a16z Podcast a16z Podcast: The Apple WWDC 2014 Deep Dive
Jun 3, 2014
Benedict Evans, a veteran of Apple's events, and Dave Jagoda, a technical talent partner at Andreessen Horowitz, dive into Apple's WWDC 2014 announcements. They categorize innovations into incremental upgrades, major marketing features, and strategic moves. Highlights include a revamped Photos app with cloud enhancements, the launch of HealthKit for managing wellness data, and the introduction of Swift, Apple's new programming language, designed to improve productivity for developers. They also discuss Apple's evolving ecosystem and the shift towards more open app development.
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Three-Tier Framework For WWDC Announcements
- Benedict Evans frames WWDC announcements into incremental improvements, tent-pole consumer features, and strategic platform moves.
- This framework helps separate short-term polish from long-term competitive positioning.
Centralized Health And Home APIs
- Apple built centralized APIs for health and home devices using Bluetooth LE and local discovery stacks.
- This creates a single permissioned data store apps can access, driving ecosystem incentives for wearable and home-device makers.
Secure, Limited Fingerprint API
- Apple exposed the fingerprint sensor via a secure API that returns only yes/no verification, not raw identity data.
- This enables secure app authentication without revealing biometric data to third parties.