Here Is What’s New In iOS 8.1 Beta For iPhone And iPad

Apple released the first beta of iOS 8.1 to developers just yesterday, and as we expected, it comes with a lot of minor changes that make up for a handful update over what is available publicly in the form of iOS 8.0.2. Here, we’ll run through all the changes in a neatly organized bulleted list.

The iOS 8.1 update has been seeded just in time for Apple to roll out its brand new payment system to the masses, which makes carrying a wallet a thing of the past. But apart from Apple Pay, the new beta brings with it a few hidden gems too which we’re going to list down here.

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The complete list of changes are as follows:

  • The iBooks icon has been slightly refreshed.
  • If you navigate to Settings > General > Keyboards, you’ll notice a brand new Enable Dictation toggle.
  • The apps permissions screen has been slightly tweaked with new options.
  • The Recently Added album in the Photos app has been renamed to Camera Roll and the My Photo Stream album also makes a dramatic return.
  • When you’re selecting a new widget to place in Notification Center, the app icons are now larger than before, making things more prominent.

Other changes include a hidden menu for Apple Pay, which as we mentioned before, is part of this point update, and is not available to access for everyone just yet. And the rest of the changes pertain to bug fixes and performance fixes.

At this point, we’re sitting on top of the first beta of iOS 8.1, so it’s a safe bet that we’ll see several more on a bi-weekly basis before the final version hits the public channel. And if we are to take a guess, then it’s highly likely that the public release will coincide with the announcement of brand new iPads, which are due to be announced later on this month.

Whenever the new iOS 8.1 update drops for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, we’ll definitely inform our readers of its availability. Till then, if you’re a developer then you can grab your hands on the beta bits by heading over to Apple’s developer portal, which, by the way, will cost you $99 a year.

That’s the price you pay if you want to get on software before anyone else.

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