I bet there are bunch of you reading this who’s either using an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and can’t wait for for the new update to the operating system. Apple is scheduled to release iOS 8 on September 17th, 2014 at around 10am Pacific Time, so in Malaysia, we’ll probably receive it at around 1am September 18th onwards.
iOS 8 was first introduced three months ago in WWDC. As the number suggests, it is Apple’s eighth iteration of one of the most widely-used mobile operating systems ever. It was first introduced with the original iPhone with the name iPhone OS under the leadership of Scott Forstall, where it flourished in that five years. Forstall left the company in October 2012 after the Apple Maps fiasco, and the division was taken over by lead designer Jony Ive and software head Craig Federighi.
In just a year, iOS 7 was released and is a completely overhauled operating system, at least in terms of design. It has removed much of the skeuomorphic interfaces and replaced it with a much flatter design. New typography and color schemes are introduced, along with many new features like AirDrop, automatic app updates, background app refresh, Control Center, and more.
iOS 8 is taking the existing redesign to the next level, expanding on all the features already present today. Notification toasts can now be expanded for quick actions, apps can be added to the Notification Center pane as widgets, and user experience can be seamless through Handoff, where a document you’re working on an iOS 8 device can be picked up on a Yosemite-running machine, and vice versa. Phone calls and messages can also be responded on the Mac though the feature may not be supported at the release of Yosemite sometime in October.
A bunch of new ‘apps’ and services were also being introduced, including iCloud Drive storage service, the predictive QuickType keyboard (not to mention third party keyboard support), as well as HealthKit, HomeKit, and WatchKit integrations. There is also a new time lapse button on the stock Camera app.
There is also a lot of extensibility in iOS 8 too, where apps can ‘share’ information across apps (finally), Touch ID can work with third party apps, and Spotlight can offer search suggestions.
Sharing wise, an iTunes account holder can now act as an ‘organizer’ and share her app to other family members. Some of this feature is extended to the ‘Find My iPhone’ app where it’ll automatically send the phone’s location to iCloud, when the battery is critically low.
Finally, there is a split-screen mode found in iOS 8’s code, however this feature is probably only for the new and unannounced iPad, though you would think why not introduce this feature for existing iPads as well. iOS 8 will be compatible with the following devices:
- iPhone 4S
- iPhone 5
- iPhone 5c
- iPhone 5s
- iPod touch 5th generation
- iPad 2
- iPad with Retina display
- iPad Air
- iPad mini
- iPad mini with Retina display
Singapore will be the first few countries to get the iPhone 6 on September 19th, but existing users will get to enjoy iOS 8 a day before. As mentioned earlier, it will be rolling out at around 1am on September 18th, so get your WiFis ready. Happy updating.
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