Devices

Dolby Atmos support was added to Apple TV 4K as part of the tvOS 12 operating system (OS) update that Apple announced June 4 at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Jose.

Apple boasted that Apple TV 4K is the “only streaming player” that is now both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos certified and also pointed out that Apple has upgraded customers’ previously-purchased movies to 4K HDR for free for all available titles. iTunes this fall will be offering customers the largest selection of Atmos content available anywhere and previously purchased content will be upgraded for free to Atmos on any title it’s available on, Apple also said.

Meanwhile, augmented reality (AR) enhancements, improved performance and Group FaceTime are among the new features offered by iOS 12, the latest version of Apple’s OS, according to Craig Federighi, its SVP of software engineering.

“AR is transformational technology,” he said June 4 during a keynote at Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose. “Bringing experiences into the real world…enables all kinds of new experiences — changing the way we have fun and the way we work,” he said at the conference.

With iOS 12, Apple wanted to provide “an easy way to experience AR across the system,” he said, adding: “To do that, we got together with some of the greatest minds in 3D, at Pixar, and together we created a new file format for AR.”

That compact, open file format, usdz, was optimized for sharing in apps including Messages, Safari, Mail, Files and News, while “retaining powerful graphics and animation features,” according to Apple.

Quick Look for AR, meanwhile, allows users to place 3D objects into the real world to see how something would work in a space, Apple said.

Apple also introduced ARKit 2, a platform that enables developers to integrate shared experiences, persistent AR experiences tied to a specific location, object detection and image tracking to make AR apps “even more dynamic,” according to the company.

ARKit 2 and usdz are part of the developer preview of iOS 12 that’s available to Apple Developer Program members now, it said. ARKit 2 and usdz support will be available this fall as part of a free software update for iPhone 6s and later iPhone models, as well as all iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation and iPad 6th generation devices, according to Apple.

Companies that have already enthusiastically embraced ARKit and usdz include Adobe, Federighi said.

Adobe sees AR as an “incredibly important technology and, with ARKit, Apple is by far the most powerful platform for AR,” Abhay Parasnis, Adobe CTO and EVP, told the conference. Usdz is a “pretty big deal” because “there is now a way to deliver AR experiences across the entire iOS experience,” he said, adding Adobe will bring native usdz support to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. That will enable Creative Cloud designers and developers to use familiar apps to create “amazing AR content and bring it easily via usdz.”

Apple also unveiled the Measure app for iOS, which it said uses AR to quickly gauge the size of real-world objects. Apple has been delivering major AR advancements to developers “at a rapid pace” since the first ARKit shipped last fall, it said. Shared experiences with ARKit 2 make AR even more engaging on iPhone and iPad, enabling multiple users to play a game or collaborate on projects including home renovations, Apple said. Developers can also add a spectator mode, giving friends and family the best views of AR gameplay from a different iOS device, it said.

“Persistent AR will also change the way consumers interact with AR apps by creating opportunities to leave virtual objects in the real world to which users can return,” Apple said in a news release. Users can start a puzzle on a table and come back to it later in the same state or create an art project over the course of several weeks without starting over each time, it said.

ARKit 2 also extends support for image detection and tracking, making it possible to detect 3D objects including toys or sculptures, and adds the ability to automatically apply reflections of the real world onto AR objects, Apple said.