iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOSmobile operating system designed by Apple Inc. as the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2014 on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, 2014.[2] Billed as "The biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the App Store", iOS 8 builds on the major redesign that iOS 7 introduced, while including many enhancements and interface improvements. As of February 2, 2015, iOS 8 has been installed on 72% of compatible Apple devices.[3]
iOS 8 Beta 1 was introduced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and it was released to developers later that day. From then until September, new Beta versions were seeded to developers typically every two weeks. Each new Beta version contained bug fixes and improvements over the last.
On September 9, 2014, at their 'Wish We Could Say More' event, Apple introduced the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, a new mobile payment service called Apple Pay, and the Apple Watch. At their event, Apple also announced that iOS 8 would see a public release on September 17. The Golden Master version was seeded to developers shortly after.[4][5]
On October 16 at their "It's been way too long" event, Apple introduced the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, new Mac mini and the iMac with Retina 5K display. At the event, Apple also announced that iOS 8.1 would see a release of October 20. iOS 8.1 saw the return of the camera roll, the introduction of Apple Pay and bug fixes.[6]
On November 17, 2014, at the release of iOS 8.1.1, Apple updated the iOS App Store so that all apps for which there is no charge to download are labeled "GET" instead of "FREE". This was changed due to in-app purchases by children who downloaded "free" apps in the App Store without asking their parents for consent to download.[7]
The Photos app contains more options to edit photos. The cropping feature now enables rotating images both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Furthermore, users can set the desired brightness and colors for photos. In iOS 8.0, the Camera Roll and My Photo Stream albums were removed; they were brought back in iOS 8.1. The Camera app now features a shot timer for the front camera, which can be set to 3 or 10 seconds. The camera also has a new time-lapse mode.
Notification Center is much changed from iOS 7. In the iOS 8 Notification Center, there are only two tabs, "Today" and "Notifications", compared to the Notification center in iOS 7, which had 3 tabs (Today, All, and Missed). Users can now add and remove widgets in Notification Center with the "Edit" button. This also allows the rearrangement of notification widgets. The "clear" button, used to clear notifications, is more visible. Users are now able to reply to text messages directly from the notification center.
In the Messages app, users can send audio and video messages by holding down the record button. In group conversations, users can add or remove someone from a thread, name a thread, share their location in a thread, view all attachments, and turn on Do Not Disturb to not receive notifications from a specific thread. Users can also set messages to auto delete after 30 days or a year.[8]
iOS 8 includes a new predictive typing feature called QuickType. It displays word selections above the keyboard as one types. The feature can be turned off in Settings, or hidden using a swipe gesture. Additionally, iOS 8 allows users to install third-party keyboards.[9] Many developers have ported their keyboards to iOS, including Minuum, Swype, SwiftKey, Fleksy and Adaptxt.[10][11]
New to iOS 8, a user can add five others as family members. Family members can share purchased apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books using the same credit card. iOS 8 can also automatically set up photo streams for all family members. Calendars may be synced between all members. Family members can share their location with other family members.[12][13] You can send iTunes download requests to another accounts for approval through Ask to Buy as long as you are signed up as a child.[14]
iCloud Drive is Apple's file hosting service for devices running iOS 8 or OS X Yosemite. This feature allows users to save photos, videos, documents (Keynote, Pages, and Numbers), and music, and other apps' data to iCloud. Users can start their work on one device and continue on another device.[15] By default, users will get 5 gigabytes of storage for free, but this space will be expandable via subscription.
HealthKit is a service that allows developers to make software that integrates with the new Health application. This application allows users to track their steps, oxygen, sleep levels, and other health related data. Additionally, users can enter their medical history, so that the application can help serve them better.[16] In a commercial for the iPhone 5S, the exercise song Chicken Fat is used to promote the new service.[17]
HomeKit is a database similar to HealthKit and PassKit[18] that allows developers to make software that discovers, configures, communicates with and controls devices for home automation. Actions can be grouped together and can be initiated using Siri[19] either when you are at home or if you have AppleTV, from elsewhere .
There are also the option for manufacturers of existing equipment to make gateways that connect equipment using their protocols to Homekit, one of the first to do this is Insteon[20]
A set of tools that were present across OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 were named Continuity. The most popular one of them all is named Handoff.
Handoff allows users to share documents, e-mails, and websites over Wi-Fi or personal hotspot between iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite devices.[21] Handoff also allows all text messages to be read and replied on their Mac and iPad. This also is extended to the uses of the voice function to make and receive call on their Mac and iPad if their iPhone is connected with iCloud.
This feature is supported only by compatible Macs with Bluetooth LE running OS X Yosemite, and by compatible devices running iOS 8. The following devices running iOS 8 will be supported: iPhone 5 or later, iPad (4th generation) or later, all iPad Mini models, and iPod touch (5th generation).[22]
In iOS 8, Spotlight is integrated with a number of web services so that users can search using Wikipedia, Bing, or Google. Other services include: news, nearby places, suggested websites, movie showtimes, and content that is not already on the device from the iTunes Store. Moreover, the enhanced spotlight search is also available in safari browser, so you can have now your own search engine that will find your desired stuff on services linked to spotlight search.[23][24][25][26]
Siri now outputs what users say as they speak for more accuracy and has integrated Shazam support. Holding down the home button will activate Siri, and saying "What's playing?" will identify what song is playing.[citation needed] Saying "Hey, Siri" whenever the device is plugged into a power source will activate Siri if the feature is turned on. Purchasing content through Siri is now possible, and Siri now has support for 22 new languages.
Wi-Fi calling has been added to allow mobile phone calls over Wi-Fi. It is planned to be available for customers of EE in the UK.[28]AT&T[29] and Verizon[30] are going to launch Wi-Fi calling in 2015. According to Computerworld, Vodafone might also provide this service to its customers in Australia.[31] Wi-Fi Calling is available to T-Mobile customers in the US.[32]
Apple used the mobile multiplayer online battle arena game Vainglory(Halcyon Fold map pictured) to demonstrate the graphics capabilities of Metal, iOS 8's new graphics API, at the iPhone 6's September 2014 announcement event.[33]
A study by Crittercism found that the rate at which applications crashed in their tests was 3.56% on iOS 8, higher than the 2% found on iOS 7.1.[34]
On September 24, 2014, the iOS 8.0.1 release crippled iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus of Touch ID and cellular.[35] The update was released at 9:00 AM PST, and approximately at 11:00 AM PST, Apple removed the update due to these problems, as well as other minor issues. A day later, Apple released iOS 8.0.2 which contains all the fixes included with iOS 8.0.1 and also fixes the problems that iOS 8.0.1 introduced.[36]
There are unfixed Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and battery issues.[37]
As of February 10, 2015, the iOS 8.1.3 release still contains a serious security flaw in cached screenshots created during multitasking. This security flaw has been known publicly to occur since October 5, 2013 and has persisted since iOS 7.0.2.[38] The iOS saves screenshots of all applications upon switching away from them so that when an application is opened it displays the saved screenshot for 2 seconds while the application loads in the background. This iOS feature is to give the illusion of immediate application response. However, due to the screenshots being saved for all screen orientations (3 for the iPhone and 4 for the iPad), users at times momentarily see screenshots that may be months old when loading applications, even browsing history that was performed under Safari's Private mode.[39] The problem manifests itself when using an application, switching out, changing orientation, and then switching back to the application. When the application loads, it temporarily displays the screenshot that was saved last time the application was in that particular orientation and switched away from, which is not necessarily what was saved last time the application was used. The temporary screenshots are a security issue because they can show any personal, business, or private data, which presents a significant security risk. This security flaw is not permanently mitigated by clearing out application cache or resetting all settings, as recommended by Apple. Resetting the device only clears screenshots saved prior to the reset, but new screenshots are saved every time an application is switched away from. This security flaw is not application or hardware specific, it is a known and persistent iOS flaw.
iOS 8 received mixed reviews. Brad Molen of Engadget said, "To be fair, much of the focus on iOS 7 was on getting developers up to speed on the design overhaul; iOS 8, on the other hand, is all about adding functionality to the iPhone and iPad. As a result, you’re not going to see many significant changes to the layout or design of iOS this time around. In fact, you may not even be able to tell the difference between iOS 7 and 8 unless you’re looking closely. But don’t let looks deceive you: There’s a lot of new stuff under the hood."[40] Charles Arthur of The Guardian said, "There’s no radical change in appearance; instead, there are deeper changes, and an overall cleaning up of the interface."[41]
Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch said, "Best for me has been the ability to mute and leave group conversations, which is something I’ve been sorely missing since the introduction of group iMessage conversations. My family can tend to get pretty chatty on these threads, and while that’s generally fun, it can also be a huge distraction during work events, and during other times when I’d appreciate not getting a whole lot of noise mixed in with my signal.[42] Martin Byrant of The Next Web said, "These features won’t set the world alight for everyone, but they work well and they’re nice extras for people who send a lot of iMessages. That’s especially true if you own a Mac as of course messages are synced there too."[43]
In September 2014, a hoax Apple advertisement for an alleged feature called "Wave" of iOS 8 circulated on Twitter. The advertisement promised users that they would be able to recharge their iPhone by heating it in a microwave oven. This feature does not exist, and the media cited numerous people reporting on Twitter that they had destroyed their iPhone by following the procedure described in the advertisement.[44][45]
Apple announced iOS 8 on June 2, 2014 at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, with release announced for September 17, 2014. With this release, Apple continues the cycle to drop support for older devices. However, unlike past releases, which usually dropped support for two devices, iOS 8 only drops support for one device, the iPhone 4. Supported devices are the iPhone 4S onwards, iPod Touch (5th generation) and all iPad models apart from the first generation: the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) onwards. The iPad 2 is also the first Apple device to support five major versions of iOS: 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Photo Library – All photos and videos are automatically available in the iCloud Photo Library, and is consistent on all the linked devices automatically.
iCloud Drive – Various files that are being written or worked on are automatically saved in iCloud Drive and is consistent on all linked devices automatically, including a Mac or PC.
iCloud settings now display account information, payment information and security settings.
Ability to send voice messages instantly by using a new "microphone" button to the right of the text entry field.
Pressing and holding on the microphone button lets you record your voice and then swipe up to send it.
Messages can be listened to by either pressing play or raise to listen. Messages can also be listened and responded to on the Lock Screen by raising to listen and raising to respond.
Ability to send photo and video messages instantly by using the "camera" button to the left of the text entry field.
Pressing and holding on the camera button lets you take a photo or record a video and instantly send it.
Tapping the camera button shows the most recent photos in your camera roll. Options are also present for taking a new photo or video and to view your entire photo library. Multiple photos and videos can be selected to send at once.
A new details menu is available for each conversation which contains many new functions:
You can now title group message threads.
A list of everyone participating in a message thread is listed with buttons to call, FaceTime and view their full contact card.
Ability to drop or add people to groups.
Ability to leave groups.
Send current location.
Can share location with an individual or group for one hour, until the end of the day or indefinitely until you choose to stop.
Do Not Disturb option per group.
A collection of all photos that have been sent in a message thread.
Batch save/delete all images in a message thread.
Messages threads are now synced between all of your devices.
Images in conversations are now much larger.
Scrolling to the top of a message will now automatically cause older messages to load.
Can mark all texts as read.
Added options to automatically delete standard messages after 1 year, 30 days or never.
Added options to automatically delete video/audio messages after 2 minutes or never.
Faces of contacts display next to contact name on select iPhones.P6P
Music
Left swipe to delete albums.
Can add music to a playlist from another playlist.
Updated Icon.
Multitasking UI
The faces of recently conversed people now appears above the open applications, and with a swipe to the right one can also access their favorites.
The animation speed when entering and leaving the app switcher is now much faster.
Share sheets
Share sheet action icons are now redesigned.
Share sheet icons can now be rearranged and hidden.
UI
Improved animation system. Gestures such as bringing up Notification Center won't be blocked by an animation, such as the home screen icons flying in.
Can swipe to the left for options to flag it for follow-up, move it to a folder or delete.
Can swipe all the way across the screen to the left to delete immediately.
Can swipe all the way across the screen to the right to mark as read/unread.
Ability to swipe mail compose sheet down allowing access to the rest of ones mailbox to gather the information needed in order to compose the message.
When Mail recognizes a reservation, flight confirmation, or phone number in an email, a notification appears at the top of the message. In order to add it to the calendar or contacts, one needs to tap the notification(s).
Mail conversations are now threads.
Individual threads can be set as VIP so that the user will receive a notification when a reply is received.
Per thread S/MIME.
Automatic reply messages.
Can delete attachments.
New mailboxes: Unread, To or CC, Attachments, Thread Notifications, Today.
Interactive notifications – one can take action on texts, email, calendar invitations, reminders, and messages from apps like Facebook and other third-party apps.
Can be performed from within Notification Center by swiping a notification to the left to reveal actions available.
Can be performed directly within an apps notification banner/alert all without having to leave the app one is in.
Notifications in Notification Center can be individually dismissed.
Indoor Mapping – iOS 8 adds the M7 and M8 processor's and iPhone motion sensors to the CoreLocation API, allowing venue owners to create indoor positioning systems.
Time limits and countdown timer for Guided Access.
Privacy
Background location notifications – popup asking to "continue to allow" apps accessing Location information while running in the background.[49]
More Location Services options per app.
Camera added to Privacy settings.
HomeKit added to Privacy settings.
Health added to Privacy settings.
Photos
Camera Roll and My Photo Stream removed and replaced by "Recently Added, Videos, Recently Deleted" albums.
Search Photos by location and more.
Date, time and location information displayed.
Photos can now be favorited.
Photos and videos can be hidden from Moments.
Hidden photos and videos get added to the "Hidden" album.
New Albums added for Bursts, Slo-Mo Videos, and Time-Lapse Videos.
Option to auto optimise storage on device by removing local copies of pictures and videos.
Improved editing.
Smart composition tools.
Smart adjustments.
Extension support.
Voice Memos
Play/Pause button next to the record button in Voice Memos.
Lock Screen
App shortcuts for Handoff on the Lock Screen.
App shortcuts on the Lock Screen based on your location.
Audio iMessages received while the phone is locked can be listened to by raising to listen and responded to by raising to respond.
iTunes Radio "buy" song button on Lock Screen.
iTunes Radio skips remaining displayed on Lock Screen.
New animation when opening apps from the Lock Screen.
Access to Medical ID from emergency dialer.
New "Slide to Unlock" text in certain languages.
Keyboard
QuickType – As one types, they see choices of words or phrases one would probably type next, based on their past conversations and writing style, using a more formal language for mail, and a casual one for Messages. The system also adjusts the system based on the person one converses with, and the region of the user (currently available in 14 countries).
QuickType can be hidden by swiping down.
QuickType can be toggled on or off from within the keyboard switcher.
Extra functions added to the keyboard on select iPhones.P6P6P
Smiley icon for when emoji keyboard is the only alternate keyboard set up. Becomes a globe icon when multiple keyboards are set up.
Streaming voice recognition for Speech to Text.
Support for third-party keyboards like Minnum, Swype, SwiftKey, KeyMoji, and Adaptxt. However, their performance is limited, especially that of Swype[citation needed].
iOS 6 keyboard no longer appears in apps that are not optimized or updated to a version optimized for iOS 7 or higher.
New keyboards (Indian language and Indian English keyboards, Tagalog, Irish Gaelic, and Slovenian).
Family Sharing – a service of sharing purchases from iTunes between up to 6 people.
All group members must pay for family purchases with the same credit/debit card.
Ask To Buy – a parent can approve kids’ spending right from a parent’s device.
Coincides with iCloud Photo Library – automatically sets up a family photo stream where you can share photos, videos, and comments, and all the family photos are available from any device within the family.
Offers shared calendar and Reminders.
Family Sharing can automatically share the user's location with the family members, or keep their location hidden.
With the Find My iPhone app, family members can use their devices to locate one that’s lost and have it play a sound.
Apple IDs for kids under 13 are now possible due to Family Sharing.
Health app –shows a dashboard of all the fitness and health data of the user (iPhone and iPod touch only).[50]
Shows the heart rate, calories burned, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. of the user.
One can create an Emergency card with medicinal details, from within either the application or the lock screen.
Natively tracks steps taken and other movement activity within the Health app.
Export health data.
Continuity – iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Mac communication.[51]
Handoff – start writing an email or surfing a website from one device, then carry-on the activity from another device. (Requires all devices are connected to the same iCloud account) P5P5CP5SP6P6PT5S4S5M1M2
Answer a phone call, receive and send SMS/MMS from an iPhone on an iPad or a Mac. (Requires all devices run iOS 8 or OS X Yosemite, and are connected to the same Wi-Fi network or to the device's hotspot).
Intelligent hotspot – intelligently discover when an iPhone is nearby and automatically list the device under Wi-Fi networks in Settings.
Spotlight
Spotlight now also searches Wikipedia, iBooks, iTunes, App Store, nearby places, news, Suggested Websites, and Movie showtimes.
Shutter Mode (timer can be set to 3 or 10 seconds).
Burst photos can now be taken with the FaceTime camera in addition to the iSight camera.P5SP6P6P[55]
Settings
Every app installed now has its own settings panel, regardless of whether the app specifies its settings to appear in the Settings app (e.g. Notifications, Privacy, Background App Refresh, and Cellular Data usage).
Option to Enable/Disable dictation in keyboard settings.
iBooks icon and Reader view icon in Safari have been redesigned.
Settings app for third-party apps has been tweaked.
Apple Pay support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus (in physical store, online, or in app) P6P6P, Apple Watch-compatible devices (in physical store) P5P5CP5SP6P6P, for Touch ID devices (online or in app). P5SP6P6PP6PS6M3
Photos
Adds iCloud Photo Library as a beta service.
Adds Camera Roll and My Photo Stream albums back to Photos app after disappearing in iOS 8.0.x.
Removes Recently Added album.
Camera
Provides alerts when running low on space before capturing Time Lapse videos.
Messages
Adds the ability for iPhone users to send and receive SMS and MMS text messages to an iPad, iPod Touch and OS X Yosemite.P5P5CP5SP6P6P[62]
Resolves an issue where searching messages would sometimes not display results.
Fixes a bug that caused read messages not to be marked as read.
Fixes issues with group messaging.
Resolves issues with Wi-Fi performance that could occur when connected to some base stations, like the FIFA 15 Ultimate Team servers.
Fixes an issue that could prevent connections to Bluetooth hands-free devices.
Fixes bugs that could cause screen rotation to stop working.
Fixes an issue in Safari where videos would sometimes not play.
Adds an option to select between 2G, 3G, 4G, or LTE networks for cellular data on certain carriers (iPhone and iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) only).[63]
Adds AirDrop support for Passbook passes.
Adds instant tethering for OS X Yosemite.
Enables HealthKit apps to access data in the background.
Accessibility
Fixes an issue that prevented Guided Access from working properly.
Fixes a bug where VoiceOver would not work with third-party keyboards.
Improves stability and audio quality when using MFi Hearing Aids with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Fixes an issue with VoiceOver where tone dialing would get stuck on tone until dialing another number.
Improves reliability when using handwriting, Bluetooth keyboards, and Braille displays with VoiceOver.
Fixes an issue that was preventing the use of OS X Caching Server for iOS updates.
Patches the "date trick" for apps like GBA4iOS. Emulators (for non-jailbroken devices) can still be installed on this firmware, but not by the date trick.
This firmware can be jailbroken via the Pangu8 jailbreak, just like its predecessors, iOS 8.0 and 8.0.2.
Includes general performance and stability improvements.
Bug fixes
Reduces the amount of storage required to perform a software update
Fixes an issue that prevented some users from entering their Apple ID password for Messages and FaceTime
Addresses an issue that caused Spotlight to stop displaying app results
Fixes an issue which prevented multitasking gestures from working on iPad
Adds new configuration options for education standardized testing
Security updates.
Patches certain exploits used by the TaiG jailbreak.
Disallows the installing of unapproved apps. Some, however, can still be installed, including Shou, a screen recorder, or GBA4iOS, a Game Boy Advance emulator for iOS.
Make sure children get permission before buying items from iTunes.
Descriptive Video Services
Hear descriptive video with a new accessibility feature coming to select iTunes movies and TV shows later this year.
Peer-to-peer AirPlay
Guests can AirPlay from their Mac or iOS device directly to your Apple TV without connecting to your wireless network. (Requires iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, and iPod touch (5th generation) running iOS 8 or later or a Mac running OS X Yosemite or later.)A3R
iOS 8 requires around 5.5 to 6.5 GB of free space for the installation process to work, although the update takes up only about 1.5 GB of storage if updating over-the-air. Once installed, it takes up on average 740 MB more storage on iPhones and iPod touch and 1-2 GB on iPads than iOS 7.[64]
The iOS 8.1.3 update reduced the amount of free space necessary to install this and future updates. It requires around 600 MB for iOS 8 users and 3 GB for iOS 7 users to update over-the-air.[65]
