All the rumors, all the excitement and all the guesswork has led to this point, for today Apple's new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have gone on sale around the globe, with huge lines very much the order of the day.
So, iOS 8 is now officially out in the wild for everyone, and like iOS 7, it is expected that a large portion of the iPhone and iPad-owning community will quickly jump on the new software. But have you, our wonderful army of readers, decided to take the plunge and install iOS 8 on your device? We'd love to know if you've joined the ranks of the early adopters, so be sure to cast your vote in our poll below.
With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus currently dominating the headlines, we've scarcely had the opportunity to take a proper look at Apple's new watch line-up, which was announced in conjunction with the two new smartphones. With three main types and over thirty different varieties, the Cupertino company has clearly done its homework in bringing its first major wearable to market, and although it'll be a few months before Apple Watch makes retail, watch aficionados and techies alike seem to have taken to both the design and ecosystem.
So, you've just installed iOS 8 and heard a lot about third-party widgets and keyboards. Given that both of these features are brand new and previously unheard of on Apple's mobile software, you may be unsure as to how you might go about installing these much talked-about new treasures, and so below, we've got a little guide that should help you along the way.
The Family Sharing feature, as the name implies, will allow families and groups of people to share apps without having to connect to the same Apple ID. Since the introduction of the App Store, folks have shared the same account in order to save on buying many of the exact same apps or content, but the system is flawed in that every user of said account then has a list of content that they don't want or need, and never actually downloaded in the first place. To resolve this, Family Sharing essentially binds a number of Apple IDs into one parent account, and provided that they all feed from the same credit or debit card, can readily go ahead and download apps and content purchased by other members of the same family.
Apple's iTunes App Store is awash with content, and as the company itself pointed out at the big iPhone 6 event last week, now home to some 1.3 million apps and games. But while it's easy to find an app you head about through a friend, say, by using the Search feature, discovering new content is not such a simple task, and with this view being shared by many users and commentators alike, Apple has just made it easier for developers to promote their stuff.
Although the numerous jailbreaking gurus have been relatively quiet regarding a potential untethered jailbreak for the all-new iOS 8, the Chinese team Pangu has just delivered some very encouraging news. Although the collective stopped short of putting any kind of time frame on when the world might see its very first jailbreak on the new software, the group did say that it's well on the way to cracking the new OS, and given that Pangu was responsible for bringing Cydia to folks seemingly stranded on iOS 7.1.x, we're quietly excited about these claims.
Emoji icons are a major part of the social experience, and in a large portion of Twitter posts and Facebook status updates, you're likely to see a little smiley face, a thumbs up, or any one of the many other 847 emojis available. With third-party keyboard support now a part of iOS 8, developers have a new angle through which to entice the mobile market, but while the big names like SwiftKey, Fleksy and Swype have all come through with their as-expected ports of the corresponding Android apps, several others have sought to offer something a little different.
As well as providing Android switchers with a guide on using its latest fleet of iPhones, Apple has just added an iOS 8 User Guide to iBooks for iPhone and iPad users. Ideal for anybody looking to get the most out of the new software, it covers every aspect from the simple stuff like sending emails to the other little quirks like using customizable keyboards, and as Apple describes in the release notes, serves as "an essential part of any iBooks library."
Even though we're now on the cusp of OS X Yosemite 10.10, it's worth remembering that Mavericks is till the current version of Apple's Mac software, and with reports suggesting that Yosemite won't hit the Mac App Store until mid-to-late October, it's likely to stay that way for at least another month. Thus, Apple has just rolled out OS X Mavericks 10.9.5, and with plenty of bug fixes and general performance enhancements, is worth taking the time to download.
