Now that we’re a week removed from WWDC 2016, it’s worthwhile to take a step back and sort through which of Apple’s announcements will have a prolonged and significant impact on the app ecosystem and which are just noise; like the totally, definitely, not-at-all too soon declaration that Apple has “just won the smart home.”
And really, for app publishers and developers the only truly significant announcement to stem from WWDC 2016 was Apple reversing course on its longtime rigidity when it comes to its pre-loaded apps. Up until this past week, stock apps—Stocks, Maps, Find My Friends, iMessage, etc.,—were neither deletable or modifiable.
But now, starting with the release of iOS 10 in the fall, developers and publishers can take full advantage of the newfound openness. Order an Uber with Siri? Check. Create a sticker add-on for iMessage. You Bet.
Below, we take a look at all the apps affected by the announcement, and offer our opinions on the potential impact.
Siri
Though still not completely open to developers, the latest iteration of Siri does bring some intriguing possibilities. In particular is the ability to send messages via WeChat and WhatsApp, which along with the coming additions to iMessage (which we’ll touch upon later) could help sort out an over-crowed messaging app marketplace.
That’s a big if, though. To the average iPhone user, Siri doesn’t seem to be much more than a novelty at this point, and unless that changes, we can’t see too much disruption to the ecosystem.
Widgets + Lock Screen Notifications
While cool in theory when first introduced as a feature in iOS 8, widgets failed to make much of an impact, most likely due to their relegation to the seldom-visited Notification Center. But now, with the release of iOS 10, widgets have moved to iPhone lock and home screens.
In addition, new features are coming to those lock screens, most notably the support of live information. Developers can now encourage engagement by allowing users to interact within the lock screen. So in theory, a music-streaming app could announce the arrival of a new album and permit the user to listen to a song immediately, rather than launch the app.
Whether or not the new features prove to be an invaluable asset to users remains to be seen, but the move does seem to present a tremendous opportunity for retargeting and reengagement, especially for those developers and publishers that publish apps with frequently updating content.
Apple Maps
Apple’s opening of Maps is of particular importance for publishers and developers of apps pertaining to entertainment (Fandango), dinning (Open Table), travel (Hotel Tonight), or ride sharing (Lyft). Developers could tie their app to correlate to a specific events and activity—i.e., if someone arrives at a city late at night they could request a hotel room—or suggest apps if a user is a in a certain area, i.e., a message saying “here are the movie showtimes nearest you.”
Apple Pay
The big news here is that Apple Pay is coming to the web, promising online purchases will be more secure on mobile or desktop browsers. It won’t do much more to encourage in-app purchases or in-app retail shopping. But with Apple Pay also coming to the Apple Watch, there maybe an opportunity to increase monetization for those apps developers and publishers willing to invest in development on the Apple Watch.
Home
Apple’s HomeKit has always been open. No change here. However, the new Home feature promises to make it easier to control all their third-party connected devices in one place.
iMessage
Easily the biggest coming change, iMessage—one of the most used iOS apps—is now open to developers, and it has the potential to spell the end to many third-party iOS messaging apps.
One of the biggest draws of third-party messaging apps is the availability of features beyond basic text-based messaging. Emojis. GIFs. Videos. Etc. Now, iOS 10 brings these to iMessage, including stickers, it’s own App Store, and the ability the to share text, music, links, emojis, videos, edit photos, play games, and send and receive money. With such a large user base, its very possible users quickly adapt to these new features and drop usage of third-party messaging apps.
Phone
Not all to releveant for the majority of app developers and publishers, but worth mentioning. Starting with iOS 10 all call notifications, regardless of service (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp) will appear on the lock screen.