Apple shares its vision for macOS 10.15 Catalina: Cross-platform apps are key

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  Apple's new framework, Project Catalyst, will help iOS developers translate existing mobile apps into macOS apps.

SAN JOSE, Calif.-The next major operating system update for Apple's Mac computers will bring new apps, a handful of quality life improvements, and, most importantly, a far-reaching initiative to (at least partially) unify the app-development process across devices running iOS and macOS. This new initiative is at the heart of Apple's future macOS strategy and is a cornerstone of the newly announced macOS 10.15 Catalina update.

Here's what we learned at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference today.

Apple hopes the initiative will rejuvenate a slow-moving Mac app store and native software ecosystem. The initiative will do so by making it easier for developers for the iPhone and iPad App Store-one of the most robust software platforms in the world-to release their iOS applications on the Mac with minimal additional development time. Currently, developers have to put valuable resources into developing their successful applications for the Mac, which has a much smaller install base than iOS. It doesn't help that they then must support two completely different codebases for the entire lifespan of both applications.

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