iOS 8 vs iOS 7

APPLE UNVEILED iOS 8 during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on Monday, and while it isn't a drastic overhaul like iOS 7 it will bring lots of new features to the iPhone and iPad.

We've stacked up iOS 8 against last year's release to see what features you can expect.

Notifications
Apple has made some fairly major tweaks to Notification Center, a feature which was first introduced in iOS 7, and therefore somewhat limited.

Chief among these tweaks is the addition of interactive notifications, a feature which lets you reply to messages or "Like" a Facebook post, for example, without having to leave the app you're already in.

Notification Center has also been beefed up with widgets. No, hell hasn't frozen over - Apple has in fact introduced Android-style widgets, which developers can start building to appear in the drop-down menu. Apple's Craig Federighi showed off an eBay app that's already available, which will allow users to bid on items from the notifications screen.

Compare this to iOS 7 and Apple's tweaks will be welcomed by most, with the feature presently limited to viewing notifications and tapping to jump into apps.

Messaging
Apple's most interesting iOS 8 updates arguably relate to messaging, with the firm introducing a number of new features.

First off, Apple introduced Quicktype, a feature that could signal the end of Autocorrect. This is a smart word-prediction service, which Apple claims will quickly learn how you talk and what words you're likely to type next, depending on who you're talking to. Support for third-party keyboards was also announced, which means iPhone users can soon opt to replace Apple's proprietary offering with Swiftkey, for example.

Apple also announced that with iOS 8, users will be able to use Do Not Disturb on specific group iMessage conversations, in order to silence frustrating notifications. The firm has also introduced a Snapchat-style Destruct feature, allowing users to send images, videos or audio messages that will be automatically deleted, unless a user has specified otherwise.

These features likely will be welcomed by current users of iOS 7, although the firm has been criticised for "ripping off" features from Snapchat and Whatsapp.

Siri
Apple's voice-activated digital assistant, Siri, will see a fairly major update in iOS 8. Mimicking Google Now, users will be able to say "Hey, Siri" to activate the feature, which will soon be capable of recognising songs (thanks to Shazam) and will be able to recognise streaming voice recognition.

Healthkit and HomekitiOS 7 didn't introduce many new apps from Apple, with the firm instead focused on touting its redesign. iOS 8, however, sees the arrival of Healthkit and Homekit, which sees Apple looking to challenge the likes of Samsung while making its mark in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Healtkit is similar to Samsung's S Health feature, allowing users to track data such as the number of steps walked, calories burned and so on. Unlike the app found on the Galaxy S5, however, Apple's Healthkit app supports third-party apps, including Nike+.

Homekit is Apple's rumoured smart home application, allowing users to easily control internet-connected devices, such as Philips Hue lightbulbs, from their iPhone or iPad.

Next: Camera, Mac continuity, enterprise.

Apple Introduces iOS 8 And Texting Will Never Be The Same

Apple introduced its latest update to the iPhone operating system, iOS 8, at its annual World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday. If you're a big texter, some of the changes should make your life a lot easier. iOS 8 will be available for the iPhone 4S and above this fall.

If you're still recovering from Apple's last OS update don't worry: These changes are nowhere near as huge as last year's move to iOS 7 -- a radical redesign of the iPhone interface and one of the biggest moves Apple made post-Steve Jobs. Some iPhone people appreciated the modern design. Others complained of the new look, and some even reported that the design gave them motion sickness.

This year's changes won't make you ill. And, some of them are pretty much irrelevant. Here are the ones that you must know about:

Smarter Notifications

Now when you get a notification for a text message or a Facebook comment, you can respond from whatever app you're in. So if you're looking at Twitter and you get an iMessage from your mom, you can quickly respond without leaving Twitter.

If a notification appears -- on the lock-screen or wherever -- and you don't want to deal with it immediately, you can flick it up and off the screen.

You will also be able to use the double tap you use to see your open applications to see the people you communicate with the most frequently.

Easier Email

There are significant changes to Apple's Mail app. You can mark emails as unread or delete them with a single gesture, and you can swipe down a message you're composing in order to see the rest of your inbox.

'Damn You Autocorrect' Is...Over?

Texting is what most people do on their iPhones - iMessage is the device's most popular app by far, Tim Cook said on Monday. He introduced QuickType for iMessage, a new feature that could potentially eliminate embarrassing auto-correct errors. As you type, you'll get suggestions for what to type next. QuickType learns from you, based on what you type and to whom. It will suggest different words based on how you generally speak to a specific person.

No More Annoying Group Texts

Group messaging is also going to be vastly improved. With iOS 8 you can name your group texting threads and add or remove people from group texts. You can also leave a group messaging thread or push "do not disturb" to mute a specific thread. No more annoying group texts!

If you want to find your friends, you can share your location through messages and show your friends where you are for an hour, until the end of the day, or until you decide to stop.

If you're less into texting, you can send audio, video or photo messages right from iMessage. Taking a cue from Snapchat, these messages will self-destruct unless you say otherwise because they take up so much space on your iPhone.