WWDC 2018: Here's what to expect from the big Apple event today

Tonight at 10.30pm IST (10.00am in San Francisco), Apple will kick off its annual developer conference WWDC. The WWDC 2018, just like its predecessors, will give us our first glimpse of the new iPhone and the Mac softwares. For the former, this is expected to be iOS 12, which will be announced as a beta update for now, and the latter will be macOS 10.14, which too will be available on trial basis for developers. The final versions of the iOS 12 and the macOS 10.14 should come sometime in September.

Although occasionally Apple has announced a number of hardware products at WWDC in the past, this time around, Apple software and services are going to be in focus. Along with the new versions of the operating systems that power the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and macOS, it is expected that Apple will also announce several unique software features for its products. These are expected to be new tools related to augmented reality, which will help developers create better AR apps for the iPhone. It is also expected that Apple will showcase some improvements related to its virtual assistant Siri, Apple News, and the way NFC is used in Apple devices at WWDC 2018.

In other words, the big announcements from Apple will all relate to the iPhone software. Although rumours of new Apple products - an improved MacBook Air, the iPhone SE, and a better HomePod - have appeared in the last few months, chances are that we are not going to see any big Apple product at the WWDC 2018.

Instead, the star of the show that is WWDC 2018 is likely to be the iOS 12. Several reports have surfaced that Apple will add something called Digital Health to the iOS 12. This feature will help iPhone and the iPad users cut down on screen time and from time to time do a digital detox. In a way, it could be similar to the features that Google recently announced for Android P, which too aims to help users reduce their usage of smartphone.

The macOS, meanwhile, is expected to get a new dark theme, along with a host of other user-friendly features. But the big news with the macOS is likely be several new tools that may help developers write applications that will work seamlessly across the iPhone as well as a full computer like the MacBook Air.

The WWDC 2018 will be opened by Apple CEO Tim Cook and it is going to be held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, the same venue where Apple has been holding the developer event for years now.

How to watch or follow WWDC 2018 live

In case you want to watch or follow the WWDC 2-18 from India, here is how you will be able to do it.

- The WWDC 2018 will start at 10.30PM India time. So remember to tune in at the right tome for it.

- The easiest way to watch the WWDC for you will be to watch in on the Apple website. The event will be live-streamed here so open that link using Apple Safari browser on your Apple device.

- Apple says that the livestream will work best on Apple devices, which means if you can access a MacBook, an iMac computer, iPhone, iPad or the Apple TV, watch the WWDC 2018 on it.

- If you a Windows computer, the WWDC 2018 livestream will work best if you have Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge browser.

- Apple says that the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome may also stream the WWDC 2018 live on Windows 10, but doesn't guarantee it.
- In case you can't livestream the WWDC 2018, or don't want to livestream, you can follow live blogs for it. India Today Tech is going to run a live blog with latest WWDC 2018 announcements so you can follow that.