APPLE New Mac, mobile features coming

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO

Apple’s Mac operating system will have easier ways to share and search, while the iOS software for iPhones and iPads is getting new features for keeping tabs on your health and controlling home devices.

Apple executive Craig Federighi said data from various fitness-related devices now live in silos, so you can’t get a comprehensive picture of your health. He said that will change with HealthKit in iOS 8. Apple also is working with the Mayo Clinic to make sure your weight, calorie intake and other health metrics are within healthy ranges.

Apple also is making it easier for various devices to work together, even though the Mac and mobile systems are separate. You can share songs, movies and books you purchase with your entire family, and you can sync photos more easily across several devices.

Macs and mobile gadgets will share more features, and you can exchange files between the two more easily and even make phone calls from your Mac.

The free updates will come this fall, though app developers got a test version Monday as the company opened its 25th annual developers conference in San Francisco.

Here are some highlights:

CHANGES TO MAC COMPUTERS

The next Mac system will be called Yosemite, after the national park, now that Apple is naming it after California locales rather than cats.

You’ll be able to search for content on the computer and on the Internet at once, similar to a feature available with Microsoft’s Windows 8.

Apple is expanding its iCloud storage service so that you can store and sync files of any type, not just the ones designed specifically for iCloud. It’s similar to how other services such as Dropbox let you work with the same files on multiple devices more easily.

A Mail Drop feature will make it easier to send large files. Instead of pushing the entire file by email and overloading mail servers, the Mac will create a link that the recipient can click for the full file.

The Mac’s Safari Web browser will have more privacy controls and ways to share links more easily.

CHANGES TO IPHONES, IPADS

Like the new Mac OS, the iOS 8 system will have a universal search tool to cover both your device and the Internet. It also will get the iCloud Drive service.

The new software will sport interactive notifications, so you can respond to a message without having to leave another app. It will have new gestures, such as double-tapping to see a list of frequent contacts.

A QuickType keyboard promises predictive typing suggestions. Currently, the suggestions are limited to spelling corrections.

IOS 8 will have a built-in health-management tool to help people track their vital signs, diet and sleeping habits. Apple’s chief rival, Samsung Electronics Co., incorporated fitness-related features in its latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S5, and announced plans last week for similar management tools.

Apple announced new technology for controlling garage doors, thermostats and other home systems, although the company didn’t say how all the pieces will be linked together through what it calls HomeKit.

For developers, Apple announced the ability to sell app bundles at discounted prices.