Insights from Liulishuo iOS Engineers Visiting WWDC 2017

Three Liulishuo iOS engineers visiting Apple, from left: Chun, Cloud, Shannon

Preface

Liulishuo, a leading domestic ed‑tech company, regularly receives a few tickets to Apple’s WWDC. This year three of our engineers were fortunate to travel to Silicon Valley for WWDC 2017 and brought back the latest information.

Because of Apple’s influence, most people see the newest product news through the media; we will not repeat that. Instead we focus on developers’ perspectives on the Apple ecosystem, summarizing the key points we discussed.

iPad Becomes a Better Productivity Tool

Apple unveiled a new iPad at the conference and highlighted iOS 11 features specifically for iPad, claiming it is the biggest iPad‑focused update since the device’s launch. Features include a macOS‑style Dock, an App Switcher, and the new Files app that resembles the macOS Finder, among many other small improvements. The iPad’s role as a lightweight productivity device is therefore reinforced.

The biggest technical change is the addition of Drag & Drop APIs, which simplify data transfer between apps. This suggests that more productivity‑oriented apps will appear on iPad, potentially revitalizing its market position.

App Store Redesign

The App Store has not seen major changes in recent years; this year Apple introduced a complete redesign.

The Home tab is now replaced by a “Today” tab. It is unclear whether app placement will be driven by Apple’s bidding system or editorial curation, but the change will likely reduce exposure for independent developers, especially for utility apps that are now more integrated into the system.

Notably, the Rankings tab has been removed, emphasizing games and apps with dedicated tabs. This will affect how users discover apps and may force chart‑boosting services to adjust their business models.

Music

As rumored, Apple announced HomePod, a smart speaker with Siri integration, which feels like a smaller version of a “trash can.” For developers, the most relevant announcement is MusicKit, which allows Apple Music functionality to be embedded in third‑party apps—useful for fitness apps, though Apple Music’s market share in China remains limited.

Swift

Since the 2014 WWDC, Apple has repeatedly emphasized Swift, but the keynote this year did not mention it. However, many sessions still covered Swift, indicating the language remains a priority, with development now focused on the open‑source community.

This is beneficial for Swift, as Apple acts as a steward to ensure language consistency while the community drives feature improvements.

Swift 4.0 brings numerous enhancements, such as better String handling, native Codable support for JSON parsing, and many other improvements. Importantly, Swift 3 modules can be mixed‑compiled with Swift 4 modules, allowing gradual migration of codebases.

Xcode

The Xcode source editor has been rewritten in Swift, delivering refactoring tools for Swift and improved responsiveness, along with a built‑in Markdown renderer. Xcode now integrates GitHub, simplifying third‑party contributions. The Simulator is faster and features a new UI, supporting physical button simulation and edge‑gesture emulation.

Wireless debugging is now integrated, eliminating the need for a cable connection.

Finally, Xcode Server is built into Xcode, enabling continuous integration directly within the IDE.

AI + AR + VR

Apple began emphasizing AI integration at the previous WWDC, promising a more seamless system experience. This year Apple finally released the CoreML framework, allowing developers to use a unified API for machine‑learning models across Apple platforms.

Apple also introduced a new AR framework, ARKit, which is expected to spur a wave of AR applications and diversify the App Store ecosystem.

Although the company previously suggested AR has more potential than VR, it also announced new VR content‑creation hardware, hinting at future developments in that area.

Apple typically releases developer APIs only after the underlying product is mature, so developers can now build richer AI and AR experiences, injecting fresh vitality into the App Store.

Conclusion

As in previous conferences, Apple highlighted the youngest attendee—a 10‑year‑old who started programming at six and already has five apps on the App Store—and the oldest attendee, an 82‑year‑old Japanese female developer, underscoring Apple’s respect for women in tech. With development barriers lowering, developers should reflect on what they truly want to create.

Review of WWDC 2016

To revisit our team’s experiences at last year’s WWDC, click Liulishuo @ WWDC 2016 . Our main app “Liulishuo” was featured on the App Store’s front page seven times last year, and we are currently hiring talented iOS engineers. If you want to join us for next year’s WWDC, please send your résumé to [email protected].