iOS 8 and it's quirks - what you'll like or dislike

Hey! If you're not interested in iOS 8 you can just skip this post hehe.

Important Statistics:

1. I am using an iPhone 5S 32GB

2. I had about 10GB of free storage on my phone before the update.

So I spent 2 hours (also sacrificed 2 hours of my beauty sleep so I'm a zombie today haha) trying to update to iOS8. I was really excited about the features that I read about (actually just the keyboard) that I tried updating at 4pm SGT (from the iPhone itself) and it told me I had 7 hours remaining to download the update ._.

Like the iOS7, I thought it would be faster if I downloaded from my MacBook Pro (Yes I am an Apple fan, love the Apple ecosystem), but no the update kept getting interrupted from iTunes so I just used my iPhone instead.

Because I downloaded it at the same time millions (or billions or zillions) of people were also trying to download it at the same time, I gave it a little leeway for errors but it kept conning me. Like the bar would be a quarter downloaded and it would state "6 minutes remaining..." 6 minutes later the bar would progress but the time left would be like 7 minutes. And it played yo-yo with my anticipation and with my sleep lol.

I didn't dare sleep cos my phone is my alarm system and I knew it was gonna restart after the update and I didn't know if my alarms would be intact. I don't think this is a viable excuse for coming in late to work "Sorry boss I updated my iOS and it ate my alarm."

So here are the few things I've noticed (I've only had the update for a couple of hours, will update this post if there will be any other glaring changes in the features! Or you can leave a comment to let me know :D)

1. Using the spotlight search

From iOS7 onwards, the spotlight search could only be activated if you drag the screen downwards. on iOS7 the screen would be blurred out but it would still be in colour. I don't know if it affects others but I am extremely annoyed by this. The apps are fuzzed out (not in a nice way) and it turns B&W.

2. Apple Keyboard (and third-party keyboards, hurrah!)

I was really excited for this feature! I was enamoured with my dad's S4 solely because of this keyboard LOL. But now that third-party keyboards can come into play, I can have it on my iPhone too! The predictive keyboard is also on the Apple keyboard, and I'm quoting from the press release:

"New predictive typing for Apple’s QuickType keyboard is smarter and more personalised and intelligently takes context into account, such as who the recipient is and in which app you’re typing. QuickType understands the way you communicate, suggesting favourite phrases, so you can write entire sentences with just a few taps. What the keyboard learns is encrypted on your device and never sent to the cloud."

I like the "never sent to the cloud" part, cos let's face it, other than for backup purposes, the average consumer doesn't use the cloud. I'd like to avoid using it wherever possible cos it's confusing and I don't fully understand it.

3. Privacy

I read this: privacy features you should note in iOS8
I've noted a few of my own as well:

> Location Services (this is also one of the known battery drainers of the iPhone)

Settings > Privacy > Location Services

iOS8 now allows you to fully control when you are tracked by location. For some apps, there is an option for you to choose to allow location services when using the app, like Facebook for example:

"Always" means that even if the app is in the background running, it will still send location services data to its servers. For some apps, this is a must, like Google Maps, if I was driving and using another app (like phone or messages) I would need it to continue to provide me directions.

> Frequent Locations

For this, I find a little scary.

Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Frequent Locations

The iPhone would record frequent locations that you've been in. I don't know how on earth it does, but this freaks me out. I've turned it off since. 

I noticed that the tracking started on 31 July. And for now, everytime I make an edit (eg turning the frequent locations on and off, the app crashes)

> Passcode Security (8 digit numerical passcode)

I don't know if this function is available on iOS 7 as well because I never checked. I knew that you could turn off your simple passcode  (that means the 4-digit numerical passcode) and turn it into alphabets for increased security, but I didn't know that you could retain this larger numerical keypad if you input an 8-digit numerical passcode!

 I read about this in the article above, thank you!

4. Messages

iMessage has pulled the tricks out of the hat and turned it into another Whatsapp. Too bad, most of my friends and family have jumped ship, leaving me with using Whatsapp more often than iMessage. I used Whatsapp about 99% of the time. It's free (with data of course) and I can talk to my friends and family no matter what phone they're using.

iMessage now boasts audio recordings and video messages, and you can choose how long to keep them (I left mine at the default 2 minutes)

You can choose how long to keep your messages. I wouldn't let my messages expire cos what if I need certain information later, and the message no longer exists? That's the scary part about technology as compared to plain old hard copy information haha.

5. Multi-tasking

There is this new feature that I am still undecided about, and that is this shortcut where you can access the contacts that you have most recently contacted, be it via Whatsapp, Phone or Messages. It's a shortcut in a way but I don't feel that there is a huge need for it.

If you swipe to the right, you will be able to access your Favourite contacts that you have placed in your phone. I don't know what the order is, because my Dad is number one on my Favourites contacts, but he is all the way at the end now. It's not alphabetical nor is it in the order of most frequently used.


6. Control Center & Assistive Touch

Img Credit: wonderhowto.com

I tried multiple times trying to get a screenshot of the new assistive touch before I gave up and realized it just wasn't possible haha. I hate this.

I don't see why there is a need for the Control Center & the Notification Center option, because they can be accessed by swiping up or down! ._. talk about a waste of space!

Also, I noticed in this photo, the control center is at the bottom and the home button is at the side. Mine is the opposite way around. Are we able to customise this?!!??! If so, that would be awesome, SOMEONE TELL ME HOW! I've googled and explored and have been unable to find it.

7. New Apps

There's a new Health app and a Tips app, have not explored the Health app yet but the Tips app seems quite useful if you're just starting out iOS8! I remember on the iOS7 there are additional apps that you could download to help smooth out your transition into the new OS, but this one comes pre-installed. Well done, Apple!

8. Camera Roll & Photo Stream goes missing

Wanted: Camera Roll & Photo Stream. This is one of the biggest annoyances I have with iOS8. Why did they take away something that was perfectly fine and working? My 1000+ photos have all been merged into the tab named Photos, on the bottom left. I can only access my photos through moments. Which is rather annoying and difficult to search through as the thumbnails become smaller as you try to scroll through. UGHHHH I WANT MY CAMERA ROLL BACK APPLE! *flips table*

The good news is, you only have to delete your photo once. If you are on Wi-Fi, you used to have the photo automatically sync-ed into your Photo Stream. But now, with this "Recently Added" option, once you deleted the photo from there, you also delete it from the Cloud.

*BONUS*

This was before the iOS update but I just wanted to add it in anyway, you can now choose to download the images/audio/video automatically but not use up all your data plan! This is for Whatsapp for iPhone, Settings > Chat Settings > Auto-download

Hope you guys found it informative and (somehow) helpful :D

Cheers!