What's new in the new iOS 8
This is the most popular app on iOS, so Apple says. It lets users message fellow iOS users using Wi-Fi or data, but users can switch to cellular network for SMS when data or Wi-Fi are not available, or if the recipient is not an iOS user.
The updated Messages app lets you send audio and video messages as well, without leaving the app.
Look for the Camera icon on the left of the messages bar (bottom of the screen) and the Microphone icon on the right.
When you hold down the Microphone icon, this brings up a quadrant with an arrow and an X. Record your voice message, then send it by tapping the arrow. Or tap on the X to discard the message.
For a video message, tap on the Camera icon, swipe to video mode, shoot a short video and send it.
By default, video and audio messages expire after two minutes and will not take up space on your iPhone. But you or the party you called can opt to keep the message.
Tap on Details (at the top right-hand corner in a conversation) and you can send your location to a friend.
Notification Centre Widgets
Extensibility is a major feature of iOS 8. In essence, Extensibility allows third-party extensions, thereby bringing third-party widgets, keyboards, photo filters and custom sharing to iOS 8.
In Android devices, widgets are sited on the Home screen, like any other app. So you have to swipe through pages to get to a particular widget. On the other hand, all the widgets in iOS 8 are housed in the Notification Centre.
This means that you only need to swipe down from the top of any screen to bring up the Notification Centre and access your widgets.
To add widgets to your Notification Centre, swipe down on the Notification Centre's 'Today' panel to find the Edit bar. Tap on it. All apps that can be added as widgets will be listed, each next to a green dot containing a plus sign. Tap on the dot to add the app.
If you set the Yahoo Weather! app as a widget, for instance, you will be able to see the weather forecast at a glance. You can also set up reminders or lists straight from Evernote when it is set as a widget.
QuickType and third-party keyboards
With iOS 8 comes the QuickType Keyboard, Apple's free, built-in predictive keyboard, which learns your typing pattern. I found it to be really good in anticipating what I want to type.
In Messages conversations, it will prompt you according to the context. If you get a 'Haha' message, QuickType will offer you 'LOL' or a smiley emoticon as an option.
Alternatively, you can install third-party predictive keyboards, such as SwiftKey (free), Fleksy ($1.28) or Swype ($1.28). The downside of such keyboards is that some developers require full access to your keyboard, so whatever you type will be transmitted to them. This lets them sync your typing pattern to multiple devices.
With QuickType, the information stays on the device and no data is sent to Apple. SwiftKey is among the many developers who say that no sensitive information is transmitted.
To install a third-party keyboard that you have purchased, go to Settings> General> Keyboard> Keyboards. At Add Keyboard, you will find SwiftKey or Swype available. Tap on the item to add it as one of the keyboards you can use.
Of the three third-party keyboards I have tested so far, I found Swype to be the best. It lets you skim across the virtual keyboard instead of making you type out every word and it usually gets what you want and predicts the next one intelligently.
That said, I still prefer using the QuickType Keyboard, as I am more used to tapping.
Photo editing and filters
Yes, your Camera Roll is gone from the Photos app. But all your pictures are still in your iPhone; just sorted differently.
In the app, you will see three folders: Photos, Shared and Albums. If you disable Photo Sharing, you will not see the Shared folder.
Inside the Photos folder, you will see Moments. This holds the latest photos you have taken.
Tap the top right corner and you will get into Collections where your photos are sorted by geographic location and date.
Here, tap the top left corner again and you get Years, where you will find all photos sorted by year.
Inside the Albums folder are the albums being added, including Recently Added, Slo-mo and Recently Deleted.
Recently Deleted holds deleted pictures for 30 days, or until you delete them again within this folder. This gives you a chance to recover photos you may have accidentally deleted.
But the biggest change is that you can edit your photos right here using third-party photo apps or filters, such as PaperCamera, Halftone 2 or Litely (above), which you have downloaded; all without leaving the Photos app.
First, add these photo apps and filters to the editing panel of Photos. Select any picture and tap Edit (top right hand corner of the screen). Tap the circle icon beside Done on the bottom bar and tap on More. You will be able to turn on the available third-party photo apps here.
Once turned on, the filters will show up when you tap the circle icon again during photo editing.
Custom sharing
Earlier versions of iOS allowed sharing of notes, pictures or websites by e-mail or text message. But you could not add extensions. Now, you can share all of them with third-party applications.
To this end, iOS 8 lets you customise the Share Sheet menu.
Go to any app, say Photos, and tap on the Share icon (square containing an upward arrow). In the second row of the resulting window, you will see a button, More.
Tap on this and a window showing the available apps to be activated will appear.
When Evernote is activated in the Share Sheet menu, for example, it lets you share the native Notes documents directly with Evernote, instead of requiring you to copy and paste the information.
Next: 5 quick useful tips 5 quick useful tips 1. See which apps are draining your battery
Go to Settings> General> Usage> Battery Usage. You can then quit apps that are battery-intensive.
2. Disable Favourite and Recent Contacts in app switching panel
When you double press the Home button to go to app switching panel, there is a row of Favourite and Recent Contacts on the top. If you do not use them, you can disable them.
Go to Settings >Mail, Contact, Calendars, and scroll down to Contacts >Show in App Switcher. Here, you will find Phone Favourites and Recents.
Disable both to remove them from the app switching panel.
3. New gestures in Mail
E-mail messages can be deleted by swiping on the message all the way to the left, instead of swipe/tap delete, as in the past.
To mark an e-mail message Read/Unread, just swipe all the way to the right to bring up the option.
A short swipe to the left brings up the option to Flag an e-mail message.
4. Adjust exposure in Camera
With the new Camera app, you can tap on a certain point of the screen to focus and bring up a sun icon.
Slide this icon up or down to control the exposure and you will see the exposure change for the rest of the photo. This is like a form of spot metering.
5. Allow Hey Siri
You can launch the virtual voice assistant when your iPhone is connected to a power source by simply saying 'Hey Siri'.
To enable this function, go to Settings >General >Allow Hey Siri, and turn it on.
Read also: ' Just in case ' Moving stuff from your old iPhone to the iPhone 6/6 Plus ' New iPhones solid, but I'll stick with Android
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