Gadgetory

at long last iOS 8 is finally here bringing useful changes across the board for both your iphone and ipad i'm jason parker for cnet and this is a first look at iOS 8 now this isn't a major redesign like we saw in iOS 7 so won't drastically change the way you use your iPhone but what it does bring is a multitude of smaller refinements and many of the core apps to make things easier and more efficient let's start with a camera at that now lets you shoot time-lapse videos just pointed at the clouds or a busy intersection and the app delivers a great time lapse experience but even for regular shots you have more ways to make photos look better with smart sliders that adjust brightness and provide color correction while making several smaller adjustments behind the scenes when we want to browse your photos you use the Photos app and it receives some nice changes as well a new search field lets you tap to see search suggestions or you can search on a date or location to zero in on the photos you want next let's look at messaging the messages app has gotten some stiff competition from third-party apps like whatsapp messenger and kick but new changes close the gap with some cool new features you'll now be able to record a quick audio clip for capturing the scene around you with sound and you can send your location so your friends can find you it also has a new details page that lets you quickly browse all the photos and attachments for a chat in one place one of the biggest new additions to iOS 8 is an NFC payment system called Apple pay unfortunately you'll need an iphone 6 or the new Apple watch to use these features but Apple as deals with several of the biggest stores and there are sure to be more added in the future to pay for a purchase you can just hold up your phone to a wireless pay device and use the fingerprint scanner to confirm your purchase next a new keyboard and support for third-party keyboards is going to make a lot of people happy because apps like SwiftKey will be coming to iphone but even the keyboard in iOS 8 get some help with predictive text much like what you see on Android the cool thing is whether texting or sending an email it remembers how you talk to specific people so will predict more slang terms for your buddies but give you more formal suggestions when you're talking to your boss Apple's health app will track your vitals by bringing together all your health data in one place it will work with third-party hardware like the jawbone and Fitbit and it will also work with third-party apps to know by the Mayo Clinic for example to get word to your doctor in an emergency the health app will track all your fitness apps and wearables at once to give you a comprehensive look at your overall health it's also loaded with categories to help you track everything from iron intake two flights of stairs traveled with data points you can enter yourself Apple's iOS 8 has hundreds of changes in all and there's not enough time to show them all here but check out my review at cnet com to get all the details about iOS 8 i'm jason parker for cnet and this is a first look at iOS 8 thanks for watching