WWDC 2017: Apple announces new iOS 11 Messages feature called 'Business Chat'

Apple’s **World Wide Developers Conference** (WWDC) announced another iOS 11 feature called the Business Chat, which seems to be a shot at customer service messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and the expected **WhatsApp for Business** (also belongs to Facebook). According to Apple’s official website, Business Chat is a new way for businesses’ to connect with the customers directly from within Messages. Customers can find your business and start conversations from Safari, Maps, Spotlight, and Siri. Apple has also revealed that features like Apple Pay and calendar integration will allow Business chat to facilitate purchases without the necessity for the user to leave the chat. Facebook’s Messenger for Business announced a similar integration back in 2015. China’s **WeChat** has long had a feature like this as well. At the moment these are the only details that Apple has revealed about the Business Chat. More details are set to follow at Apple’s Developer Conference scheduled to take place on 9 June, 2017. At this year’s WWDC, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, made a bunch of other announcements which included the fact that Amazon’s video app will come to Apple’s TV streaming box later this year. The app will let users stream all the Amazon original hits. Apple also announced that watchOS 4, the next version of its smartwatch platform, will be arriving in September. It includes new features for watch faces, such as complications updating based on time of day or location and a new Siri-based watch face. Also, Apple will be releasing the latest version of the macOS called High Sierra which will be launched with the new Safari browser.