Apple has released the 2nd beta of iOS 8, exactly fifteen days after the first version was unveiled at WWDC and subsequently released to developers.
I’ve already shown you some of the new features of iOS 8, like location-based app alerts, randomized MAC addresses, hidden Safari tricks, and a slew of new things in the Messages app. But if you’ve had the chance the explore iOS 8, let’s go through some of the changes that Apple has made to the latest iteration of its mobile operating system.
Podcasts Is Now Integrated in iOS 8
Apple has now integrated their Podcasts app into iOS 8, like they did with iBooks in the first beta. With it, you can subscribe to your favorite podcasts or discover new ones from the thousands of free audio and video options that Podcasts has to offer.
I’m not sure how I feel about having this forced upon us, since it does have a pretty poor rating in the App Store (due to crashes), but so far I’ve been able to listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk radio show without a hitch for over twenty minutes, so stability seems to have improved.
Full Screen Caller ID Is Back!
iOS 7 brought upon an change that was unwanted for the most part by iOS users—a small circular icon replaced the fullscreen caller ID picture that would appear on a screen when receiving a call. With this latest version of iOS 8, we see a return back to the fullscreen caller ID.
Safari Blocks App Store Redirects
If you’ve ever gone on a website filled with ads, then you’ve probably experienced the automatic redirect to the App Store that occurs, seemingly out of nowhere. Without you tapping or touching anything, you’re taken to pages that promote Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, and Game of War, to name just a few.
Safari now blocks these ads from automatically redirecting you to the App Store, only taking you to the games if you manually tap on the ad. This has been a huge problem for me in the past, so I’m happy with this new feature.
New Toggles in Assistive Touch
Assistive Touch, which helps for those that have broken buttons on their iOS devices, now includes toggles for bringing up Control Center and Notification Center.
Disable All Types of Notifications Per App
Not only has the Notification Center settings been changed to just Notifications, but if you go to Settings -> Notifications -> and you select any app, there is now an option to disable all types of notifications for that app. In iOS 7, you have to disable Sound, Badge App Icons, Alerts, etc. individually.
QuickType for the iPad
Predictive text, dubbed QuickType on iOS, was one of the biggest features included in iOS 8, and glaringly missing on iPads, until now. Just above the keyboard, you’ll see predictive text appear when you type.
Other Changes
While they’re not huge features, these are some of the smaller improvements, changes, and bug fixes made in iOS 8.
- Fewer application crashes.
- Faster animations.
- Video playback is much better (Facebook, YouTube, etc.). No more loss of sound after a few seconds.
- New iCloud Photos page.
- “Raise to Listen” can be disabled in the Messages settings.
- Settings now remembers your position when going back a page. In the first beta, it would always take you to the top of the page.
- Saving several images at once from the Details section in Messages now works.
- Photo albums for slow-mo and bursts.
- “Recently Deleted” album now shows “Items will be erased 30 days after being marked for deletion.”
- Under the battery usage by app, cell coverage is now included.
- Even if you’re not charging your phone, you can use the “Hey, Siri” command when Siri is already up on the screen.
- When you pull down Spotlight search and you have a recent search which is still saved there, the search text will now be highlighted. In previous versions, the cursor would be at the end of the search text, making it harder to start a new search.
Bug Fixes
As with any beta versions of iOS, there are still several noticeable bugs—
- Messages application is buggy.
- Keyboard & QuickType disappear at times.
- Photo & Audio icon in Messages is no longer blue for iMessage texts. Photo icon still green for regular text messages.
Stay Tuned
Stay with us throughout the day as we update this guide with more features from the second beta version of iOS 8.
Just updated your iPhone? You’ll find new emoji, enhanced security, podcast transcripts, Apple Cash virtual numbers, and other useful features. There are even new additions hidden within Safari. Find out what’s new and changed on your iPhone with the iOS 17.4 update.
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