iOS 8

Some apps on 5.5-inch iPhone 6 could switch to iPad layout in landscape

In a series of tweets, iOS developer Steve Troughton-Smith shared his findings surrounding Apple's iOS Simulator running stock apps at the screen size of the purported 5.5-inch iPhone 6, with dimensions of 736 points x 414 points (1472 x 828 at 2x or 2208 x 1242 at 3x). When viewed in landscape, certain default iOS 8 apps, including Calendar, Contacts, and Game Center, display contents in a divided mode very similar to the layout an iPad uses while in landscape.

These findings indicate that the larger, 5.5-inch iPhone 6 could have a stronger focus on productivity than its smaller 4.7- and 4-inch counterparts. Despite apps functioning normally while in portrait mode, this addition of dividing the landscape app view to display two separate menus would introduce a strong motivation for purchasing the 5.5-inch device over its more manageable companion.

Nearly half of Flyover locations now have city tour enabled under iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite

In the run-up to the forthcoming iOS 8 launch, Apple appears to have recently added dozens of cities and landmarks to the automated three-dimensional Flyover tours available in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, according to evidence MacRumors discovered Sunday. Specifically, as many as 40 locations are Flyover city tour-enabled out of the 90 cities where regular Flyovers are available.

Apple has also been expanding Flyover coverage with the latest additions of the Yosemite National Park in the United States and Wellington in New Zealand.

Apple-owned TestFlight surfaces in App Store as native app ahead of iOS 8 launch

TestFlight, a service allowing developers to beta test mobile apps on the fly, is now available as a native iPhone and iPad application in the App Store.

Apple snapped up Burstly, the company behind TestFlight, back in February to help its registered developers distribute their iPhone and iPad apps to beta testers before pushing them to the App Store for release.

TestFlight is available free of charge and requires iOS 8.0 or later.

BGR: iOS 8.0.1 with ‘further enhancements’ in the works

With four days until Apple's big reveal and the impending public launch of iOS 8, the Cupertino firm is already preparing the first iOS 8.0.1 update, BGR reported Friday. The software contains unspecified "further improvements" and Apple is going to seed it to its carrier and testing partners shortly. Note that BGR has a pretty solid track record in predicting carrier-related news.

Just recently, the site correctly claimed that the current iOS 8 Beta 5 would be the final beta released to developers ahead of a Gold Master. Indeed, the iPhone maker last month exclusively released iOS 8 Beta 6 to carrier partners for testing ahead of the iOS 8 launch.

Apple updates App Store guidelines with new rules for HealthKit and more

Apple posted an update this evening for its App Store review guidelines—a set of instructions for third-party developers on what iOS apps may or may not contain. Tonight's refresh adds rules for upcoming iOS 8 features such as extensions, HealthKit and HomeKit.

Most of the changes are only pertinent to developers, but there are a few things worth mentioning. Perhaps the most important item, in light of recent events, is that Apple says apps using the HealthKit framework that store user health data in iCloud will be rejected.

Minuum previews its height-changing keyboard for iOS 8

Popular Android keyboard developer Minuum has finally previewed its keyboard coming to iOS 8 this fall. It's not like other third-party keyboards we've seen thus far, instead, it transforms from a standard full-scale QWERTY keyboard with autocorrect and then fades away to take up only half of your visible screen.

TextExpander shows off its iOS 8 keyboard with snippet expansion coming this fall

TextExpander has posted details about its upcoming "touch 3" update, that will add a TextExpander keyboard within iOS 8 that will allow users to expand snippets of text in any app on the iPhone or iPad. This marks yet another app developer taking advantage of Apple's new third-party keyboard API made available in iOS 8. Prior to the big update, only apps which implemented the TextExpander touch SDK could expand snippets directly.

Apple reportedly debuting wearable alongside two new iPhones in September

Apple has plans to launch a wearable, presumably the iWatch, at its September media event alongside two new versions of the iPhone, according to John Paczowski at ReCode. The iWatch was thought to be delayed until an October event, giving Apple more time to finalize its plans, however well plugged-in Paczowski claims the Cupertino-based company has moved up its timeline.

Leaked iPhone 6 logic board has likely place for NFC chip

There have been rumors swirling for years that Apple will finally bring NFC to the iPhone, and if the schematics of a leak from last week hold true, the iPhone 6 may be the first to hold the communications technology. A MacRumors forum member examined bare logic boards claimed to ship with the iPhone 6, and have found leaked NFC chips fit perfectly.

Stop typing so much: QuickBoard for iOS 8 will save text you’ve been typing over and over

A new third-party keyboard called QuickBoard wants to stop you from drone-lessly typing out the same information over and over. These iPhones have tiny screens, after all!

Set to launch this fall with iOS 8's new third-party keyboard support, QuickBoard has three separate keyboard entities, TextBoard, MeBoard, and LocationBoard, that allows you to store snippets of text instead of typing it out over and over again.

How Apple can improve permission handling in iOS

Every so often, it helps to take a step back and examine the way things are being done. This applies to our day-to-day routine, or perhaps our workout regimen. I've also found that it applies to software.

iOS is no exception to this. Here is a software product that has been through vast changes since its creation. A good majority of the changes have been for the better, and iOS 8, which is mere weeks away, promises to bring more awesome goodies to the table.

But, from time to time, it pays to look at the way things are being done. We have to ask ourselves, "Is this truly the best way?"

I feel that we've reached that fork in the road when it comes to the way iOS handles permission requests for apps. As more features are added to our devices, more permissions are required for apps that wish to use these features. It's gotten to the point that some apps require you to go through a whole checklist of permissions before you can even begin using the app.

The permission handling in iOS has become a frustrating affair. Not only do the numerous pop-up alerts annoy me, but it irritates me even more when I accidentally decline a permission because of speeding through the app setup process.

As discussed on today's episode of Let's Talk iOS, I'm convinced that there's a better way to handle permissions in iOS. There's a less intrusive, less frustrating way to handle requests for access to the various features on your device. Check out our video inside for an explanation of the problem, and a demonstration of the solution.

Scratch that: iPhone 6 ‘Phosphorus’ component likely barometric pressure sensor

An eagle-eyed member of the MacRumors forum says the "Phosporus"component destined for the iPhone 6, leaked on Monday, isn't a next-generation version of Apple's M7 co-processor, but instead a barometric pressure sensor. It makes sense given the several rumors that have cropped up in recent months with word Apple plans a barometer used to measure atmospheric pressure in the iPhone 6.