The Apple Notes app is both a cultural staple and an essential tool, and it looks like Apple will be giving the iconic app a boost in iOS 18, the next major update to Apple’s flagship mobile operating system. iOS 18 is expected to be featured along with the latest versions of its other platform operating systems at WWDC 2024, Apple’s software-focused conference aimed primarily at developers, which kicks off on June 8.
Reports from AppleInsider are that two impressive features are expected to be revealed. Firstly, there’s support for audio recording directly within the app – similar to the Voice Memos app, but better integrated. This feature is currently being developed for iOS 18 and macOS 15, and a version for the latest version of iPadOS can be expected soon after.
The feature gives users basic playback features for audio recordings, allowing them to record, play, and save entries directly within the Notes app. The recordings are embedded in specific notes that users choose, which can contain text and images in addition to the recording. Creatives will undoubtedly find this useful when creating multimedia submissions, and more casual users may find it a great way to create digital scrapbooks. It also allows users to enter more complex data to detail the audio they save, adding long descriptions or context data.
The app’s user interface will be visually similar to the existing Voice Memos app, with the new audio recording feature presented with similar graphical representations of the captured audio. These new in-app audio note recordings will be available on all devices connected to iCloud and running at least iOS 18 or macOS 15.
Pre-release versions of the operating systems that will be presented at WWDC 2024 also apparently hint at a new ‘Math Notes’ feature that will allow the Notes app to communicate with the Calculator app. Presumably this will allow the Notes app to enable the Calculator app to make calculations as users enter them into Notes, although there’s no indication of how complex these calculations might be.
More such features are expected to follow the Math Notes feature, and the introduction of the Math Notes feature is expected to coincide with Apple’s debut of a redesigned macOS Calculator app. Users will likely be able to invoke the Math Notes feature from the Calculator app using a dedicated button or option, but we’ll have to wait a while to see the exact plans Apple has in store for Math Notes.
Apple steals a note from Microsoft
These features have both been part of OneNote, Microsoft’s proprietary note-taking app, a favorite among many who use educational curricula and materials, and among those who work in mathematical notation. It also ranks high in popularity on both the iOS App Store and the macOS App Store, with the former highly ranked in user reviews and the latter receiving Apple’s Editors’ Choice award. It’s the group of people who find OneNote so useful and crucial to their work that Apple might want to entice them with the Math Notes feature.
The Notes app may have started out as a humble confidante for shopping lists and late-night thoughts, but it looks like it’s maturing and becoming an increasingly capable app to help users in more ways. It’s still very popular as the native note-taking app for Apple products, and Apple is understandably taking steps to maintain its basic status.
Again, both the built-in audio recording feature and the Math Notes feature are expected to premiere at WWDC 2024, but Apple has canceled or postponed features that were previously rumored to be in the pipeline. We won’t know for sure until we hear about it on stage at WWDC in June.