iOS 8 builds on iOS 7’s design with enhancements for both iPhone and iPad.
When you swipe it down, you get the notification center and when you slide it down you get the control center as well as the camera. You also have access to the touch ID sensor. The iOS 8 has smooth, fluid touch responsiveness to it.
In terms of overall speed, the iOS 8 is super fast so you can enter and exit apps with ease. This is an improvement from 7.1. It is, however, relatively buggy, but that is to be expected of a Beta 1.
The Enhancements
When at the ‘today’ tab, you can click on ‘edit’ to remove and add widgets in the notification panel. The notification center has been refined with the most notable changes being the interactive notifications. Therefore, if you are using an app and you get a message, you do not have to leave the app you are using, to reply to the message. You just pull down and a keyboard will appear for you to reply right where you are. The best part is that this works for all kinds of notifications. It also works on the lock screen where you just swipe across and get action buttons.
In iOS 7, you had a quick double-tap access to get to your most recent apps. Now, with iOS 8, you can also use that same double-tap to get to the people you communicate with most frequently. When you tap on one of the people, you get control options for calling, texting or face time with them.
Spotlight
This is a very convenient way of searching for items or information from your device. You simply hold down when on your home screen and you can execute the searches to find things like email messages or apps. You can also use it to search for apps you do not have, that are in the app store. You can search for restaurants, news, Wikipedia interests and many other things.
The Keyboard
IOS 8 keyboard uses the QuickType technology. This technology uses the language models under auto-correct and supports predictive typing suggestions. Therefore, as you type, you get suggestions for the next word you might want to type. That way, you are able to tap things out faster than ever before.
This technology is also incredibly smart and is also personalized. It learns how you type to different people in different apps. For example, if you are communicating with a co-worker telling him how the meeting was, the predictive word suggestions will be formal. For example, you will get words like cancelled, moved or rescheduled. If you are texting the same thing to a person with whom you are more informal, the suggestions will be something like epic, awesome or a snoozer. Quicktype also has great language models for 14 different countries.
Continuity Features
Now, on your iPad, you can pick up where you left off on your iPhone. You can set up an instant hotspot with no configuration on your iPad. You can receive your messages on your iPad and when you receive a phone call, you can pick it up right on your iPad.
The Messages
When it comes to group messaging you can now name your threads, you can add/remove people from a conversation that is underway. What’s more, if you are in a noisy thread that always seems to have notifications, you have a ‘do not disturb’ option. You can also choose to leave the thread. There is also a ‘tap to talk’ option where you hold your finger down on the microphone button and start talking. Swipe up when you are done talking; then send what you said as a message.
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