iOS 8

This is what new ‘EU Internet’ switch in iOS 8 Beta 4 does for you

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2014

The most recent beta of iOS 8 has introduced an easily overlooked new option under the Cellular section of the iOS Settings app. It's called 'EU Internet,' applies only to those traveling in the European Union and is a bit puzzling.

As a quick recap, exorbitant roaming charges for data downloads in the European Union have already been reduced in an effort to make prices more realistic for those using mobile devices outside their home country.

That's just the beginning as the European parliament recently passed a new regulation, currently needing an approval by the Council of the European Union, that promises to render all roaming charges in the EU illegal by December 2015.

As a result, European customers will always pay the same price for all phone calls, text messages and mobile data usage everywhere in the EU...

The best of iOS 8: from new features to developer tools

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

With the imminent introduction of the iPhone 6 will come the release of iOS 8, Apple's latest iteration in its mobile operating system. After spending the past several weeks with pre-release versions of the software, I can say that there are definitive grounds for anticipating its public availability. Whether you're planning on buying a new iPhone this fall or upgrading your current device to iOS 8, there are clear reasons to be excited about the features it has to offer.

Although it will be shipping with quite a few significant features – Apple claims this is their "biggest iOS release ever" – we've gone hands-on with the beta releases and picked our top ten favorite enhancements that will be available for qualifying devices this September. Here, in no sequential order, are the best of what makes iOS 8 great...

BioShock may finally be coming to iOS

Cody Lee ∙ July 24, 2014

We've been hearing rumors since 2008 that 2K was bringing its popular first person shooter BioShock to mobile platforms. At one point, they actually released a trailer for the game, and named IG Fun Studios as its mobile port partner.

But somewhere along the way, the concept got shelved, and was never mentioned again—until now. Yesterday, 2K tweeted the above photo followed by '#discuss,' and many believe it's a hint the BioShock mobile project is back in gear...

Apple seeds iOS 8 beta 4 to developers: here is what’s new

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Two weeks after its last beta release, Apple has seeded iOS 8 beta 4 to developers. Aside from the usual myriad of bug fixes and improvements, there are sure to be some UI tweaks and other noticeable changes. Apple has more details in beta 4's release notes.

We're installing the beta now and will be updating this post with any changes we find. Be sure to let us know of any changes you run across! Simply email us at tips@idownloadblog.com or leave a comment below!

iOS 8 beta 4 comes with a new Tips app

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Released earlier today, iOS 8 beta 4 came with a new stock application called Tips, which as its name suggests, is here to share tips about new features to iOS users. So far, the app offers 6 different tips but it does invite users to check back later as apparently it will be updated every week.

As iOS is becoming a more complex operating system, the addition of this app will definitely be welcome by users that are not necessarily tech savvy. While the average iDB reader probably already knows about these tips, most users don't. This is a good way to ensure that all users are aware of what they can do with their device, brought in a very simple and elegant manner.

Below are the tips shared in this first edition:

New in iOS 8: App Store trending searches

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 20, 2014

At WWDC back in June, Apple announced several nice-to-haves aimed at improving the oft-criticized app discovery with new App Store features. Among them: trending searches.

It should be noted that first mentions of this feature being active date as far back as a week ago. It's however unclear whether everyone on the latest iOS 8 beta is seeing hot searches or just a subset of Apple's registered iOS developers.

Be that as it may, trending searches are tremendously useful and bound to help developers get their apps found in the App Store. As the name suggests, the feature surfaces hot search queries at any given time...

Epic Games builds support for iOS 8 Metal deep into Unreal Engine

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 18, 2014

Though Metal isn't among the headline user-facing features of iOS 8, its impact on games with snazzy visuals can't be overstated.

Introduced at WWDC 2014 alongside a number of other features aimed at developers, Metal is billed as a new graphics runtime that wants to replace OpenGL ES by trimming the fat to provide what Apple calls the lowest-overhead access to the A7 chip’s GPU.

And now, Epic Games - which makes the tremendously popular and powerful graphics engine that powers many premium games - has announced that the latest version of Unreal Engine (version 4.3) adds Metal support...

iOS 8 Beta 4 could arrive next Monday

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 16, 2014

If history is anything to go by, Apple could seed the next beta of iOS 8 to its registered developers later this month. As in, precisely two weeks after iOS 8 Beta 3 dropped.

As you know, the third beta arrived on July 7, bringing Wi-Fi Calling for T-Mobile iPhones and a host of under-the-hood tweaks and enhancements.

If BGR's sources are right, iOS 8 Beta 4 should be expected on Monday, July 21. Keep in mind that BGR does not have the most reliable of sources and that the publication has been wrong before in predicting dates for iOS betas...

Apple releases iTunes 11.3, including all-new iTunes Extras for HD movies for Mac and Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 10, 2014

Apple has just released a brand new iTunes 11.3 update which enables iTunes Extras for HD movies on Mac computers. Moreover, iTunes 11.3 finally brings back iTunes Extras to the $99 Apple TV media-streaming box after Apple killed support for this useful content-enhancing feature back in 2010.

As if that wasn't enough, the company confirmed that these interactive menus with featurettes, behind-the-scenes videos, director's commentary and other interactive assets will be coming to iOS 8 in Fall...

Fleksy iOS 8 keyboard launching this Fall with support for 40 languages

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

When iOS 8 launches this Fall, users will finally be able to install third-party keyboards, in line with Apple's newly found openness and extensibility.

Popular Android keyboards like Swype, Fleksy and SwiftKey, as well as specialized soft-keyboards such as Adaptxt and Minuum, are all currently being ported to iOS 8 as we speak.

Fleksy already teased its upcoming iOS 8 keyboard and promised to be one of the first third-party keyboards on iOS 8. And now, the company has confirmed in a media release that the Fleksy keyboard should be available when iOS 8 launches this Fall...

iOS 8 beta 3 enables M7 support and caffeine-tracking in Health app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

As we continue to sift through the beta 3 of iOS 8, we've come across another notable change in the firmware. In today's update, Apple adds both Caffeine-tracking and M7-supported step-counting to the already feature-packed Health app.

Developers with the latest iOS 8 beta installed on their iPhone 5s will notice that they can now input their daily Caffeine intake. They can also now track their steps without a third party app or accessory using the 5s' built-in M7 processor...

Download the new iOS 8 beta 3 wallpaper

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

With every new major version of iOS, Apple releases a new wallpaper, or set of wallpapers. More rarely, Apple will include a new stock wallpaper in a beta release. Today, with Apple's launch of iOS 8 beta 3, user's uncovered a simple, but new wallpaper.

There is some back-and-forth over wether the wallpaper is new, or not, but after comparing beta 2 and iOS 7 to the new stock images, there is one additional. A simple white wallpaper with gray dots is included. This new wallpaper can easily be mistaken for a slightly grayer version included with iOS 7...