WWDC 2025 will be the awkward conversation I’d be weary to have.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) had always been a spectacle for me for many years. Like a kid on Christmas Day, eager to open presents and play with new toys, WWDC had excited me with new software and development tools. This year, however, I imagine it’ll feel less like Christmas Day and more like that one awkward Thanksgiving dinner you wish you didn’t have.

I’ve heard the rumors about a potential redesign, a new naming scheme, and a few updates to core apps on iOS. I’ll remain excited to see what new features will be available, and how my apps like Alidade can take advantage of them. I might even install the developer betas, if I’m crazy enough. But, it won’t feel the same.

The past year and a half hasn’t been kind for Apple. With ongoing litigations and battles over control of the App Store and iOS’s closed nature, the botched rollout of Apple Intelligence and the “smarter Siri”, and Apple’s leadership digging themselves further into a hole, optics be damned, it’s going to be difficult seeing WWDC through the lens I had for many years. While I hope that maybe, just maybe, Apple will unveil something or say something to ameliorate its relations with third-party app developers, I can’t hold my breath on it.

I think it will take a lot to give WWDC that same wow factor and excitement that I had and cherished. There’s not much more I can say on the matter; I hope that Apple can start over or try again by showing humility on stage this year, live or prerecorded.