iOS 8 has given Apple a chance to showcase what it has in the pipeline for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, as has been noted ad nauseam by commentators throughout the blogosphere, the Cupertino outfit has borrowed quite a few long-standing Android features in creating this very appealing software update. But while the likes of third-party keyboard support and widgets have been available over at the Google Play Store for a good few years now, it looks as though Apple will also be grabbing one of its major adversary's newer quirks in the form of Google Now's find my car feature.
For all of the great strengths associated with the Apple iPhone - from the seamless operating system to the regularly solid camera - the Cupertino's most prized asset does have its fair share of faults. The battery, for one, is regularly highlighted as a weakness, and of all the features that users would like to see greatly improved, the battery retention tends to be right up there. Although we expect the next batch of iOS devices to offer larger battery capacity from a hardware standpoint, software optimization also plays a pivotal role, and as per new findings from one iOS 8 beta user, Apple will be introducing a multitude of new features to help users conserve those precious droplets of juice.
Apple's iOS 8 keynote at WWDC last Monday told only a portion of the story regarding the upcoming software, and as we've been learning ever since that showcasing and subsequent roll-out of the first beta, Apple has packed a lot of less obvious features into the mix. Split-screen multitasking for iPad was one of a number of pre-WWDC rumors that, we thought, had failed to materialize, but hidden deep inside the iOS 8 code is evidence that, in fact, such a feature could well be on its way.
Apple prides itself on its relatively good record of preserving security, but despite ongoing efforts to ensure that public releases of iOS and OS X are as stable and water-tight as possible, we're often reminded that software, inherently, is not infallible and that inevitable, faults will arise. The headlines have, for the past week, been largely dominated by talk of the upcoming iOS 8, but as Apple looks to pipe on the improvements, a new flaw within the current iOS 7 has just been unearthed.
We're still a good few months from finding out precisely what Apple has planned for the iPhone 6, but with such a high volume of leaks and reports having surfaced over the past couple of months, we have a fairly good idea of its form factor and features. As well as once again underlining the notion that the device will be considerably larger than any smartphone Apple has released until now, a new report notes that the handset will finally delve into the uncharted realms of NFC, as well as offering wireless charging and improved LTE.
Apple's big iOS 8 reveal at WWDC brought with it one or two features that we never saw coming. One feature that's considerably less unexpected but perhaps one that has slipped under the radar, is the Camera app's new time-lapse mode.
If you're a Mac owner, there's a good chance you'll be interested in downloading and installing the Developer Preview of OS X 10.10 Yosemite, which Apple took the wraps off only last week. But if you don't want to overwrite your current set-up and would prefer to install the unfinished build separately, we're now going to show you how this dual-boot alternative can be achieved by creating a separate partition on your OS X machine's main storage device.
Apple's latest iOS software update has been well received by users, pundits and commentators, and one of the main reasons why it has been so heavily lauded can be attributed to the broader set of customization tools. Everywhere you look throughout iOS 8 beta 1 - if you've had the chance - you'll notice the increased scope for tailoring the experience beyond anything seen before with Apple's mobile software, and according to some murmurings on Twitter, Apple could be planning to offer users more jurisdiction over the Control Center.
HealthKit, as has already been established, will serve as a major component in the iOS 8 update, and we're also already aware that it will integrate with various third-party accessories for a better all-round experience. Now, it has been discovered that since HealthKit will offer the ability to hook up with accessories natively via Bluetooth, those behind said add-ons will not need to build and publish companion apps.
Apple just announced and released the Developer Preview of OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and although the forthcoming Mac software update offers a little more than a few cosmetic changes, it is indeed those aesthetic tweaks that are most noticeable about this particular version. Here, we take a look at Yosemite's UI elements versus the corresponding design of the preceding OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and although it doesn't, on the whole, feel as dramatic a departure from tradition as iOS 7 did back in September of last year, the breakdown really hits home how much work Apple's design team has put in.
