My three favorite things about iOS8 for developers:
1. Open. Developers can now replace stock functions that were once locked into the OS. Keyboards and widgets in the notification system are important steps and show signs of a new Apple.
2. Level playing field. iOS 8 Webkit allows all third party apps to have the same performance as Safari. This is huge.
3. Data sharing. I’ve been carrying around a Nexus 5 as my second phone for some time now. I love how apps can share data. And now iOS 8 delivers a powerful system for sharing data and tools between applications.
This last point is a big deal. It has the opportunity to bring small pieces, loosely joined brilliance of the web to our mobile devices.
Here’s a recent example. I’m a long time user of Evernote. Sadly it’s become bloated, slow and overly complex. I’m drawn to the simplicity and speed of Vesper.
But Evernote has an API that is supported in tons of 3rd party apps. Vesper doesn’t have that. Nor can you email content to Vesper. However, with iOS 8, the Vesper team can catch up in one release. That is magical.
Apple announced a ton of other new products for developers at WWDC this week but these are my favorites.