With every iOS update, Siri is getting smarter and better. It is now able to process information relayed in a variety of ways. Here, we run through a selection of Siri tricks that you mightn’t have stumbled across before, and after checking out all of the tips, we’re pretty sure you’ll wind up using Siri a lot more than you currently do.
iOS 8 will add a new feature allowing apps to pick up passwords and login credentials directly from Safari's AutoFill feature and iCloud Keychain. This will, in turn, make the business of logging into apps much more streamlined, allowing you to sign in with a simple tap.
Before Apple announced iOS 8 at WWDC, there had been plenty of chatter that a new split-screen mode was on its way to the iPad which would allow two apps to run side-by-side in a similar way to the feature offered by Microsoft's Surface tablet. As the opening keynote of WWDC came and went, no mention was made of this rumored feature, but now that iOS 8 is in the hands of developers, mention of the split-screen mode has been found throughout the Software Development Kit that Apple provides.
The developers behind numerous third-party keyboards for Android rejoiced at Apple's announcement that iOS 8 would allow them to expand their reaches to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch communities, and now, TouchPal has thrown its hat into the ring with a demonstration of its gesture-heavy offering for the fruit company's imminent software update.
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.
Late last week, we heard that Apple was internally testing a Control Center feature that enabled users to customize the experience similarly to the manner in which iOS 8 would enable share sheets to be tweaked at the discretion of the individual. That tidbit was based on information found in the first beta build of iOS 8 available to developers, and now, the same source has indicated - with evidence - that Apple is working on a notably funkier alternative UI, complete with alternate font and an undercurrent of orange and purple.
With iOS 8, Apple has introduced quite a few good new features to the table. Some are related to functionality, like the third-party keyboard support, while others, such as those we outlined in a detail article, are less obvious but nonetheless important. One particular quirk, as just discovered by one eagle-eyed beta user, definitely advocates user privacy in that in randomizes your device's MAC address before you connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot, which also serves as a kick in the teeth for companies whose entire business is based on logging and tracking this information.
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.
We're still continuing to learn new bits of information all the time with regards to iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and with communication being an integral part of both of Apple's main operating systems, it should come as little surprise that both iMessage and FaceTime look set for some healthy improvements.
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.
