Apple announced their next generation of smartphones this week, the iPhone 6 and the massive iPhone 6 Plus!.
Even better, we can pre-order these as of today, and they will be available along with the new iOS 8 from next week!
Let’s get bigger with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch Retina HD phones shall we?! However, how cool is this; despite the display now being bigger, the phones are now much THINNER!
So, as today is pre-order day for the new iPhones, I thought I’d mention what I think I’d find useful with the new iPhone and iOS.
Nope, it’s not necessarily the new Retina HD display, nor is it a new, faster A8 chip, the M8 motion coprocessor, better power efficiency, advanced iSight and FaceTime HD cameras, ultrafast wireless technology or even Apple Pay. Although I am looking forward to these!
For me, I really like the idea of the new ‘Landscape view’ on the iPhone 6 Plus.
The larger display means that apps can offer a more productive landscape (horizontal) view, and Apple have already kicked this off with some of the built-in apps in iOS 8 such as Mail and Calendar:
This new iPad-style two-pane landscape mode displays much more content on the screen than with the previous iPhones, and it also offers a ‘horizontal’ homepage mode! So the Home screen can now display app icons in landscape!
I’m forever rotating my iPhone 5 back and forth between portrait and landscape mode as both have something I want but not everything in one orientation!
The other feature I’m liking is ‘Reachability’.
This new ‘one-handed mode’ means you can Double tap the Home button which shifts the entire screen down closer to your thumb.
Also, the Sleep/Wake button is now on the right-hand side instead of the top for easier access. The amount of times I have to use two hands even on my iPhone 5 is just too much effort!
Other large smartphones offer similar features which scale the screen to one side or to a corner to make using one hand easier, but after using those I think I’d prefer Apple’s ‘shift’ technique.
Note: This feature requires you to just DOUBLE TAP the home button/Touch ID Sensor, NOT DOUBLE PRESS. Double pressing the Home Button continues to offer the ‘multitasking’ feature to show all open apps.
So, what about iOS 8? Well, there’s a host of new and improved things here too. Like new Spotlight, Messages and Photos features, as well as completely new features such as a Health app, iCloud Family Sharing and iCloud Drive.
Plus, hello new 128GB model! 🙂
Well, my colleague Richard has already blogged about how excited he is with iOS 8 in his blog ‘iOS 8: Adds new enterprise features ‘iOS 8 Enterprise features’.
For me, certainly having the AirDrop function between iOS & OS X, once iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are available, will be a huge benefit.
But, I’m liking the new QuickType keyboard.
Now, your iPhone will help you finish a text or email based on your past conversations and writing styles and offer you choices of words or phrases it thinks you might type next! Magic!
iOS 8 even knows that someone has asked you a question in a message conversation and will offer choices like ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, or pick out answers from the question itself as shown below:
This will come in very handy when I’m on the train to and from work and in a rush to reply to emails and texts before I get to that tunnel that will kill my network connection!
I’m also looking forward to using the Continuity features.
Again, something that will become really useful once iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are available. The new ‘Handoff’ feature will allow you to start writing an email on your iPhone and then carry off where you left off when you switch on your Mac. All without having to save the email as a draft first! Obviously linked to iCloud, but this will mean seamless usage of Mac devices since let’s face it, you never can stop at just owning one Apple device!
Well, handy for me! I’m always starting emails on my iPhone whilst on the train and then wanting to finish them off when I get to the office.
Guess what? You can even answer a phone call from your Mac if your iPhone is in the next room! As long as the two devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, your Mac can answer the call for you whilst your iPhone is on charge in the next room! Very cool.
Well, there’s just my thoughts, trying to contain my excitement until I get my hands on the new iPhone and iOS next week!
Look out for iOS 8 and iPhone support training courses and iOS 8 Developer courses coming your way soon.
And if your company is thinking about implementing these new delights, let our Amsys Professional Services team ease the transition by assisting you or setting them up for you with a complete design, plan and installation of your new iOS solution!
Right. I’ve wasted too much time talking about it, I’m off to place my order and I’ll see you on the other side, bye bye iPhone 5 and iOS 7, you served me well!