Apple keynote presentations are a mecca for
new product announcements, where CEO Tim
Cook and his fellow VPs discuss every little
detail of the newest iPhone — well, maybe not
every little detail.
There is only so much time for Apple to
discuss new products, and they only have time
to cover the major talking points. That leaves
dozens of little features from the public eye. If
you plan on buying the iPhone 6 or upgrading
to iOS 8, here are a few goodies to know that
Apple never talked about.
1. Better Battery Usage Breakdown
Does your battery suck? Is it caused by that
endless game of Angry Birds? iOS will now
show you exactly what’s going on with your
terrible uptime. A new menu under Settings
will tell you how much battery life each app
has sucked up in the last 24 hours.
2. Leave Group Conversations
Finally, you can now escape from the horrific
confines of a group message. Right now, you
have to simply wait and pray the messages will
stop, but with iOS 8 you can simply tap a
button and leave the whole thread behind.
3. Self-Destructing Pictures
Snapchat can cry uncle on this one. Apple will
now give you the option to send a photo that
can delete itself in two minutes or less from
the iMessages app. Just hold down your thumb
on the camera icon and the option will appear.
But remember: screenshots still exist, and
no picture is 100 percent private.
4. Share Location in a Message
Instead of sending a long reply to “Hey man,
where you at?” you can now just show your
buddy on a map exactly where to go. You can
select the option under Details in Messages,
and the recipient can plug the data right into
Maps for directions.
5. “Hey Siri”
Okay, this one will sound a little creepy, but
soon Siri will be listening at all times. Instead
of holding down the home button, you can just
say “Hey Siri,” followed by your command to
find out sports scores, play a song, or send a
message. She hears everything. (Note: You have
to have your phone charging for this to work.)
6. Siri + Shazam
She’s not always listing to you, she’s also
listening for songs in the area, identifying
them just like the Shazam app. The bonus here
is that you don’t need to open the app for this
feature to work. Siri does all the heavy lifting.
7. AppleCare+
It’s not a new feature but one exclusive to
buying the iPhone through Apple (rather than
a service provider). AppleCare+ is $99 and
provides two years of support plus two $50
claims if you break your phone or get any
water damage.
This is an Apple exclusive, so if you do buy
your phone through a service provider there
are iPhone protection plans available that offer
next-day replacement and an unlimited amount
of claims.
8. Landscape Mode
This is something Apple resisted for years.
With the iPhone 6 Plus, you can tilt the phone
sideways when it’s on the home screen and the
apps will rotate to accommodate. Apple also
hinted at developers working towards
landscape-specific apps for the Plus that could
work in tandem with the iPad.
9. Metal
Apple helped develop a new gaming
performance engine that will utilize the full
power of the A8 CPU and M8 motion
processor to created unreal gaming effects and
a brand new experience. If you’re playing on
the newest iPhone, your games won’t look like
anything you’ve seen on a mobile platform.
10. Focus Pixels
Apple’s new image sensor technology, which
it’s branded “focus pixels,” allows the camera
to take in more information (light, focus,
contrast) to create a better, sharper image.
Some folks are griping about the megapixels on
the new camera, but Apple clearly put their
priorities on other (and possibly more
important) features.
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