Is WWDC24 exciting again?

Apple has been lagging behind the "AI" chat assistant train for quite sometime. The best assistant Apple has, Siri, is bested by both Google and Alexa, when it comes to conversational, context-aware conversations and accessing the web. What Siri is good at is accessing local, on-device, data, though. Apple finally changed that with the WWDC24 announcement of Apple Intelligence. Did it excite me? Well, to be honest, it did. However, that is only part of what excited me. So what other stuff is exciting at WWDC24?

WWDC covers all Apple operating systems, from iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, macOS and now VisionOS (yes, there is HomePod OS also), and this year is no different. Each platform has new features, including Apple Intelligence (yes, it is a feature not a product, definitely not an "AI" product, like those flops, you know what I mean), and whilst most are good to have, others are way overdue, and some that I think I will be using a lot. Note, however, that there are OS features that are kept secret until the release of new models, specially the next iPhone, Apple Watch, Macs, and hopefully a new Apple TV and HomePods, in the next few months.

To begin with, I am excited about the new iPhone mirroring feature, which is something that I will certainly use  frequently. I often leave my iPhone either in the bedroom, in Standby mode, or in my pocket, when working. Being able to seamlessly access it from the Mac is heaven-sent. I wish that Apple extends this to the iPad (mirror iPad on Mac, and mirror iPhone on iPad).

Some cosmetic changes to home screen and control center are happening, but most are long overdue already, and not game changers. Heck, I can't even think of what app to hide, but I can probably protect some apps from being easily launched, though.

The Messages app's Tapbacks, Text Effects and RCS support are boring updates (but I will use them hahaha). Add Genmoji to the list of something that is not really necessary - I think this is just Apple adding the whimsy to what their on-device "AI" can do. The new simple, Send Later, feature is one thing that is very useful, at least to me. No more leaving messages on the app whilst waiting for 8am to send. 

The machine-learning enabled summarization and categorization features in Mail definitely are welcome. Personally, I'd benefit from some email organization, even though I just achieved inbox zero recently! Bwahaha. 
There are other new features announced, which are, personally, not much of a big deal to me, with the exception of the Apple Watch Activity Ring Pause mode (about time!), and Apple TV's implementation of Amazon Prime Video's X-Ray feature. Even the new applications on the Apple Watch, e.g., Vitals, did not get me excited, but the long, overdue Passwords app is a welcome addition. Is 1Password losing its place in my must-have apps?

I am currently running iOS 18 beta on an old iPhone, which meant that I couldn't test Apple Intelligence yet. However, I am thinking of installing the MacOS beta. If and when this happens, I will tell you about it. 

So, for the meantime, let's enjoy the remaining three months before these new stuff gets available to everyone. And oh, if you have a second-generation iPhone SE or newer, you will get iOS 18, with the exception of Apple Intelligence, which requires A17 and M-series processors. Is it time to upgrade? Maybe, and yes, that is part of Apple's plans. :P