Apple's closed ecosystem may start to get more uniform as well, as there have been ongoing hints that iOS and macOS will start to share more and more features and applications. The latest rumor is that a few select iOS 12 features will appear in macOS 10.15, according to sources speaking with 9to5Mac.
The iOS features expected to come to macOS 10.15 include Siri Shortcuts (and potentially the Shortcuts app), Screen Time, improved Apple ID management and special iMessage effects.
While the iMessage effects may be fun, and the Apple ID management tools could help avoid issues similar to recent iOS 12 problems, the Siri Shortcuts and Screen Time integration are the biggest highlights.
- Here's what we think will come to iOS 13
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- Get the latest on the upcoming macOS 10.15
What it all means
The inclusion of Siri Shortcuts in macOS 10.15 will allow users to quickly perform certain tasks automatically by giving Siri a verbal instruction. Users can create their own specific automation using the Workflows app, which is one of the best iPad apps for productivity. Users should get other basic Siri features as well, with ways to get quick information or set timers and alarms.
The addition of Screen Time will also allow users to keep track of the amount of time they're spending their Mac. It can monitor and report how much time is being spent on which applications and which types of applications. It also allows users to set time limits, which can be handy for limiting children's screen time.
All of this pushes iOS and macOS closer together, with Apple expected to debut the tool behind iPad-to-Mac app conversion at WWDC 2019. While the move makes sense, offering coders an easy way to create one program for multiple platforms and offering Mac users some extra features, it goes slightly against Apple's past stance.
On the merging of iOS and macOS, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed the company's reasons for keeping them separate:
"We don't believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [The Mac and iPad] are incredible,” Cook said. “One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two ... you begin to make trade-offs and compromises.”
While the two platforms aren't likely to become one any time soon, they certainly look like they're going to start overlapping.
- Here's where you can get the latest on WWDC 2019
