Story 2014-09-17 2SH1 Apple releases iOS8

Apple releases iOS8

by
in apple on (#2SH1)
Apple released the 8th version of its popular iOS operating system today, and as far as this editor can tell, the entire Internet experienced a collective nerdgasm. Every major tech site is either reporting on it, speculating on it, or promising sneak previews of hitherto undisclosed features.

Apple themselves are calling iOS8 "the biggest update ever." So we turn to the Register, who gives us a more precise list of new features:
IOS 8 can automatically filter, straighten and crop snaps, and it eases the process of sharing photos and others files with people ... will record time-lapse videos, if you want. And the iOS Messages app will be updated to include location info, video and voice records, and self-deleting vids, apparently. ...
The update will also include the HealthKit personal monitoring API that was seen at WWDC back in June. Other features include supposedly better predictive typing for the on-screen keyboard, and Siri apparently works better with getting information from maps and news. Not all the features will be available in all countries, however. Siri's ability to reserve restaurant tables, for example, will only be offered to people in North America when the OS launches. And, of course, the update will use the iPhone 6 smartphone and 6 Plus' NFC hardware as a cash substitute thanks to Apple Pay. That service is supported by many of the largest banks and credit card companies - although third-party app makers are frozen out of the party.
So what say you P8rs? Is this a revolution in pocket computing, or a marginal update to existing features? Or something in between?
Reply 14 comments

So does Android L have a dessert name yet? (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-17 14:17 (#2SH2)

I really don't care about another incremental OS update for iDevices. I hadn't noticed the nerdgasm yet... so thanks?

I did note that ABC seemed to devote an entire evening to promoting the ugly ass mass disappointment that is the not-iWatch. It was shameful.

In short, people really like a good story, Jobs was a heck of a promoter, and the media is still feeding furiously on the last tiny bits of the carcass of his fast-fading RDF.

Not released yet (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-17 14:50 (#2SH4)

It doesn't appear to be released yet. Apple's website still says "Coming soon" and software updater doesn't show anything.

Looks like this article was released prematurely, just to be "first".

Re: Not released yet (Score: 3, Funny)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-09-17 15:23 (#2SH7)

It's coming later today. Pipedot is so on top of the news you now get the articles even before they happen. Stay tuned and later today the entire Internet will collapse under the weight of a massive iOS8 gab-fest. Just remember you heard it hear first :)

Re: Not released yet (Score: 1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-17 23:06 (#2SHN)

I hear that to here hear you have to hear here, hear?

Re: Not released yet (Score: 1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-18 00:21 (#2SHR)

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.

Ars Tecnica (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-09-17 20:37 (#2SHF)

Man, it's so quiet you can hear a pin drop around here.

Good review by Ars Technica, who like it: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-thoroughly-reviewed/
Overuse of hyperbole is a pet peeve of mine, but after using iOS 8 for a couple of months, I have to say that they're warranted in this case. iOS 7 was a comprehensive makeover for an operating system that needed to reclaim visual focus and consistency. iOS 7.1 improved stability and speed while addressing the new design's worst shortcomings and most egregious excesses. And iOS 8 is the update that turns its attention from the way everything looks to the way it works.

Just as iOS 6's look had begun to grow stale by the time 2013 rolled around (six years is a pretty good run, though), iOS' restrictions on third-party applications and UI customization now feel outdated. Sure, back in 2007, slow processors and small RAM banks required a strict, Spartan approach to what apps could do and the ways they could interact. But now, our smartphones and tablets have become powerful mini-computers in their own right. Competing platforms like Android, Windows, and Windows Phone have all demonstrated that it's possible to make these little gadgets more computer-y without tanking performance or battery life. ...

Re: Ars Tecnica (Score: 1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-17 23:05 (#2SHM)

Suggest posting this kind of article where apple fans congregate... Slashdot perhaps :p

Re: Ars Tecnica (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-18 02:36 (#2SHV)

Wow, still really don't care. I have a couple of Apple devices and have no intention of ever upgrading them to the newer "flatter" and uglier interfaces. The Ars link summary sounds as if iOS always trailed behind Android. Not news, and only true since Android matured at 2.x.

I talked to a couple of people who mentioned they were upgrading their iDevices tonight. Okay. So? This just isn't news, sorry. iOS is finally catching back up to Android. Great, fine. Can we go back to talking about important things like space exploration and KDE based distros? :)

Update doesn't cache (Score: 2, Informative)

by stove@pipedot.org on 2014-09-18 07:08 (#2SHY)

Sysadmins take note: the OSX Server caching service does not cache the iOS 8 update, despite that kind of being it's purpose. The update is a hair under a gigabyte

If you have a bunch of iOS users and were relying on this (I know I was), you might want to block the update for now.

Re: Update doesn't cache (Score: 1)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-18 09:32 (#2SJ1)

1 Gb? For a phone OS? WTF?

Re: Update doesn't cache (Score: 1, Informative)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-18 09:39 (#2SJ7)

... and all it takes is a single missed byte to crash that sucker.

One word (Score: 1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-18 14:23 (#2SJV)

iTunes

Re: One word (Score: 1)

by stove@pipedot.org on 2014-09-19 03:26 (#2SK7)

You might need to add a couple more words, at the moment I don't get it.

Re: One word (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-19 04:37 (#2SK8)

Never mind, just a trite "iTunes is bloated" stab at a joke.