AppleInsider Staff
The new features will be announced when WWDC kicks off on June 11, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new functionality will allow users to share photos with others and also comment on them.
That's a major improvement from the current Photo Stream functionality in iCloud, which simply syncs pictures across devices rather than giving users the ability upload and share them publicly or with friends.
If true, the new photo sharing functionality would be another attempt at social networking on the part of Apple. The company launched a social networking component of iTunes with Ping in 2010, but that effort has largely failed to gain traction despite integration with Twitter.
Monday's report also reaffirmed that Apple is planning to add support for synced Notes and Reminders to an upgraded iCloud.com website. Apple itself tipped its hand to those upgrades last week, when the site beta.icloud.com was temporarily accessible to the public.
Last week Apple's regular iCloud.com site also showed a test banner notification to users, suggesting that feature is also in the works for the iCloud website. Monday's report made no mention of Web-based notification syncing for iCloud.
Apple will show off the future of both iOS and OS X at WWDC when it kicks off on June 11 in San Francisco, Calif. The company is expected to reveal more about this summer's OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion update, and also unveil iOS 6 for iPhone and iPad.
Bon Adamson
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29 Comments
In before trolls say Apple is copying Samsungs new photo sharing feature or trying to make their own Instagram. Never mind that since Photostream came out last year people have been requesting this feature to be added.
[quote name="EricTheHalfBee" url="/t/150064/apple-to-launch-photo-sharing-functionality-in-icloud-at-wwdc#post_2109750"]In before trolls say Apple is copying Samsungs new photo sharing feature or trying to make their own Instagram. Never mind that since Photostream came out last year people have been requesting this feature to be added.[/quote] Or that people have been wanting MobileMe Gallery replacement for iCloud. Doesn't that just leave an app agnostic file sharing service for iCloud (IOW, a modern and secure version of iDisk)?
Can't wait. This event should really flesh-out iCloud. They got the basics right, as it's an extremely integrated, robust, and seamless system. Now they just need to add on the features.
Meh. Not holding my breath. I'll believe it when I see it.
I have never understood Apple's inability to do much that's interesting or innovative in this space.
If/when they give me unlimited storage (that I'l be willing to pay for) and allow me to upload all my files, I'll start to get excited.
I see this as being more of a replacement of MobileMe's gallery - than a social network - but hey everything is social these days. I think Apple care more about allowing people to do things with technology that they would in the real world - I'm not sure Apple is really motivated by creating a new Facebook. But what do I know - I don't work at Apple?