Let's do this 👾 if you know me, you already know how much I look forward to WWDC (dub-dub-dee-see) in June every year. If you're unaware, that's the World Wide Developers Conference organised by Apple, for developers, where the new features of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS are being presented (for their release later in the year). Albeit a quintessential WWDC keynote, the features do not disappoint. 

A short 2-minute video of the new features can be seen here https://youtu.be/GbbxxPR4Fho and a slightly longer one (9-minutes), but still well-summarised, here https://youtu.be/G5VV6Vb_KRQ 

So after letting my thoughts simmer for a while, my 3 favourite new features, which admittedly weren't easy to choose, are:

I'd group the two FaceTime features into one. The first one is a long-awaited feature I must say - which is called SharePlay. With SharePlay and the latest OSs you can listen to the same music, share screens and even watch a movie with friends while on the same FaceTime call 🍿 The second feature is, FINALLY, the ability to create FaceTime links so your friends/family/colleagues can join through the web (and yes, via Android devices too) - really useful when scheduling calls as well!

Finally a big UI for the Safari! MORE SCREEN is coming to Safari! The new feature is particularly useful for bigger screens since the address bar has been moved to the bottom of the screen. Since I'm using the web browser on a daily basis, I can comfortably say that this will be my most used new feature. Also, who doesn't love a decluttered Safari with a minimalistic design(?) Adding to this, a Tab Group feature will also be available (cross-platform as well) so the next trip research and meal planning will be even even easier.

The third feature could have easily been any of the new cool features such as locating the AirPods, the new Universal Control, the new notifications or even the redesigned Notes and Weather apps (maybe it's time to ditch Carrot Weather? who knows..). Anyway my third favourite feature is Focus mode.

Focus mode is one of the most exciting features that's coming this autumn if you're deep in the Apple ecosystem. Come on admit it, you get distracted and your workflow gets interrupted when you receive those unnecessary and irrelevant notifications while doing a certain activity - whether that's watching a movie, exercising, writing code or working on something else. So Focus mode helps with that. Imagine it like an enhanced Do not Disturb mode. Focus mode let's you...focus(!) on your current activity by automatically filtering out notifications unrelated to what you do. When it's on, it syncs across your Apple devices and can be customised to match your activity - e.g. receive notifications only by co-workers when you're at work or by certain friends when you're at home - notification badges follow these rules as well (for those with a gazillion red badges).