Complete guide to iOS 8
Everything you need to know about Apple’s latest iOS
iOS 8 was officially unveiled to the public at WWDC, Apple’s annual developer conference this June. It was demonstrated by Apple executives in the keynote and in sessions at the conference, so we got to see what the OS looks like, how the design has been tweaked from iOS 7 and what new features we can look forward to in the new version. But when can the public get their hands on iOS 8?
Initially it will be restricted to a beta testing programme, which app developers (or those willing to claim they are app developers) can pay to sign up to. These betas will be unfinished versions of iOS 8 that are likely to contain flaws, glitches and design elements that are later changed, but joining the beta
means you can get a good idea of iOS 8’s broad design ideas and main features before committing to the final version.
Expect iOS 8 proper to be rolled out to the public around September or October – most likely alongside the iPhone 6.
Visual design and interface
After a succession of operating systems that looked roughly the same, iOS 7 was a stark departure: brighter, lighter, less skeuomorphic and far more modern than iOS 6. As we expected, Apple hasn’t done anything as radical as this for iOS 8.
The broad aesthetic cues are, as far as we can tell, almost the same as iOS 7 – with the same clean, minimal icons, and transparency effects in place of iOS 6’s skeuomorphic design elements. It retains the bold (but very slightly toned down) colour palette of
later iterations of iOS 7, which saw the bright green of iOS 7 darkened a touch.
iOS 8’s interface is largely the same as iOS 7’s too. There are a few changes (the app-switching interface now shows recently ‘used’ contacts and lets you ring them up or send them a message very easily) but these are largely to cope with new features, which we will look at next.
New features for users
iOS 8 has a host of brilliant new features, which we’ll look at one by one in the following section. But it’s worth remarking before we start on one interesting aspect to Apple’s presentation: a lot of emphasis was given to developer-specific, highly technical parts of iOS 8 as you would expect from a presentation to developers; but also key was the company’s new openness in allowing app developers to do many things within iOS 8. So we’ll divide this into two parts: innate features that iOS 8 itself can do, and developer features that will let apps do new things.
Messages
Messages, which Apple software head Craig Federighi pointed out is the most used app in iOS, gets lots of tweaks.
Group messages are organised far more conveniently. You can use iOS’s Do Not Disturb mode on a per-thread basis, such as situations when a group message thread has got out of hand and your device keeps buzzing with notifications of new
messages. Or, in a more drastic measure, you can leave a group message thread at any point. If lots of people in the thread have been posting images or videos, you don’t need to worry about keeping track of them all, because Messages organises all the attachments in a particular thread at the bottom of it.
Finally, you can share your location with other members of a thread indefinitely or for limited periods of time.
You can also send voice and video messages which will self-destruct (to save memory) according to Federighi, after a period of time unless you save them.
Brilliantly, voice messages sent via Messages appear in the lock screen with a waveform graphic, and you can listen to the message in question by simply lifting the iPhone to your ear – iOS detects the motion and interprets the gesture automatically. As usual, we look forward to testing this out and
seeing how accurate it really is. You can reply, without pressing any onscreen controls, by simply speaking your reply, then lowering the phone to send the message. It’s not clear how Apple intends to keep voicemail private in this scenario.
The Mail app has been updated with gesture support and a wide range of small, but convenient tweaks – plus a raft of brilliant, new features.
You can use gestures to delete, flag or ‘unread’ messages, swiping across a message to perform the chosen action. It’s a single swipe to mark as unread, flick across and tap to flag, or drag the message all the way across to delete. We’ve seen gesture support like this in third-party apps, but it’s nice to see Apple taking developments on board.
In a form of in-app multitasking, you can flick a message down to the bottom of the screen, check
or copy material from another message, and then return to it with a single click. From the demo, it appeared to be roughly the same as minimising a window on a desktop OS.
Federighi also showcased the ability of Mail to recognise an invitation in a marketing email as an event, and offer to add it to Calendar. This whole process looked very slick, but we’ll reserve judgement until we’ve tried it ourselves.
A new feature called MailDrop provides a solution when you need to send a large attachment. Rather than sending the file via the email server, it’s uploaded to iCloud and downloaded seamlessly at the other end.
Interactive notifications
As you’ll have noticed when we replied to a voice message from the lock screen, iOS 8 lets you accomplish far more without leaving the app you’re in, thanks to more responsive notifications. Facebook, Messages or Twitter notifications pop down into your screen and can be responded to there and then – you get the option to reply or Like, accept or decline Calendar invitations and so on, all from the lock screen or Notification Center. Alternatively, notifications can be flicked away.
Continuity
This could be the biggest attentiongrabber of all, and affects Mac OS
X Yosemite as well. Continuity is the name Apple is giving to enhanced compatibility between its new desktop and mobile platforms, enabling you to, for instance, answer iPhone calls on your Mac (a notification will appear even if your iPhone is upstairs charging), or continue a message started on iPad on Mac or vice versa. If you’re composing an email on your phone and walk up to your Mac, Mail on the Dock in Mac OS X will prompt you that you’re composing a message; simply click it to continue the email on your Mac. Finally, Continuity allows you to seamlessly AirDrop files between your mobile device and the Mac.
QuickType predictive typing
We’ll return to typing in the developer section, but iOS 8 will have baked-in support for QuickType, a form of predictive typing that looks far more ambitious than the auto-correct-level predictions in previous versions. We’re not just talking about completing words you’ve nearly finished typing.
In Messages, Mail and similar apps, iOS 8 will offer entire words that it suspects you may wish to use based on the particular context, in a little palette that appears above the keyboard.
For example, if you type a message to a friend suggesting dinner, predictive typing will add a word-selector above your keyboard that could include “and a movie”
to speed up typing. Furthermore, Apple says iOS 8 will be able to learn the words you typically use and understand the context in which you’re typing, such as a business or personal communication – messages it sense are intended for business use would see more formal suggestions.
In order to safeguard privacy, all the information QuickType acquires about your writing style will stay on the device, Federighi insisted.
Safari
Here’s a small but attractive change to the Safari interface: on iPad – you can see a new tab view that shows open tabs, and groups those from one site into stacks. And the sidebar from Mavericks is now present in Safari on iOS.
Apple didn’t announce it during the event, but Safari users will be able to use DuckDuckGo – a highly privacy-focused search engine – as the default search. This was one of several subtle shots
at Google – whose business model is built around gathering large volumes of user data – that Apple took during the night.
In a further nod to privacy fans, Safari on iOS 8 will enable Private Browsing on a per-tab basis.
The main changes in the way you use Safari, however, are likely to be seen in the developer changes we’ll discuss later – the ability for thirdparty apps to share data with Safari and be added to the sharing pane, for instance. (The examples given were a Pinterest ‘pinning’ feature and an in-Safari translator by Bing. Neither of these are innate to Safari, but third-party apps will be able to create new optional features that you can import.)
Camera
Apple didn’t discuss this on stage, but there are some nice updates for the app.
Time-lapse video: Probably the most imaginative of the Camera updates; it’s a surprise this didn’t get a mention on stage. iOS 8 introduces a new Timelapse video mode, whereby the Camera app will take photos at dynamic intervals to create a, well, time-lapse video.
Camera timer: For everyone who’s struggled taking a selfie, iOS 8 has a timer.
Burst and Panorama modes get more inclusive: In iOS 8, graphics optimisations will give users of older iPhones access to the quicker burst mode previously only available to the iPhone
5s (other phones used to get a slower version of this feature, which only snapped images once every half-second or so). The iPad gets access to Panorama photos, too.
Separate focus and exposure controls: There are several ways the Camera app could implement this useful new feature, including straightforward tap-to-focus with an exposure slider or via two separate tap-to-focus reticles.
iCloud Drive
This is a sort of Dropbox-esque cloud storage service with seemingly wide cross-platform, crossapp compatibility (but we need to test it out).
If you’re in an app like Sketchbook, for instance, you can bring up the iCloud Drive pane, and access the files there.
Any edits you make are saved back to the original location. You’ll have access to all of those documents on your Mac and Windows, too.
Health
We expected this. Health is a new app that brings together a variety of health and fitness-related metrics – collated from fitness bands and various third-party devices – that you can monitor easily in a single easy-to-understand interface.
Some expected new hardware to accompany Apple’s health-related software updates – maybe even a health-monitoring iWatch? Instead, these features will work with third-party fitness bands and health accessories. (Nike and Withings products were displayed as examples.) Naturally, this doesn’t rule out some kind of Apple-built wearable or healthmonitoring accessory in the future.
Related to this, Apple also announced HealthKit, which will enable third parties to build their own compatible software. Given the many differences between the healthcare systems in Britain and the US (not least the corporate spending power it commands in America), it’s debatable how much we’ll see the examples shown at WWDC – a healthcare monitoring system from a private firm called Mayo Clinic – replicated over here, but it all looks well designed.
Family sharing
Family Sharing is a lovely idea, that sounds both safe and convenient. You set up as a family (informing iOS of the various members of your family and their devices) and it
will automatically configure photo sharing, location tracking and the free sharing of digital media across up to six family members (they need to share a credit card). It looks simple, although of course we’ll have to reserve judgement until we’ve wrestled with the feature ourselves.
In a response to recent controversies with high-spending toddlers, Family Sharing includes a parental lock feature for app downloads: when your kids try to buy an app, they have to get permission (and a permission request appears on your device). Some had hoped for a way to manage multiple users on one device. Unfortunately, this isn’t it.
Photos
Currently, Photo Stream means you can see the last 1000 photos taken on your iOS devices and stored in iPhoto on your Mac. With iOS 8 this could extend to all your photos. You can pay $1 (60p) per month to purchase 20GB of storage space in iCloud – 5GB is free. To cope with the enormous volumes of photos you will be able to access on your devices, Apple is talking up the enhanced smart search features in
iOS 8 Photos. Search terms are returned as locations, times and album names.
You can edit photos within the Photo app (using auto straightening and cropping, for instance, and smart editing based on ‘intelligent image analysis’) and the edits are transferred across to other iOS devices, pretty much instantly.
All of this worked seamlessly in the demo, needless to say. Will our mileage vary? We’re also a little concerned about the free allocation of space provided with iCloud, which may get used up quickly. Whether users will be willing to pay for more storage is debatable – although the pricing schemes do seem reasonable.
Siri
Another new feature we expected was Shazam, and sure enough, it’s integrated into Siri: Apple’s AI can recognise songs that are playing nearby, and then lets you buy them from iTunes. But that’s not the only upgrade for Siri in iOS 8. Oh no…
Apparently car-bound Siri users can now fire it up by saying “Hey Siri!” No need to tap the controls. (Presumably this means the device is always listening out for commands? Will this impact battery life?) And there’s ‘streaming voice recognition’, which simply means Siri displays what you’re saying (or
what it thinks you’re saying) while you’re saying it. If nothing else, this will be a godsend for those incredibly irksome moments where you carefully dictate a long question and then see Siri had absolutely no idea what you were saying.
Last of all, there are 22 new languages accepted for Siri voice recognition, and 24 new dictation languages.
New features for developers
This might not seem relevant to the average iPhone or iPad user, but the developer-centric updates in iOS 8 are likely to result in some very interesting new apps and app features. Its new willingness to allow app developers more freedom in modifying the user experience and (with permission) affecting the behaviour of other apps is a totally new, but very welcome, direction for Apple.
A lot of the most intriguing stuff in iOS 8 isn’t about the features Apple is providing, but about the opportunities it’s creating for third-party app developers. Widgets, Extensibility, Touch ID API, keyboards, home-automation APIs – we’ll only grasp the significance of all this once the developer community has got its claws properly into the new kits. Here are some of the most appealing new developers’ features…
App Store improvements
First up, Apple announced some changes that will make it easier for
developers to sell their wares on its store. App bundles are now permitted: if developers and publishers allow it, you’ll be able to buy bundles of multiple apps with a single click (and presumably a discounted price).
As well as screenshots, devs will be able to post preview videos on the App Store. Apps should also be easier to find as Apple says its new Explore search facility is far better at showing the apps you want. (Spotlight also now suggests apps to buy that fit your search criteria when you search within iOS itself, which may lead to a few extra sales.)
Finally, you’ll be able to join beta tests of new apps using Apple’s TestFlight beta test service. That’s brilliant news.
Extensibility and widgets
Apps can now ‘talk to each other’, sharing data and modifying each other’s behaviour in small ways, but Apple was keen to stress the security measures safeguarding this process as any data transferred will move via iOS’s security.
This means, for example, that Pinterest can share its data with Safari and allow the user to add a Pinterest entry to the Safari sharing pane. Or Safari could gain a Bing translate feature. (Interesting for Apple to be pushing Bing, isn’t it? That’s one in the eye for Google, then.)
But doesn’t that sound a bit like... Widgets? Yes! iOS 8 finally gets widgets.
You can download widgets from apps and customise their position on the Notifications screen. The example Craig Federighi gave was a (rather brilliant) eBay widget that lets you observe the progress of your auctions, and make a bid from the Notifications Centre itself.
In general, the Notification Centre has been empowered to carry out far more actions without having to resort to individual apps’ own interfaces.
Third-party keyboards
On a related theme, but worth its own entry due to its significance, iOS 8 is open to system-wide thirdparty keyboards. This is huge, and tackles one of the biggest complaints we had about iOS in the past – its inflexible and backward-looking keyboard.
With this change, you’ll be able to download a keyboard that suits you (the Swype keyboard upgrade was shown in the demo) and use it throughout iOS 8. This small, simple feature – Swype lets you type by moving your finger smoothly across the letters you want without leaving the screen – is the one element in Android that we used to be the most envious of.
Between this and QuickType, iOS 8 now has state-of-the-art typing options. Assuming QuickType is as good as it looks, typing will be great out of the box, with a range of system-wide upgrades available for power users.
Third-party Touch ID
Touch ID, the fingerprint scanner offered on the iPhone 5s (and presumably on further iOS devices yet to be launched) is now being opened up to third parties, too. So instead of being confined to unlocking your device and a few key preinstalled apps, you can use your fingerprint to log into banking apps, make secure payments and so on.
As with most of these new tools, it remains to be seen how this will actually affect the user. But we’d be surprised if we don’t see extensive use of the Touch ID API in third-party apps, because of its great security and convenience.
Home automation & HomeKit API
The last of the features we predicted, under the speculative heading of ‘iHome’. Instead it’s known as the HomeKit API, which will let devs code their home-automation gadgets, so you can access your thermostat or garage door from an iPhone.
One example given was the ability to say “Get ready for bed!” to Siri, causing the system to check that all doors are locked and lights dimmed, but the possibilities are endless. Our homes will soon be smart, thanks to Apple.
BitCoin and other virtual currencies
A change to the App Store guidelines may allow virtual currencies
to be transferred and accepted. The relevant clause in the Purchasing and Currencies section reads as follows: “Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions.”
Metal graphics system
We’re really getting into developer tech now, but the nutshell summary of the new Metal graphics system is quite appealing: more efficient rendering of detailed 3D graphics. Obviously, we look forward to testing the fruits of Metal thoroughly and seeing for ourselves how effective it is.
Tim Sweeney, the boss of Infinity Blade developer Epic Games, was brought on stage to demonstrate a new Zen Garden game built with the Metal technology. He described the new possibilities as “an order of magnitude increase of detail” – with 10,000 petals at one point being simulated, and 3,500 individually animated butterflies. You’ll soon
be able to see for yourselves how impressive this all is, because the Zen Garden demo app will be made available for free on the App Store in due course.
Swift programming language
Last of all (and exciting the developers in the audience very much), Apple announced a new programming language for both iOS and Mac, called Swift. Reporting Apple’s announcement that Swift features ‘closures, generics, namespaces, multiple return types and type inference’ our US colleague Dan Moren pointed out: “The biggest cheer at this event came at ‘namespaces’!”
How do I upgrade to iOS 8?
Upgrading is easy – once the update is rolled out to the public. You simply go into the Settings app, General, then Software Update, and if there’s a new version of iOS, you can download and install it from this screen. It will be a free upgrade.
Bear in mind that, in theory, you will only be able to upgrade to the absolute latest version of iOS at
the time of upgrading. If iOS 8.1 has come out by the time you upgrade, for instance, you’ll be able to get that one, not iOS 8. But occasionally iOS users have found themselves forced to upgrade via an intervening version. That’s not supposed to happen, but doesn’t seem to cause any long-term problems.)
Will I be able to downgrade from iOS 8 to 7?
Based on past behaviour, probably not. It’s possible that Apple will run things differently with iOS 8. We hope so; it would be nice if Apple let the public try iOS 8 and then go back if it wasn’t for them. But this would be a surprise.
Beta program
This allows early access to iOS 8 before everyone else, and (assuming Apple repeats its policies for iOS 7) give you a get-out clause if you don’t like it.
But there are down sides to joining the beta, some of which are ethical – the beta programme is for app developers, not curious, snarky iPhone users, and a lot of blameless apps suffered with unfairly low review scores last time around because people who didn’t know what they were doing signed up to the iOS 7 beta and then found that (obviously) many apps weren’t yet optimised for it. Don’t be like them. Joining the beta also costs money, whereas an iOS update is normally free.
Bottom line
Initial impressions are hugely positive: it has a host of small, but convenient tweaks (particularly in Messages, Mail and Photos, but throughout the system), and opens up new possibilities for app developers to get creative. Widgets could add an extra level of personalisation, third-party keyboards are a huge addition, and we can’t wait to see what games developers do with Metal.