5 New (or Improved) Apple Services We’d Love to See Next
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Apple services have become a core part of the company, starting in 2020 with an announcement of a “new era of Services” thanks to the record profitability that services like Apple Music, Apple Arcade Apple TV+, App Store purchases, Apple News+, and even Apple Pay are bringing in.
So, what’s next?
Apple is sure to expand its service roster in new ways this year, with an eye on increasing revenue and creating a new kind of Apple brand, one that’s known just as much for its software as its hardware.
Continue reading to browse 5 of the services we’d like to see the company start to offer – and why.
Apple Security
Apple is already invested in the smart home space and is working to create a new kind of smart home standard. But there’s one area of home automation that Apple doesn’t have a presence in yet, and that’s alarm monitoring. You’ve probably seen an advertisement for these kinds of plans in conjunction with home security systems: You pay a monthly fee, and the company connects you to a monitoring center that receives alerts for potential break-ins, fires, etc. The monitoring center can then immediately contact authorities and have those problems addressed much faster than homeowners.
It may be a little far-fetched, but imagine Apple coming out with its own version of a home monitoring service that works with Homekit-compatible smart devices, and uses the latest AI and automation technology to examine potential threats and send for help if necessary (for a lower fee than any security company).
Professional Version of Facetime
Facetime is great! It’s free, native to Apple platforms, and a great way to video chat with friends and family. But it’s not really a business tool. Just take a look at web conferencing tools or the business version of Skype, and you’ll see all the different ways Apple could expand Facetime services into professional management, chat functions, live-streaming tools, recording and sharing features, and much more.
The current version of Facetime is designed for casual use. But Apple could easily create a new web conferencing version of Facetime made specifically for businesses – one that would probably include a low monthly fee for access to the top tier features, as we see with similar services on the market.
A Totally Re-Imagined iCloud
iCloud works well, but it could be a lot more than “good” with complete syncing (Calendar and Music could certainly use better compatibility), more tiers – and potentially a full rework that could make iCloud look more like, say, Google Drive, with extended options for document creation and sharing. It’s high time this sort of massive redesign made iCloud into a powerful part of Apple’s offerings and not just a background service.
Apple’s Own Version of Kindle Unlimited
Apple already has Apple News+ for newspapers, magazines, and other publications. That fee-based structure could work with other published content as well – like books. We’ve already seen with Kindle Unlimited how a book service can mimic the streaming video model and give you all the books you could want with a subscription. Apple already has it for shows and video games, so why not books next?
Apple Password Manager
What about a full-fledged Apple password manager? On Mac and iOS, passwords are saved to the Keychain. But it’s somewhat limited. The company could develop this into a full-fledged independent app that works across many platforms, like Lastpass and Dashlane. Make it a one-time purchase option, give it the same UI as other Apple apps, and see fans flock to it.
