iOS 8

Apple reportedly launching iOS Public Beta program next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2015

“Multiple people briefed on the plans” told 9to5Mac's well-connected Mark Gurman that Apple could soon launch the first-ever public beta program for its mobile operating system in an effort to help eradicate bugs that have traditionally plagued major iOS releases, especially iOS 8.

Tim Cook & Co. are said to release upcoming iOS 8.3 code-named Stowe as a public beta through the existing AppleSeed program in mid-March, matching the third iOS 8.3 beta for developers expected to release the same week.

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Can you tell the difference between Siri’s voice in iOS 8.1.1 and iOS 8.3?

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2015

Improved Siri voice is reportedly among the under-the-hood improvements in Apple's upcoming iOS 8.3 software update. Though a better-sounding Siri may not always be apparent to an untrained ear, Apple should be credited for consistently improving the voice assistant's speech synthesis capabilities.

Quick comparison of today's more natural-sounding Siri versus the original Siri from 2011 gives you a good indication of Apple's advances in this area.

And now with iOS 8.3 in tow, Apple's bound to boost Siri's speech synthesis further. Listen to the new and improved Siri voice in iOS 8.3 relative to iOS 8.1.1 and let us know what you think.

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iOS 8 adoption rate now at 73%

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

According to Apple's own data, adoption rate for iOS 8 is now at 73%, a small one percentage point up from when it was measured last, two weeks ago. iOS 7 is of course behind at 24%, and 3% of devices are running a software version that two or more years old.

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Dropbox for iOS gets a new action extension

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 22, 2018

If you've been longing to save files from your favorite apps directly to Dropbox without leaving said app, then I have some good news for you. Dropbox was just updated to bring DropBox action extension capability to iOS 8. This means that you can now effortlessly save files directly to Dropbox from many of your favorite apps. It doesn't come with a lot of bells and whistles, but it's a great first step for Dropbox.

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Foursquare gains iOS 8 widget, can now serve recommendations without logging in

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2015

After adding a widget to its check-in app called Swarm back in December, Foursquare's main iPhone application today finally received a brand new Today widget for iOS 8's Notification Center of its own.

Moreover, the latest 8.7 update added personalized recommendations while logged out, so you don't need to even have an account with Foursquare to receive tips and recommendations about nearby places.

Just open the app to get started.

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Fleksy’s Valentine’s Day update brings Hotkey extensions, animated themes and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 1, 2017

Yesterday, Fleksy announced a major Valentine's Day themed update to its record-smashing software keyboard for the iPhone and iPad.

Fleksy Keboard 5.2, a free update for existing users, brings out a myriad of new features, including animated themes through an Energy Theme Pack, a slew of customizable Extensions, Valentine hearts animations upon each key press, custom phrases or email addresses and much more.

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SwiftKey gains iPad gesture typing, 800+ predictive emojis, key click sounds and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 5, 2015

SwiftKey, the popular third-party keyboard for the iPhone and iPad, has received a nice refresh today. The new version brings out support for eleven more languages, enables gesture typing on iPads, implements a new picker which provides access to more than 800 emoticons along with emoji predictions, adds the option to accompany each tap of a key with a click sound and other goodies.

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BGR: iOS 8.2 due next month, Apple Watch launch event planned

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 3, 2015

Tuesday, BGR said it's learned from its own sources that Apple is shooting to release iOS 8.2 around March, ahead of the Apple Watch launch in April. “A trusted source” privy to Apple's most recent roadmap told the technology blog that Apple isn’t planning to release iOS 8.2 this month.

In addition to general improvements and fixes, the headline feature of iOS 8.2 is official support for Apple's wrist-worn device, which in all likelihood entails  a companion iPhone app for installing apps onto the Watch and managing various device settings.

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iOS 8 adoption jumps to 72 percent of devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

According to the official App Store Distribution data as of yesterday, iOS 8 is now running on 72 percent of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices in the wild.

That's up notably over the 69 percent figure recorded just two weeks ago, when iOS 8 adoption rates were slowing in the post-holiday season.

By comparison, Google’s own Developer Dashboards webpage was refreshed yesterday and now shows Android 5.0 Lollipop as finally making a blip on the radar, with the operating system recording a tiny 1.6 percent share of the current Android install base.

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Apple seeds iOS 8.2 beta 5 to developers

Jake Smith ∙ February 2, 2015

Apple has seeded a new beta build of iOS 8.2 to developers on Tuesday, marking the fifth build of the software.

The new software, build number 12D5480a, is available to download over-the-air and should be available through the Developer Center soon. Apple claims the new beta "contains bug fixes and improvements."

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