iOS 8: the biggest update since the App Store – The Verge

Apple’s fix for major iOS 8 bug coming in the ‘next few days’

2014-09-25T00:27:46-04:00

Apple says it's working "around the clock" on a fix to its 8.0.1 update, which went out Wednesday and proceeded to wreak havoc for owners of the company's newest iPhones. Apple now says a working version of that update will be ready "in the next few days." In the meantime, the company has outlined a way to restore both cell service and Touch ID to unlucky users who downloaded the faulty update. The company's using a similar method to the workaround that was discovered earlier today.

Per a company spokesperson:

We have a workaround for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who lost cellular service and Touch ID functionality today after updating …

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Did Apple’s iOS 8.0.1 update break your iPhone? Here’s a fix that works

2014-09-24T15:48:43-04:00

Apple's latest update to iOS 8 is keeping some iPhone owners from being able to use their iPhones as a phone, or use Touch ID. Users on multiple cellular networks are reporting the connectivity issue unfixed after restarting their devices, toggling airplane mode, and by resetting all networking settings. The same goes for Touch ID, which can be used to unlock the phone, and validate a user's identification in Apple's stores and inside apps as part of iOS 8. That feature has been disabled system-wide, and attempts to remove and re-add fingers result in a "failed" message.

Apple's working on a fix, but it's not here yet

Apple's already said it …

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Apple pulls iOS 8.0.1 after users report major problems with update

2014-09-24T13:05:25-04:00

One week after the launch of iOS 8, Apple released its first update for the new OS - iOS 8.0.1 - on Wednesday afternoon. It was meant to fix a slew of bugs, but that's not what happened. Immediately after the update hit, reports began flooding in that iOS 8.0.1 was breaking cellular reception and other features like Touch ID. Apple eventually removed the faulty update, but not before an untold number of users were able to install it. ""We have received reports of an issue with the iOS 8.0.1 update," a spokesperson told The Verge. "We are actively investigating these reports and will provide information as quickly as we can. In the meantime w …

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Nearly half of active iPhones and iPads are already running iOS 8

2014-09-23T06:02:21-04:00

Apple's developer support page has revealed the rapid pace at which iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch music players have been upgraded to the latest iOS software. Having been made available to download on Wednesday, by Sunday iOS 8 had already been installed on some 46 percent of devices connecting to Apple's App Store. This comes at a time when the 10-month-old Android KitKat is still working its way toward the 25 percent mark.

The relatively quick transition isn't out of character for Apple's devices and compares favorably to Google's efforts, however it hasn't been entirely painless. Many people were unhappily surprised by the large amount …

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These are the apps you want to try on your new iPhone

2014-09-19T11:28:41-04:00

Where iOS 7 was style, iOS 8 is substance.

Last year, our favorite apps got a facelift, but this year, they're actually becoming a lot more useful. How? iOS 8 offers a whole range of features that let apps extend themselves - into other apps, and even into widgets inside notification center.

It's still early in the game, so most developers haven't yet updated their apps to take advantage of iOS 8, but we've found a few that set a great example for what's possible in the coming weeks and months.

Editing photos

Afterlight

Afterlight, one of the most popular photo-editing apps, now lets you add circular frames, light leaks, filters, and …

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7 keyboards for iOS 8 you can try right now

2014-09-17T18:02:56-04:00

When it comes to typing on your smartphones and tablets, iOS users are about to see how the other half lives. With the launch of iOS 8 this morning, you can now install a third-party keyboard on your iPhone or iPad. The system keyboard still works just fine, and is getting a nice upgrade for iOS 8: for the first time, it's offering predictive text. But other developers makers have been in the game much longer, refining their predictions through years of iterations. And keyboards are already turning into a design playground, with creative user interfaces and highly customizable graphics. Here's a guide to trying out an iOS keyboard alternativ …

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Apple has to fix an iOS 8 bug before you can get the most out of new health apps

2014-09-17T16:19:16-04:00

If you're eager to start putting your fitness apps to work with iOS 8's new HealthKit feature, you're going to have to hang on a bit: Apple has discovered a last-minute issue with HealthKit and is now preventing apps from using it. Apple has apparently been contacting developers throughout the day to tell them about the situation, having actually had to pull some apps that were previously published into the store. In a statement to the Financial Times' Tim Bradshaw, Apple says that it discovered a bug in HealthKit and intends to quickly fix it in a software update and "have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month."

This is a somewh …

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iOS 8 could stop the next app privacy panic before it starts

2014-09-17T16:03:47-04:00

A few weeks ago, the world went crazy when reports surfaced that Facebook Messenger was snooping on you. Reporters, hackers, and users alleged that, because Messenger had the permission to use your camera, monitor your location, or (on Android) read your text messages, that it was doing so all the time.

The scare was eventually debunked. The consensus: just because an app has the ability to do something doesn't mean it's doing it 24/7. You can find these same permissions, from the camera access, to the location-tracking, to the text-message reading in many social networking and texting apps, partly because Android and iOS don't allow much c …

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Apple TV update adds design tweaks, Family Sharing, and Beats Music app

2014-09-17T15:39:39-04:00

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Apple TV is considered an iOS device, which is a thing people sometimes forget, so it too has been updated with a new version of the software today. The first thing you'll notice is a slightly tweaked design that replaces the icons for music, TV shows, movies, and other apps with new versions that are more in line with the visual style of iOS 7 and 8. The on-screen font has also been changed slightly. Other than that, it's still the same old grid of rounded rectangles, a user interface that's getting really long in the tooth at this point. You'll need a third-gen Apple TV to receive all the new stuff.

Today's Apple TV update also makes the …

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Storehouse brings its beautiful storytelling app to iPhone

2014-09-17T14:00:03-04:00

In February, some design-minded former employees of Apple, Facebook, and The Daily teamed up to create Storehouse: an iPad app that blends beautiful typography, full-bleed photos, video clips, and music into compelling narratives. As of today, Storehouse is also available for iPhone, and it's using new features in iOS 8 to make sharing easier than before. Using new systemwide sharing features, you can access photos taken inside any app with camera access and share them straight to Storehouse, where you can easily drag and drop images, crop and resize them, and annotate them with captions.

Encouraging casual creators to post their pictures

Ea …

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