If you’ve been a longtime iPhone user, you’ve probably seen every default wallpaper iOS has to offer — and you’ve likely had a few favorites that you miss. The good news is that, according to the latest news about Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024, Apple is set to bring back many old-school wallpapers dating back to the early days of the Mac and iPhone.
“Apple’s devices are getting new wallpaper packs, including Mac versions that reference old-school icons and slogans,” said Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in a report. “The iPhone wallpapers will have options that look similar to early ones on the phone.”
It’ll still be a bit before we have confirmation on which wallpapers will be available, but some of the popular ones include the famous clownfish wallpaper on the original iPhone, which came back in iOS 16 beta 3, the Earth from Space wallpaper from the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 6s’ live wallpapers. We also especially liked most, if not all, of the wallpapers on the iPhone 6, like the mountain and night sky, wintry forest, and close-up of the moon.
Others are less memorable. For instance, I was never a fan of the weird liquid bubble thing the iPhone 7 came with, and the iPhone 8 wallpapers were downright unmemorable. The iPhone X wallpapers were interesting since they came with multiple colors and some options that took advantage of the OLED screen. The newer wallpapers haven’t felt quite as memorable to me, with the iPhone 15 Pro’s abstract wallpapers looking dull and uninteresting.
The Bloomberg report also detailed many of the other features Apple is going to bring to iOS — and the big one is obviously AI. The new AI system is expected to be called Apple Intelligence, and it should come to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac with the latest iOS update. We’re talking AI-created custom emojis, new apps for the Vision Pro, AI integration into various Apple first-party apps, and much more. Aside from AI, there should be various UI changes and features that come with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, RCS support in iMessage, and various customization options.
WWDC 2024 begins June 10 and runs until June 14. Digital Trends will cover the keynote and all the biggest announcements for iOS 18, macOS 15, visionOS 2, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18. You can check out our overview of what to expect next week.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.