The wait for the release date of iOS 8 is over. Apple has confirmed that it will be releasing this latest OS on September 17, two days before the company’s new phones go on sale.
iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system. It was announced at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2014 (WWDC) on June 2, 2014, but the release date was not confirmed. But now, it’s confirmed – September 17. However, here are some of the features for which you may like iOS 8:
QuickType
This feature can predict what you’re going to write before you write it. There will be a bar above the keyboard that shows you words that you’re likely to use to respond to certain incoming texts, or words you’re likely about to type as you type. And the more you use it, the more your iPhone will learn about the way you text. Besides, iOS 8 also enables third-party keyboard installation, so you’ll be able to use apps for further communication in a faster way.
Spotlight
Spotlight has got smarter. Let’s say you want to see an action movie on Saturday night. Normally you’d open up Safari, type in the movie name, and look for showtimes and theaters. Or you’d use a third-party app. But now if you search it on Spotlight—that’s the search bar that appears when you swipe down anywhere on your home screen—it’ll tell you nearby theaters, showtimes, even ratings.
Health app
There’s a new app named Health and a corresponding framework named HealthKit in iOS 8. The new app is a hub to gather and collect your personal info and data on fitness, diet, sleep, medication and more. The Health app itself isn’t going to collect data—you can authorize third-party apps that monitor, for example, how many steps you take or how you sleep, to feed their data into Health. Besides, you’ll also be able to connect it to wearable technology like Nike+ or Fitbit.
Siri getting some tips from Shazam
Apple has partnered with Shazam to give Siri sound-recognizing powers. And you can start talking to her without having to hold down the home button: just say “Hey, Siri!” and Siri will display the text of what you’re saying as you say it. Note that it can understand 22 languages.
Reply to texts without opening the Messages app
Normally when you get a text or iMessage, you’ll see a notification banner that appears at the top of your screen—that much hasn’t changed. But in iOS 8, to reply to that message, you simply swipe down on the banner. A text box appears in which you can directly reply to that message, in writing or by voice note. This new reply feature will be available for third-party apps like Twitter and Facebook, so you can quickly and easily retweet, favorite or like a post without having to open up the apps.
Photos app looks like Instagram
Apple has upgraded the Photos app. It will allow you to adjust lighting and saturation with sliding scales that show you what the photo would look like before you apply the changes. In addition, there’s a new option to “like” your own photo that’ll make the photo appear on all your Apple devices.
Place calls over Wi-Fi
Now you can place calls over Wi-Fi. For now, it’s available only for T-Mobile customers in the U.S. Vodafone has also plans to enable Wi-Fi calling in Australia. And perhaps more carriers will follow in their footsteps, too.
Coordinate your iPhone with your family
iOS 8 users can add up to six family members that can share purchased apps, music and books with the same credit card. Calendars can be synced, too, and photo streams will be automatically set up. There’s also an option to allow kids to send requests to their parents for app downloads.
iPhone 4S or higher, and iPad 2 or higher users will be able to upgrade to iOS 8. Both the iPad mini and iPad mini 2 tablets as well as iPod touch 5th generation will also work with the iOS 8.
Thanks To: Time
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