Golden Gekko reviews all the iOS8 updates and new features, and explains what this means for users and developers.

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iOS8
What’s new
What does it mean for your app?

2. News for Users

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App extensions
Apple is allowing apps to share data and features with other apps to
a far greater extent than previously possible. Historically apps and
their data in iOS have been confined to their own ‘sandbox’, mainly
for increased security.
With the new APIs provided in iOS8, apps can now share data whilst
security in the OS remains strong.

4. Why is it important?
Extensions will simplify the way people use their iPhones by not
having them go to a specific app interface every time they want to
take a certain action.
It will enable developers to create custom functionality within
a specific context for the users which could help create richer
experiences in different apps.

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Battery Usage Indicator
In iOS8 Apple has added, without fanfare, the ability for users to
see which apps are draining their battery most. Apps which perform
similar tasks can now be compared on battery usage, easily, side by
side by users everywhere.

6. Why is it important?
Battery life has always been a crucial battleground for apps, as seen
so often with tracking apps. The new battery usage features in iOS8
have the potential to bring the energy efficiency of your app front and
center.

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Contextual App Suggestions
App suggestions are provided on the bottom left of the lock screen
based on location. Here the Starbucks icon allows users to quickly
open the Starbucks app when they’re in a Starbucks. Other
examples include suggesting the app for a particular train station
when the user is there and taking them straight to the download
page in the App Store.

8. Why is it important?
Everything is about context. You want to have what you need, when
you need it. This functionality will help facilitate the on-the-go lifestyle
that so many users have already adopted by presenting them with
relevant app suggestions.

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Family Sharing
Family sharing enables 6 family members to join a group and share
content across all their Apple products. Parents can enable consent
features to give them control over their children’s purchases.
Most purchased content can also now be shared. Preventing users
having to buy the same app each time a new person in the family
wants it.

10. Why is it important?
Besides increased parental control when it comes to purchasing
digital goods, this will include location tracking (keeping track of who
is where when it is time for dinner), and automatic photo sharing that
could be used during summer vacations for example.

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Handoff
With Handoff Apple is allowing users to seamlessly move between
devices mid-task.
The demonstrations at WWDC were restricted to Apple apps but
iOS8 includes APIs to enable the same capabilities for third party
apps which have a presence on the Mac App Store and the mobile
App Store.

12. Why is it important?
User journeys can now move between devices far more freely.
Cross-platform applications will automatically get a strong offering
since they will be able to implement this from day one.

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Health App (& HealthKit)
The new Apple health app will be able to pull in health related data
from third-party apps (Nike+ etc.) on the device into a single hub.
In addition third parties can work with the HealthKit framework to
store, retrieve, manipulate and present health info on apps or even
on third party devices.

14. Why is it important?
Apart from being useful for tracking of health and fitness related
data, this addition to will help connect the iPhone to all the wearable
devices we’ve seen during the last couple of years.
And one can only imagine the impact this could potentially have if
the generated data could be leveraged in medicine in the future.

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Widgets
iOS8 allows widgets for the first time. The widgets, which can be
accessed through the Notification center, will perform similarly to
those already present on Android, fulfilling a variety of simple tasks.
In the WWDC keynote, an eBay widget was demonstrated allowing
a user to follow progress on a bid as well as put a new bid in all from
the Notification center.

16. Why is it important?
Again, this is something that will allow us to carry out far more
actions without resorting to the individual apps’ own interfaces.
Quicker actions and having everything you need up front.

17. News for Developers

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App Store & iTunes Connect
New App Store features that come with iOS8 includes app previews
(promotional videos for your app) and app bundles (multiple apps
that can be installed with a single click).
On top of this you will get free analytics through iTunes Connect and
TestFlight making it easier for beta testing of pre-release apps.

19. Why is it important?
This is a great opportunity to get exposure for a group of similar
apps while being able to promote them with videos as already
possible on Google Play.
What we like most about this update is the fact that it makes it easier
for developers to carry user testing, something that will help create
better apps for everyone.

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CloudKit
CloudKit is a new cloud storage system for developers that is
effectively free and features a huge amount of free storage. It works
as a scaleable back-end solution which eliminates the need for
writing server code and maintaining servers.

21. Developers can now store and retrieve app data like structured data
in a database or assets right from iCloud. It also enables users to
anonymously sign in to apps using their iCloud Apple IDs (without
sharing any personal information during the process).
Why is it important?

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HomeKit
Apple has provided a framework for home automation devices to
be integrated with iOS device while the apps controlling the devices
can now be integrated directly with Siri. Home devices can also be
grouped together to be controlled with single commands.
A user can now set up a voice command ‘Get ready for bed’ which
could lock the doors and dim the lights in their home.

23. It was only a matter of time until the Internet of Things reached the
iPhone. However, we are still waiting to see successful projects
including connected devices. We predict this will be an important
piece of the puzzle in making that happen.
Why is it important?

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Metal
In short, Metal has been described as “more efficient rendering of
detailed 3D graphics”.
It consists of a group of new APIs that gives apps with graphics
(specifically the A7 chip) dramatically lower overheads, 10x
performance gains compared to iOS7 in draw call speed and efficient
multi-threading.

25. Metal is a big leap towards new technical capabilities since it gives
developers a single API and a single target for all graphics hardware.
We should be able to see the result of this in the quality of gaming
apps next year.
Why is it important?

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PhotoKit
PhotoKit provides API access to the same features as Apple uses for
its own Photo App including non-destructive edits, more control over
focus, white balance and exposure.

27. This improves the workflow when editing photos, meaning no more
importing, exporting and having four different copies of a single
photo. All edits are non-destructive and changes are synchronized
across apps and devices.
Why is it important?

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Swift
Swift is a new programming language for iOS and OS X that makes it
easier for developers to create apps.
Swift helps developers write safer and more reliable code by
eliminating entire categories of common programming errors, and
coexists with Objective-C code, so developers can integrate Swift
into their existing apps.

29. Swift uses a more concise syntax that will help increase iOS
developers’ productivity while keeping up the performance of apps.
It is, supposedly, quicker and easier to learn than Objective-C,
potentially helping to solve any deficit for iOS developers in the
future.
Why is it important?

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Touch ID
Fingerprint security is now available to third party apps on Apple
devices with fingerprint scanning capabilities. Highly sensitive data
contained within either B2C or B2B apps can be secured without the
need for further passwords.

31. This will have a significant impact by removing a step in verifications,
payments, the customer registration process etc. PayPal is already
reported to plan integration of Touch ID-powered mobile payments in
its app.
Why is it important?

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