7 new features for old iPhones when iOS 8 arrives

Still rocking an iPhone 4S? If you’re not one of the people getting the new iPhone 6 then fret not. With iOS 8‘s pending release in a few hours, your “old school” iPhone will pretty much get a refreshed software packed with added functionalities. Here are some of the new features to be available for both the iPhone 6 and even the earlier generations.

Embedded time-lapse mode

The iOS 8’s camera app has been incorporated with a time-lapse function (in addition to the slow-motion mode on iPhone 5S) that can be used to shoot long durations of footage and speed it up afterwards – pretty much like the Hyperlapse app.

Improved typing and support for third-party keyboards

Once we get the update, typing experience should improve along with the addition of gesture-recognition embedded onto the keyboard. SwiftKey (Android keyboard maker) is one of the developers contributing to make this possible. In addition, expect Apple’s QuickType to be smarter in a way that it suggests simpler words when texting, while it offers more profound phrases when writing an email.

Cross-platform Continuity

With just a swipe, the website you’re visiting on your MacBook can be continued in your iPhone using the company’s Continuity feature. It works vice-versa, too. With a click of a small icon, you can finish a task from the phone to your laptop just like that.

Health app for everyone

Tracking your calorie consumption among other things can be done without third-party apps. Apple’s Health app will come standard when you download the OS update and will add the functionality of pairing with other health-tracking devices like Jawbone’s UP. It will then collate the data and display it in one dashboard where details are listed down – pretty useful for tracking how active (or inactive) we were during the entire day.

Easily share to different apps

Apple has been limiting users in terms of sharing their content. For example, a photo in iOS 7 can be shared through Mail, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. With the arrival of the new OS, users will enjoy more sharing options straight to apps like Instagram or as according to what we currently look for, direct-sharing to a photo-editing app.

Accept calls on your laptop

When you update both your MacBook and iPhone to their latest OS versions, picking up a call on your computer is possible as long as your iPhone is connected to the same Wi-Fi as the laptop.

Replying straight from the notification

With the implementation of iOS 8, users can now reply to iMessages straight from the notification. Basically, the goal here is to minimize the app-switching effort of the user. This feature isn’t at all limited to Apple’s native apps since third-party developers can also make use of this function for more efficiency in navigation experience.

There we go. Those are just some of the new features that will give our not-so latest iPhones a software makeover. With those, it’s not too bad to not get the iPhone 6!

The iOS 8 is compatible with these devices:

iPhone 4S
iPhone 5
iPhone 5C
iPhone 5S
iPhone 6
iPod touch 5th generation
iPad 2
iPad with Retina display
iPad Air
iPad mini
iPad mini with Retina display

{Images: The Wall Street Journal}