Zana Betkari|
The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system will arrive next Wednesday, September 17th. The operating system will include new features like an improved Spotlight search, revamped notification center and Continuity.
If you own a Mac and an iOS device, Continuity allows you to pick up working on any device. For example, if you're typing an email on your Mac but need to catch a train, you can open up Mail on your iPhone and finish up your message in the subway.
iOS 8 will also bring extensions to the operating system, allowing developers to create apps that can talk to other apps for the first time. This means you can use VSCO Cam to edit your photos and Facebook to share them. I got to see a preview of Dashlane, a password manager, for iOS 8 using extensions and it worked seamlessly to log you into any app. No more copying and pasting passwords from one app into another!
iOS 8 extensions
Fitness buffs will want to download iOS 8 as soon as possible as it'll include a new Health app. It'll act as a centralized hub for all your health apps and developers can tap into the Health database to use info for their own apps. Health will also integrate with Apple's just announced smartwatch, Apple Watch. You'll have to wait until early 2015 to get your hands on Apple Watch though.
To prepare for next week's launch of iOS 8, iTunes (Mac | Windows) has been updated to version 11.4, which supports the new mobile operating system. To prepare upgrading to iOS 8, it's a good idea to make a backup to iCloud or iTunes in case anything goes wrong during the update.