Giddy over Apple’s big iOS 8 reveal especially after iOS 7? Trust us, you weren’t the only one sitting at the edge of your seat, painfully gritting your teeth over what cool new functions Apple has in the bag with this latest system.
After the reveal at the World Wide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, the world can rest easy (and go abuzz) over the fantastic new features Apple included in their latest OS. Missed some of them? Here are 13 brilliant things you can look forward to.
It’s Simply Smarter!
Miffed whenever you’re in the middle of Twitter typing a carefully worded 140-characters about your favourite cupcake and an iMessage notification pops up? You don’t want to close Twitter, but you need to reply. If you know how annoying that’s like, iOS 8 solves the problem for you.
This new OS lets you reply without leaving your current open app. If a message pops up on your home screen, and you can’t be bothered just yet, flick it off the screen to deal with it later. Or, you can type a quick reply and get back to what you were doing. Oh, and that’s not the only thing. Double tap and it’ll bring up the people you are in contact with frequently. It’s iMessaging made easy!
Spy on Your Battery Vampire
Battery vampires are awful. There’s nothing worse than looking at your iPhone and iPad and seeing that battery meter nearly out of juice right when you need it! iOS 8 displays these horrible apps that guzzle up too much power. You can then shut them down and extend your battery life! No more third party apps to deal with, this one is built-in with the system.
Simpler, Easier Email
Gestures are the mother lode for Apple, so it’s no surprise it’s making its way to their email system. With a single gesture, iOS 8 allows you to delete emails in an instant. If you merely want to flag or reply to a message then just swipe lightly to the left and it’s all good.
Bye, Bye Troublesome Autocorrect!
This is one change nobody will shed a tear for. (Me included). In fact, I’m excited to try this out! iOS 8 messaging won’t be the same. According to Apple, QuickType for iMessage is embedded in the system and it’s more intuitive than ever. What can it do? QuickType learns from you. As you type, you’ll get word suggestions streamlined to how you speak to the person you are typing the message to. Yes, it is slightly creepy that your phone adapts to how you think, but it’s also pretty neat.
Group Texting Made So Much Easier
iOS 8 revamps group messaging and takes it to a different level. You can now add or remove people from any group. You can also leave if you want. If you think leaving is too harsh for some reason, hit “do not disturb” and mute that particular thread. This means you don’t get annoying messages from that particular group!
Sharing your location to a group is also easier. Share it for an hour, maybe two or until you feel like it. Not a problem! If you hate texting, send an audio, video or photo message instead. And yep, it’s like Mission Impossible on your phone, these heavier messages self-destruct (unless you program it not to) so they won’t take up space on your device.
Panoramic Snapshots Coming to The iPad
iPad users that love taking pictures with their device will love this one! iOS 8 is now delivering a panoramic option on the device. This was added to the iPhone 5 two years ago so it’s about time this made its way to the lovely tablet.
Safari is Now Down with Super Privacy
Yes, no need to switch to a different safari tab so you can browse privately. You can now assign particular tabs to be private. This also means you can assign a different tab to remember your auto fill data. Perfect for quick purchases or booking your tickets on that grand holiday to Hawaii!
Edit Your Way to Better Photos from Your iPhone
There will be a new Photos app with amazing new editing abilities for you to play with. Apple promises it’s easy to use and will feature a much simpler interface to deal with.
Touch Me All Over
(Okay, that is by no means to be taken literally). iOS 8 will be making a lot more use out of Touch ID. Now, Touch ID will be much more useful for authorization. This means you can access your bank app from your phone by using your thumbprint. Neat, huh?
Siri and Shazam – Together?
The lovable snarky Siri now has a companion. I’m not sure if they’ll get along nicely but it looks promising. Siri can now ‘listen’ in on what you’re listening. She can recognize tracks you play on the spot and give you a chance to buy the ones you like.
Healthkit, Apple Wants You to be Healthy
How about your personal health records in one database? Yes, there will be a lot of questions about this one. But Apple seems confident this app will be a hit. The company says with the app, you can securely store and share your information with hospitals and doctors. This is looking promising but we’ll see how it goes.
‘Console-Level’ Graphics for iOS (You Read That Right, Gamer)
The company showed a demo of this and it was mind-blowing! Their new 3D Engine, dubbed Metal, offers 10x the performance power of their previous 3D rendering engine. Expect fidelity and full performance on your teeny iPhone.
Extensions! Apple is Finally Opening Up
You’d never thought you’d see the day, didn’t you? Us too! Apple is finally allowing app developers to create extensions for iOS. This means you can post to Pinterest using a Pinterest extension or maybe customise your keyboard if you feel like it. These are exciting times. Don’t worry; they still assured everyone that these extensions would run with tons of security layers so users always, ALWAYS, retain control.
Apple fan or not, you got to admit, iOS 8 looks and sounds promising! Now, if only they’d put a proper date to its release instead of saying “some time in the fall.”
What do you think of all these new features? Got any favourite picked out yet? Let me know.
Cam :)
