Last week, Apple spent a large part of its keynote at WWDC 2014 talking about iOS 8, its new operating system for its handheld devices. These are the main features that we can look forward to as part of iOS 8:

1. Touch ID – Apple’s “Touch ID” fingerprint recognition system is currently only available on iPhone 5S but will now be integrated into iOS 8 and will become available on more Apple devices. Instead of having to remember lots of different passwords, with Touch ID users will now be able to complete transactions just using their fingerprints (see screenshot in Fig. 1 below). In addition, with iOS 8 there is a likelihood that users will be able to scan credit cards via an iPhone or iPad camera and automatically fill in their details as part of an online shopping transaction.
2. Handoff – With Apple’s “Handoff”, users will be able to switch seamlessly between devices; one can start watching something on an iPhone and then continue watching on an iPad, without any overlap or lag (see Fig. 2 below). Another important aspect of Handoff is the inclusion of the Mac, Apple’s desktop, and the notion that the desktop operating system can now talk to an Apple mobile operating system without any friction. For example, it means that when you start working on a document on a desktop, you can easily resume working on the document on your mobile, without having to delve into different folders, etc.
3. Interactive Notifications – iOS 8 will include new interactive notifications which will allow users to reply to text messages or accept calendar invites without leaving the app that they are in. These new interactive notifications can be invoked from their temporary banner that appears at the top, as well as on the lock screen (see Fig. 3 below).
4. Health – At last week’s WWDC, Apple presented it’s new Health app and a developer focused Healthkit API. The Health app effectively aggregates all your health and fitness data, irrespective of the apps that you use to generate this data. Examples of popular fitness/health apps are Fitbit are FitStar and their data can be aggregated into a secure dashboard on your Apple smartphone or tablet (see Fig. 4 below). With the Healthkit API, developers can start integrating the data of health/fitness apps with Apple’s Health app.
5. HomeKit – With the “Homekit”, Apple is taking a firm leaf out of Nest‘s book. Nest is all about creating a connected home and which home products are designed to learn from user behaviour (I wrote about Nest earlier in the year). The technology which underpins Apple’s HomeKit is very complex, but in essence it covers one or more ‘Homes’, with different ‘Rooms’ within the Home. For example, you can have a room called “Master Bathroom” in your Home and you can have two distinct actions which you can trigger through Siri, Apple’s voice command technology: (1) closing the bathroom door and (2) turning on/off the bathroom light.

Main learning point: Apple has introduced some interesting features as part of it’s new iOS 8 operating system for its handheld devices. Perhaps the least sexy one out off all these features, but the “Handoff” connectivity feature is a really critical one as it will enable users to seamlessly switch between Apple devices and desktop. If I were to go for ‘sexy’, then Apple’s forthcoming Health app is probably the most exciting, both from a user perspective and from a data aggregation perspective.

Fig. 1 – Screenshot of Touch ID integration into Mint app (taken from: http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/ios-8-10-things-we-want-to-see-1166133)

Fig. 2 – Apple’s Craig Federighi presents Apple Continuity for Mac OS at WWDC ’14 on 2 June ’14 (taken from: CNET News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe5h4to5FXo)

Fig. 3 – Screenshot of Apple’s Interactive Notifications (taken from: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2014/06/apple-ios-8.html)

Fig. 4 – Screenshot of the dashboard function of Apple’s Health app (taken from: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios8/health/)

Related links for further learning:

1. http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/9/5792970/ios-8-strikes-an-unexpected-blow-against-location-tracking
2. http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/ios-8-10-things-we-want-to-see-1166133
3. http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/02/apple-touch-id/
4. http://www.zdnet.com/parade-of-apps-to-leverage-touch-id-7000030219/
5. https://www.apple.com/ios/ios8/continuity/
6. http://mashable.com/2014/06/02/apple-ios-8/
7. http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/06/02/apple-unveils-ios-8-with-interactive-notifications-quicktype-keyboard-group-text-enhancements
8. http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/why-handoff-was-the-most-important-feature-announced-at-wwdc/
9. http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/apple-launches-home-kit-for-connected-home
10. http://www.slashgear.com/heres-how-apple-ios-8-homekit-works-04332145/