WWDC 2025: For developers, App Intents, Foundation Models framework and age controls

Apple is launching the Sensitive Content Analysis framework and parental controls, enabling developers to set a date range for delivering app content.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote may regularly catch the attention (the Apple Intelligence proposition, for instance) of much more than the developer base, that demographic remains key. “We believe deeply in providing developers with the newest tools and technologies to help them do their very best work,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, at the keynote, underlining the focus. This year, Apple released a new Liquid Glass design language, and with it tools for developers to help adapt their apps.

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 09, 2025 in Cupertino, California. Cook kicked off the annual Apple WWDC conference, which runs through June 13. (Getty Images via AFP)

Alongside, a Foundation Models Framework for developers to build with Apple Intelligence, which is key to the tech giant’s three-pronged focus for AI — allowing all third-party apps access to Apple Intelligence models on device, learning models seeing significant generational capability updates, as well as support for more languages.

The framework has native support for Swift, the programming language for all Apple platforms, which means developers will have quicker access to the Apple Intelligence model as they code. Apple points to guided generation and tool calling that are built into the framework, which makes it easier for developers to implement generative capabilities into an existing app.

The Xcode suite, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for coding, designing, debugging and testing apps for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS platforms, is also getting the “26” year-led naming as the operating systems do. Apple says Xcode has built-in support for OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and developers can either leverage other providers or run local models on any Mac with Apple silicon. That helps in choosing one that would work best for their app development needs.

App Intents, with the update that adds support for Visual Intelligence, is giving developers the pathway to allow their apps to integrate deeper with different Apple platforms, including iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26. Depending on app and the developers intention of integration, Siri, Control Center, widgets and Spotlight are on the agenda. This year, app developers will be able to integrate their apps within visual search results, which would allow users to directly land on that app.

This year, Apple has given the world a first glimpse at the Liquid Glass design language that spans all their platforms. Something they say “combines the optical qualities of glass with a sense of fluidity”. Apple says the native frameworks such as SwiftUI, have all the tools developers would need to adapt their existing apps to the new design language. An example of this is the all-new Icon Composer app.

Alongside, Apple is also releasing the Sensitive Content Analysis framework and parental controls, which allows developers to use the new Declared Age Range API, or application programming interface, to deliver age-appropriate content based on a user’s age range. “When developers implement this API, parents can allow their children to share their age range without disclosing a birthdate or other sensitive information, enabling developers to tailor experiences accordingly,” Apple says. Age range data is shared only if parents choose to allow it, and they can disable sharing at any time.