iOS5 and iCloud: A Follow-up

Here is my wishlist of what would be announced today.

Let's see if Apple likes me...

Notifications
Check!

iCloud: Better Not Just Be MobileMe + Music
Check! The built-in sync across apps and devices is definitely a noteable improvement. Also, free.

iCloud: Better Not Just Be Dropbox
Check, again! When I stop to think about it, there was nothing that I wanted iCloud to do that developers couldn't have done with Dropbox. But, much like Game Center when there was already OpenFeint, I'm sure we will see a slew of updates in "the fall" which will introduce over the air syncing of our favourite apps. Although there is one thing that iCloud will be able to do that Dropbox can't: background syncing!

Wi-Fi Sync to iTunes
Check! Funnily enough, as someone who syncs their iPhone every day, I'm almost most excited about this than anything else. Pair that with over the air backups and my iOS devices and my MacBook Pro will barely have to ever meet.

So, four out of four. Thanks Uncle Apple! 

iOS 5 and iCloud: A Wishlist

So the news is that it is official that next week Apple will make announcements about Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and something called iCloud.

Here is my wishlist of features as an iOS user. I'll probably write something after the event about what it means for me as a developer.

Notifications
One of the rumoured features of iOS 5 is an updated notifications system. Notifications are those little blue rounded-cornered rectangles that pop up telling you about new text messages or that it is your turn in Words with Friends. My two main gripes with the current system is that only one is viewed at a time and that you can't go back and view old notifications. Hopefully both of these will be addressed.

iCloud: Better Not Just Be MobileMe + Music
All we know about iCloud at this point is that it will be "Apple's cloud services offering". At the moment Apple have MobileMe which includes an online version of mail and calendar offerings among a few other things. For the moment I use Google for this stuff. The speculation for the new features are mostly geared around music to go head to head with Amazon's CloudPlayer. As much as I would love to have access to more of my music when out and about, at the moment I have over 24 hours worth of my music on my iPhone, which seems ample most of the time.

iCloud: Better Not Just Be Dropbox 
I love Dropbox. It ensures that I have access to all my documents anywhere, and that the most recent version of my most important files are backed up almost instantly. But I already have Dropbox and many iOS developers are already implementing Dropbox support for savings files to the cloud. So iCloud has to be Dropbox + something. What I really want to see is a file storage service that heavily links my iPhone to my iPad so that I am working with one set of data on both. I want to be playing Plants vs Zombies on my iPad at home and then when I'm waiting in line at the bank be able to turn on my iPhone and pick up exactly where I left off because my save game has synced between the two devices.

Wi-Fi Sync to iTunes
That leads me to Wi-Fi sync. Every morning I plug my iPhone into my computer to update my podcasts and backup my phone, as well as getting the freshest music into my Smart Playlists. I know that Wi-Fi sync could be very draining to the battery, but how about an automatic sync when the device is plugged in to charge, and a manual sync otherwise? 

There's my list. We will know by this time next week whether my dreams came true. The WWDC Keynote is on at 3am on Tuesday local time. I usually try to avoid hearing all the news until the video is released, so fingers crossed it will be out soon after I wake up on Tuesday.