During WWDC23, Apple previewed iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, and watchOS 10. And while these operating systems include some welcome additions and changes, many features we've been hoping for didn't make it through. After all, the Cupertino firm has been focusing its efforts on visionOS for its new Vision Pro headset, so the other operating system updates were lackluster for the most part. But WWDC24 is a new opportunity for the company to finally introduce some of our most highly-requested features.

1 Continuity in Apple Music

Apple devices are famous for the tight ecosystem that brings them all together. Thanks to the system-level interoperability, users who invest in several iDevices get to take advantage of perks that aren't necessarily possible on other platforms. Despite that and the company's competition against Spotify, there's still no official way to hand off a music queue between several, non-HomePod devices. We've been requesting this feature for years now, and we're likely not the only ones.

I always hop between the Music app on my Mac, iPhone, and iPad — depending on my workflow and where I am. So every time I switch from one device to another, I have to set up the queue all over again. Spotify Connect, the equivalent of this feature on the rivaling app, has existed for years now. There's nothing stopping Apple from copying it, and it's long overdue. But hey, at least we finally got crossfade support on iOS and iPadOS 17.

2 Notable iPadOS exclusives

Apple has been trying to sell the great iPad as a laptop replacement for a while now. The company even rebranded iOS on the iPad to iPadOS a few years ago to further distinguish between the two devices. Despite that, this excellent tablet fails to deliver many power user features, such as app sideloading support, more default app options, Xcode compatibility, and more.

During WWDC23, I was hoping Apple would introduce some advanced additions to iPadOS, similar to last year's Stage Manager (which is only available on some iPad models), to further empower this computer wannabe. Instead, we got a catching-up update, where the tablet received support for iOS 16's customizable Lock Screen, in addition to the Health app and Live Activities. As for iPadOS exclusives, Stage Manager now allows users to resize app windows in a finer manner, while the planet wallpapers come in higher-res qualities. The iPad truly didn't gain any additions this year that contribute to Apple's vision of this device type, or even allowed it to stand on its own.

3 Absolute watchOS autonomy

Recently, Apple started allowing Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular) users to set up their wearables using a family member's iPhone. Once set up, the Apple Watch user could enjoy pretty much all the smartwatch's core features. This includes making phone calls, texting, downloading apps and music, and more. The next move would be making the Apple Watch completely independent, which is technically possible at this point.

While setting up a new Apple Watch using an iPhone would definitely be faster, there's nothing stopping the company from letting users sign in to their Apple IDs using the built-in QWERTY keyboard on watchOS. This would not only offer users an all-in-one option for setup, but it would also cater to Android users who can't stand iOS (for some reason) and want to utilize Apple's unrivaled smartwatch.

4 Notification improvements on iOS

Let's move on to one of the bigger concerns on iOS. For years, Apple has failed to come up with an intuitive notification solution. While the company's operating systems support focus modes and automatic grouping, notifications are still a mess on iOS. They need better organization filters and channels that simplify the way we scroll through them. Not to mention the lack of smart reply support for notifications sent by messaging apps.

I was also hoping notifications would blend into the Dynamic Island as part of iOS 17, but that's, unfortunately, not the case. And they just look so weird popping down below the Dynamic Island's cutout and then sliding back up, instead of being integrated into it like other system alerts.

5 Catch-ups on macOS

Lastly, we have macOS. While this desktop operating system has become pretty mature and polished, it still lacks some system apps and features available on iOS and iPadOS. For example, the customizable Lock Screen is now available on iOS and iPadOS, but not macOS. There's nothing stopping Apple from adopting this feature on the larger screen. Another example is the lack of Apple Translate and Health apps on macOS. With these two apps being available on iOS and iPadOS, it's time Apple brought them to the excellent Mac, as well. This would only streamline Apple's major operating systems and put them all in sync.

WWDC24 speculations

Now that WWDC23 has passed, we can only hope Apple focuses more on software announcements in 2024. This year, the company was clearly occupied with developing and releasing the Apple Vision Pro and visionOS. Its other operating system updates took a hit, as most lacked groundbreaking changes. And there's still a lot of room for improvements across all of these devices, including updating the super-basic Mail app, allowing users to pick more default apps, overhauling the Calendar app, and more. Let's hope for some major changes in 2024.