IOS 8

iOS 8

Version of the iOS operating system
iOS 8.0 running on an iPhone 6
Developer	Apple Inc.
Source model	Closed, with open source components
Initial release	September 17, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-09-17)
Latest release	8.4.1 (12H321) / August 13, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-08-13)
Update method	Software Update
Package manager	App Store
Platforms	iPhone iPhone 4s iPhone 5 iPhone 5c iPhone 5s iPhone 6 & 6 Plus iPod Touch iPod Touch (5th generation) iPod Touch (6th generation) iPad iPad 2 iPad (3rd generation) iPad (4th generation) iPad Air iPad Air 2 iPad Mini (1st generation) iPad Mini 2 iPad Mini 3
Kernel type	Hybrid (XNU)
License	Proprietary EULA except for free software components
Preceded by	iOS 7
Succeeded by	iOS 9
Official website	iOS 8 - Apple at the Wayback Machine (archived September 5, 2015)
Tagline	The biggest iOS release ever.
Support status
Obsolete, unsupported. No longer receiving security updates, because all iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches that support iOS 8 support iOS 9 as well. Drops support for the iPhone 4.

iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, 2014. It was succeeded by iOS 9 on September 16, 2015.^[1]

iOS 8 incorporated significant changes to the operating system. It introduced a programming interface for communication between apps,^[2] and "Continuity", a cross-platform (Mac, iPhone, and iPad) system that enables communication between devices in different product categories, such as the ability to answer calls and reply to SMS on the Mac and iPad. Continuity includes a "Handoff" feature that lets users start a task on one device and continue on another. Other changes included a new Spotlight Suggestions search results feature that provides more detailed results, Family Sharing, where a family can link together their accounts to share content, with one parent as the administrator with permission controls, an updated keyboard with QuickType, providing contextual predictive word suggestions and Extensibility, which allows for easier sharing of content between apps. Third-party developers got additional features to integrate their apps deeper into the operating system, including support for widgets in the Notification Center, and the ability to make keyboards that users can replace the default iOS keyboard with.

App updates in the release included the new Health app, which can aggregate data from different fitness apps, as well as enabling a Medical ID accessible on the lock screen for emergencies, support for iCloud Photo Library in the Photos app, which enables photos to be synchronized and stored in the cloud, and iCloud Drive, which lets users store files in the cloud and browse them across devices. In iOS 8.4, Apple updated its Music app with a streaming service called Apple Music, and a 24-hour radio station called Apple Music 1.

Reception of iOS 8 was positive. Critics praised Continuity and Extensibility as major features enabling easier control and interaction between different apps and devices. They also liked the QuickType keyboard word suggestions, and highlighted Spotlight Suggestions for making the iPhone "almost a portable search portal for everything.” However, reviewers noted that the full potential for iOS 8 would only be realized once third-party developers integrated their apps to support new features, particularly widgets in the Notification Center.

Roughly a week after release, iOS 8 had reached 46% of iOS usage share. In October 2014, it was reported that the adoption rate had "stalled,” only increasing by "a single percentage point" from the previous month. This situation was blamed on the requirement of a high amount of free storage space to install the upgrade, especially difficult for iPhones sold with 8 or 16 gigabytes of maximum storage space. The following December, iOS 8 had reached 63% usage share, a notable 16% increase from the October measurement.