WWDC 2016

Just before WWDC 2016 kicked off this week, one of the rumors that popped up was that Apple would announced iMessage for Android, allowing the free, encrypted messaging service to co-exist on both platforms. However, the WWDC keynote passed with the only focus on iMessage being new texting effects, stickers, and more. Now, as The Verge's Walt Mossberg explains, an Apple executive has revealed why iMessage is unlikely to come to Android anytime in the near future.

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After rumors of iPhone's epitomes communications app iMessage coming to Android turned up false at WWDC, we take a peek at why non-Apple devices wouldn't want it anyway. Not that they were asking for it. We've heard the horror stories of iMessage/Android group texting, of incompatible image transfers, and the like, but would putting every mobile user on the same platform really solve everyone's problems? Not even close.

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While the iOS 10 portion of Apple's WWDC 2016 keynote presentation introduced a number of new apps and improvements, we already know there are tons of features to be included that weren't discussed on stage. Now that developers have had a day or two dig into the first beta release of the mobile OS, a few of these previously unmentioned features and options are starting to get discovered. The first big find? The debut of a "dark mode" for iOS.

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Apple's update for HomeKit may make the Apple TV even more important, with its addition of remote access to control things from afar, but it turns out you don't actually need the set-top box. In an ideal setup - and certainly how Apple presented it at the WWDC keynote this week - the Apple TV running the upcoming version of tvOS acts as a Home Hub, but if you don't have, or don't want, the set-top box, you can use something else.

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The unexpected star of iOS 10 may well end up being a barely-known cryptography system to balance privacy and personalization, as Apple further positions itself as the bastion of user data protection. Differential privacy may not be as slick as Siri's increased skill set, or as timely in a cultural sense as new emojis and stickers, but it's arguably far more important than either.

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With E3 2016 fighting for attention with Apple's WWDC this week, it only seems right that the Apple TV should get a gaming upgrade. The set-top box has always quietly been a gaming platform, but with the arrival of the next big tvOS update it'll get a lot more serious about that, in addition to cutting out some of the more frustrating limitations for game developers.

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Message for Android may not have made an appearance at WWDC 2016 today, but Apple's Message platform did get a huge revamp for iOS 10, including stickers support. If you've been under a messaging rock for the past few years, you might not be familiar with stickers: think oversized emojis, often with animation, generally sorted into themed packs.

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With its super-fast rundown of ten of the top features of iOS 10, there's no denying that WWDC 2016 packed as much of the iPhone platform in as possible. Billed as the biggest release for iOS users so far, features like a supercharged Messages experience, a new Home app for HomeKit control, and a much smarter Siri all promise to have an impact every day on how we use our iPhones and iPads.

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At first glance, you could think Apple's WWDC 2016 and Google's I/O 2016 saw announcements of broadly the same thing, but the big question is where - not how - your data is being used. Tim Cook & Co. took to the stage at the Bill Graham Theater in San Francisco this morning to unveil the latest and greatest features of iOS 10, macOS, and more, but even if they didn't mention Google by name, they nonetheless stuck the dagger in at the end of the show.

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After introducing iOS 10 to the world this morning at WWDC 2016, Apple let it be known that the operating system would be delivered to developers this afternoon. Once this Developer Preview is launched, later this year there'll be a Public Beta. That's the release you, the reader, will most likely want to be getting in on. Unless you don't like it when software has a big likelihood of not working precisely how you expect it to work. Hence the Beta.

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Apple has gone all out with Messages in iOS 10, adding 'emojification' and a bunch of other stuff that makes your digital conversations a little more robust. The speech bubbles, for example, can be sent gently or forcefully for added effect; if sans-serif isn't your thing, you can send a message in your own handwriting. And, of course, there are the emoji, as well as some other exciting changes.

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Apple Home was introduced this morning in app form, making Apple's smart home initiative "HomeKit" look a lot more pleasing to the end user. Users will be able to launch their "Home" app from their iPhone and control all HomeKit devices with relative ease. This will include garage doors, thermostats, locks, sensors, and fans. It'll include humidifiers, air purifiers, doorbells, cameras, and air conditioners.

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