Apple unveiled new ways to discover and organize apps, confirmed a significant change under the hood of Mac computers and announced a new feature that will let users unlock their cars with their smartphones.
The updates, announced at Apple (AAPL)'s annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, highlight the company's continued effort to insert itself into seemingly every corner of our lives, from our cars and living rooms to our personal health, while also confronting the potential for app fatigue more than a decade after the App Store launched.
The company kicked off the event by focusing on iOS 14, the upcoming operating system for the iPhone. As part of its presentation, Apple unveiled a new feature called App Library, which automatically organizes the apps on your homescreen so you don't have to scroll through several pages.
Apple also unveiled a more seamless way to discover and access new apps. The feature, called App Clips, offers a small part of an app for use at the moment it's needed, whether it's for ordering a scooter on demand or food from a restaurant. These apps are small in size and integrate with Apple Pay. Users can then decide to download the full version of the app from the App Store.
At the same time, Apple attempted to demonstrate the still untapped potential of the iPhone, which remains its chief moneymaker. Having already turned the iPhone into a digital credit card, Apple now has plans to make it a digital car key. A new feature, called CarKey, will initially be available with the new 2021 BMW 5 series.
The multi-day developer event is closely watched by consumers and developers for hints at what to expect from iPhones, iPads, Macs and the Apple Watch. This year, for the first time, the event was entirely virtual because of the pandemic.
The event featured some fancy camera work, zooming in from one executive to the next presenting from a range of locations including an empty auditorium at Apple's sleek campus, a gym, a parking lot and a lab in an "undisclosed location."