the Apple ecosystem developer conference. “Better Together”, literally “better together”, is the idea of combining different software and devices to offer a better experience to its users. The interesting thing is that this philosophy goes far beyond the hardware. But the goal is always the same: to find an essential product – be it an existing device, software or service – around which to anchor a new experience, then add other products or services so that both provide their own value to create. a new and better final experience.
Together, to add functions
Continuity Camera, for example, extends the benefits of the iPhone’s main buying factor, the camera, to what has taken up most of our day in the last couple of years, video calling. The simplicity of the solution that allows you to mount the iPhone on the back of a MacBook or the new Studio Display to take advantage of the more advanced features of the iPhone camera is what underlines the value of “Better Together”.
Continuity Camera does not require any configuration. The user just needs to bring the iPhone running iOS 16 close to a Mac running macOS Ventura, put it on a stand, and FaceTime or any other video conferencing application will automatically recognize it. No software update is required. The experience takes it a step further with a new feature called Desk View, which uses the iPhone’s ultra-wide-angle camera to show both the user’s face and a view of the desk as an overhead camera, so that the user can create video tutorials or show an object on the desk during a meeting.
Together, thanks to the software
With the iPad receiving full support for external displays and Stage Manager, its flexibility as a primary processing device increases significantly. Stage Manager allows you to create groups of 3 or 4 windows and, when used with an external display, you can have up to 8 apps running at the same time, greatly improving the iPad’s multitasking ability.
The analysis of applications and software services focuses on the simpler aspects that make the work experience continuous and on the end-to-end solutions that guarantee maximum peace of mind. Here are some examples.
With FaceTime you can move calls from one device to another. You can initiate a call on the iPhone, and when you are close to the Mac, the computer will see the call on the phone and offer the option to move it and take advantage of the larger screen if you wish.
Apple Pay will add Apple Pay Later (payment by installments) and order tracking to integrate services you may have obtained from other providers into a single experience. Apple Pay Later allows you to split the cost of a purchase with Apple Pay into four equal payments, spread over six weeks, with no interest or fees of any kind. There has been some confusion on social media as to whether this feature was limited to Apple product purchases, but it isn’t.
For Apple Pay Later, no action is required from developers and merchants who already work with Apple Pay. It will just work. Order tracking with Apple Pay then allows e-commerce to send detailed receipts and tracking information directly to the customer’s wallet. This has always been a sore point for me in using Apple Pay, as it is necessary to rely on third-party applications, and online retailers use several. As a customer, you end up having to follow your orders in a messy way, on many different apps. Tracking on Apple Pay will solve the problem.
Together to collaborate
Safari and the new Shared Tab Groups are other good examples of the Better Together philosophy. This feature allows you to collaborate with people by sharing browsing cards, see who suggested them, and connect directly with the people you’re collaborating with via messages or FaceTime.
Apple also unveiled a new app called FreeForm (coming later this year) that can be opened directly from a FaceTime call. FreeForm can be used for brainstorming sessions, taking notes, sharing files, drawing diagrams and everything else you do when collaborating. Photos, videos, audio documents, PDFs and web links can be placed on a Free Form whiteboard without limitations.
While Apple has talked about these last two consumer features, it’s easy to see how they can be very relevant in a business context. Our research data shows a high use of iMessage and FaceTime as collaboration tools in companies, and not just in small businesses, but also in groups within large organizations. iMessage also has a collaboration option that allows you to easily share and work on a document while staying within the workflow.
Sometimes to work better together we rely on third parties, as in the case of the Home app, where Apple has joined with Matter to promote greater interoperability between devices. Or in the car, where the future version of CarPlay will have much deeper integration with data and the onboard system.
New post-pandemic needs
The number of devices we rely on every day has increased during the pandemic. While our mobility is now greater, our reliance on these devices will remain as the overall time we spend on performing digital tasks has increased. The complexity of our digital businesses has also increased. The combination of these factors means that our need to choose the right device for each task has also grown, as well as that of moving seamlessly between devices and apps.
In more ways than one, Apple has demonstrated how its ecosystem can offer simplicity and variety at the same time. However, Apple doesn’t play, at least not yet, a role in all aspects of our lives, and the same goes for other big tech companies, be it Google, Microsoft or Amazon. It will be fascinating to see how consumers choose their favorite “enablers” for their many digital activities. All of this will be even more relevant when we move into the Metaverse; a theme that, despite the rumors of a “realOS” and a new Apple AR / VR headset, was completely absent from the Alla Wwdc keynote.