Apple had a lot to announce at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, and, for the most part, I’m pretty excited for later this year when I’ll get to use the plethora of new things the company announced. The keynote was a pretty solid one, clipping along at a nice pace, and offering up clear looks at what iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Mac owners can expect to get their hands on.
Apple’s ecosystem has always been one of the best, even if it is probably too closed off for its own good. With that, Apple has managed to make it possible for its operating systems to flourish in a unique way, taking its time in certain regards, and oftentimes just flat-out ignoring other things altogether. Apple goes by its own pace, and while that might be frustrating to some, for the folks that have accepted that as the case, there’s still plenty to look forward to.
Just look how long it took Apple to launch a phone with a 1080p HD display, or offer NFC support in its mobile devices. And obviously that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Still, iOS has gone on well enough, and iOS 10 is one of those updates that may not be massive, at least not at first glance, but there’s a ton of things to like in the new software.
Photographers get to edit RAW photos, for instance. And using the Apple Maps app means keeping tabs on where you parked your car.
Like I said, there’s a lot here, well beyond what Apple could have announced on stage. And people are still discovering new things.
But I’m going to be honest with you: I think Apple is trolling a lot of iPhone owners out there. Why? Because, for some inexplicable reason, iOS 10 doesn’t have a Dark Mode. This is something that people have been requesting ever since Apple launched iOS 7,and yet, here we are without it still.
The reason why I think Apple is trolling iPhone owners at this point, is because not only does OS X/macOS have it, but now so does the fourth-generation Apple TV running tvOS 10. Dark Mode on both of those platforms makes sense, yes, but it would also make perfectly good sense on iOS, too. Plus, it’s a toggle that people can switch on or off! There's a Dark Mode in Apple Maps (as it switches automatically to match the time of day), and even the pre-installed Clock app now has Dark Mode.
I don’t want it to seem like I’m asking for too much here, or not happy with what Apple announced, because like I said I think they did a pretty awesome job with iOS 10 and what it offers. But, come on Apple. Give iOS 10 users Dark Mode!
Apple has an iPhone or two to announce later this year, and word has it that they’ll be dropping the Space Gray option in favor of a dark blue variant. And I imagine it’s still possible that they could announce Dark Mode in a few months, but it would seem odd to do that if it’s not an exclusive feature to the new iPhones. Which it better not be, because that would be silly.
How do you feel about the lack of a Dark Mode in iOS? Do you think Apple should add it, or just leave it out? What else do you wish Apple had announced at WWDC 2016? Let me know!