14 Awesome Features of iOS 8

iOS 8 Notification Center - images copyright Apple Inc.
images copyright Apple Inc.

11.  Improved Notification Center

Notification Center is useful for getting information from alerts, but it doesn't do much more than that. Unless you have iOS 8. In that case, you can respond to all kinds of alerts from within Notification Center. Answer texts, post to Facebook, respond to Calendar invitations and much more without ever having to jump to other apps. Just like with easy access to favorites, this is another way that iOS 8 makes doing common tasks faster and simpler. More »

Voice Texts in iOS 8 - images copyright Apple Inc.
images copyright Apple Inc.

12.  Send Audio Clips via Messages

Forget boring old texting. In Messages on iOS 8, you can record and send audio clips with just a few gestures—without leaving the Messages app. The feature supports sending video, too, so your communication will be more lively and fun. 

13.  Homekit

Home Automation—the ability to control your home and its appliances from your smartphone or computer—is going to become a more and more common part of our lives in the next few years. If you've got a Nest thermostat or Wi-Fi-connected lights, you know how cool Home Automation can be. So far, it's been a fragmented market with no standards, meaning every system works on its own but doesn't interoperate. Homekit may change that. This feature of iOS 8 allow Home Automation companies to ensure that their products can be controlled from an iPhone. 

14.  Under-The-Hood Improvements

These changes are harder to write about in a short space and for an audience of end users, rather than developers. Suffice it to say, though, that iOS 8 has added a boatload of really cool features to improve the performance of devices in gaming (expect to start seeing console-quality graphics on your iOS devices soon), processing (a new programming language that runs faster), and many more areas. You won't necessarily ever know these features are here, but you'll benefit from them and your device will be all the better for them.

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