[Image via The Verge]
This major update is expected to fix all known issues and problems that are plaguing iOS 8. As you could recall, Apple immediately released iOS 8.0.1 a week after iOS 8's first day of public release to address an issue with HealthKit. This issue prevented apps that support HealthKit from being allowed in the App Store. When iOS 8.0.1 was released to fix the discovered HealthKit problem, many users especially iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users complained that after updating their devices to iOS 8.0.1, they experienced an issue that disables cellular service. There were also reports that iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users have problems using Touch ID. Because of these critical issues, Apple moved so quick and released iOS 8.0.2 the day after those issues were reported.Aside from the bug fixes and software improvements, iOS 8.1 will bring new features to iOS 8. Some of the features that are coming with iOS 8.1 were already announced during Apple's WWDC last June 2014. According to Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Apple Inc.'s Software Engineering, these are some of the features that we could expect to be present in iOS 8.1:
- Camera Roll -Apple brings back Camera Roll to iOS 8.1. If you already updated your compatible iOS devices to iOS 8.0, iOS 8.0.1 or iOS 8.0.2, you will notice that the beloved Camera Roll in the Photo app [which was present since the inception of iOS] was deleted. However, due public demands, Apple will bring it back with the release of iOS 8.1.
- Apple Pay - Apple's mobile payment system Apple Pay will set its debut on October 20, 2014 (California Time) alongside the public release of iOS 8.1.
Apple Pay offers an easy, secure and private way to pay using Touch ID™ on iPhone® 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in stores and within apps. Users of the just-announced iPad Air™ 2 and iPad mini™ 3 will be able to use Touch ID on their devices for Apple Pay within apps. The new service will be enabled by a free software update to iOS 8.
Apple Pay is designed to protect the user’s personal information. It doesn’t collect any transaction information that can be tied back to a user and payment transactions are between the user, the merchant and the user’s bank. Apple doesn’t collect your purchase history, so when you are shopping in a store or restaurant we don’t know what you bought, where you bought it or how much you paid for it. Actual card numbers are not stored on the device, instead, a unique Device Account Number is created, encrypted and stored in the Secure Element of the device. The Device Account Number in the Secure Element is walled off from iOS and not backed up to iCloud®.
[Source: Apple.com]
- iCloud Photo Library - this will be a public beta release. iCloud Photo Library gives you the ability to access the full resolution of all your photos and videos in iCloud without any downscaling.
