MacOS 10.14: All the features we hope Apple will announce at WWDC 2018

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Apple will take the stage next week at WWDC 2018 to announce MacOS 10.14, the operating system powering its laptops and desktops.

The company uses its annual developers conference to preview all the major software updates it has developed for devices like the iPhone and MacBook Pro. You see, Macs run MacOS. But, unfortunately, there are very few rumours about the next major update to MacOS, likely called MacOS 10.4, so we've begun to wonder about what Apple has in store for us all, and this exercise led us to creating a wishlist.

Here are just a few of the features we're wishing and hoping will be included. Let us know in the comments if you have anything else to add.

MacOS 10.14: What we'd like to see

Unified MacOS and iOS apps and design

One of the few rumours we've seen suggests Apple is working to merge MacOS and iOS apps so that developers can create a single app that runs on both platforms. We'd like to see how this works and what the added benefit would be for users. Hopefully, it'd also mean that iOS-exclusive apps, such as Apple News, Health, Activity, and Home, could be made available on the Mac. We'd even like a dedicated Apple Music app.

Sure, Apple Music is currently included in iTunes, but we hardly use iTunes anymore. We also think iTunes could use a revamp - more on that later. Back to unified MacOS and iOS... To go a step even further with this idea, it'd be crazy to see a more unified design between Macs and iOS devices. We're not sure that'd ever happen, and we don't know what that'd look like; we just like the idea of something radically new.

All-new iTunes with separate Apple Music app

Back when people downloaded music and had to connect their iOS devices to desktops more often, iTunes made sense. However, for most users today, the app is irrelevant. To make them use it, Apple buries a desktop version of Apple Music in iTunes. This entire setup needs to be rethought. Apple needs to redo iTunes entirely to make it useful and less clunky. And Apple Music needs its own app. Two is better than one here.

HomeKit control through Home app or Siri on Mac

Since we've talked so much about seeing Apple's iOS apps come to Mac, we have to mention the Home app. A way to control HomeKit devices on Mac has been one of the most highly requested features from users. But this could be done either through a Home app for Mac or through Siri. You see, Siri is already available on macOS; the assistant just can't control HomeKit from the Mac yet, or do much of anything really.

Always-on Siri with voice dictation

We just want to say, "Hey Siri, dictate my notes" and then have Apple's personal assistant jot down everything we say next. It'd be a wonderful way to easily finishing writing this wishlist, that's for sure. It'd also be cool to ask the assistant to open an app, compose an email, make a reminder, answer a question, etc. Currently, you can launch Siri with a shortcut or from the menubar, but that's not convenient.

We also have to add that Siri isn't even in the same ring as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, both of which, if integrated into our Macs and if always on, would dramatically improve our workflow. Why can't Siri be more like them? And be ever present with a voice command on Macs? She's far older than every assistant out there, and yet, she's miles behind and incredibly cumbersome to use on basically all Apple devices.

Face ID unlocking and Animoji

This one would have to be in tandem with a hardware update. Imagine if the iPhone X's Face ID technology was included in a Mac, so you could unlock your laptop, sign into websites, verify purchases, and more - by just looking at your Mac. Plus, if Macs could do Face ID, then they'd also be able to support Animoji. We'd like to see Animoji applied to FaceTime calls so we could call families as an animated poop face.

Group FaceTime calls

Speaking of FaceTime, group FaceTime calls is on both our macOS 10.14 and iOS 12 wishlists. It's something Apple is rumored to be working on, but it's not clear if it'll be ready in time for WWDC 2018. All we know is, FaceTime has only ever allowed 1:1 chats, and this has got to change. Practically every video-chatting app now offers group chats, from WhatsApp to Skype. In fact, who even uses FaceTime anymore?

Maybe it's because FaceTime doesn't allow conference-type calls.

3D Touch on a touchscreen Mac

Yes, we're going there: We're all for the idea of a touchscreen Mac, and if it's going to get a touchscreen, we want to be able to 3D Touch on the screen or an app in order to access all sorts of additional settings and options and features and quick shortcuts. But, like the Face ID functionality mentioned above, this software feature would require hardware upgrades in Macs that Apple has so far been reluctant to add.

Repositioned, revamped Notification Center

The existing Notification Center lets you view details about your day - appointments, weather, birthdays, even a summary of what you have planned for tomorrow - and catch up on notifications you missed. The problem is, to open Notification Center, you need to click its icon in the menu bar, or swipe left with two fingers from the right edge of the trackpad. But we never remember to do that. Like, ever.

We don't know how Apple could improve Notification Center. But right now it's hidden out of sight, so it's out of mind, and not at all useful. And while we're on this topic, it'd be cool to see more tools added to Notification Center, like quick-access shortcuts.

iPad-like split screen improvements

Last but not least, we'd like some iPad-like improvements to the Mac's split-screen functionality, including options for dragging to resize or dismiss a split-screen view, opening apps into a split-screen view from the Dock or Spotlight, and launching split-screen in the same way. Plus, if Macs added touchscreens in the future, this sort of functionality would be such a blessing and could really be leveraged at that point.

Is that it?

Yep. Well, we could go on forever... No software is perfect, right? But we'll end this here. You guys should know, though: Apple is rumoured to have delayed some macOS 10.14 features to focus on internal improvements following several high-profile bugs that impacted MacOS High Sierra. So, we're not expecting most of these features to be included in the next major update to MacOS. But, hey, one can wish right?



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