Features of iOS 8 that Developers Should Be Aware of

iOS 8, the latest OS version of iPad or iPhone from Apple have finally come up and have instantaneously captured the market with a lot of buzz. If the feedbacks that have already gathered in the forums as well as message boards are to be believed, this version has striking similarities with the earlier version, though with some added features, which are still not very apparent to the users.

From the developers’ point of view as well, the latest version comes up with a string of new features that are really awe-inspiring. The developers need to know about them so as to have an improved grip on the operating system.

Additional toolkit for the benefit of the developers

The latest version has finally managed to get rid of some of the limitations that the 7^th edition of the OS had, with the help of certain add-ons. The version has come up with some of the most exquisite built-in or embedded controls, which the developers can use for enhancing the applications.

New workarounds for developers

Because of the presence of so many new as well as additional features, the process of development has also undergone a sea change. While the previous versions saw use of C programming language for development of the apps, the new version will need the use of newer languages for development of apps.

App Extensions

iOS 8 comes up with a string of app extensions that help the developers to extend the functionality of the app as well as the content all through the system with the supply of an app extension code, which helps them to customize the functionality within the perspective of the task that are predominantly of the users. The developers have the option of using the extensions for placing the power of the app depending on where the users would require it most. The version comes up with 7 types of app extensions – share, today, photo editing, customer keyboard, storage provider, customer actions, and document picker.

Touch ID

The latest edition comes up with a property by the virtue of which developers are now able to use Touch ID for authenticating a particular user, prior to accessing the app contents partially or fully. Data collected through fingerprint is safeguarded and hence can never be accessed by any other app including iOS.

PhotoKit

This particular feature provides the developers a string of new APIs that help them work with the images as well as videos that are generally managed and taken care of by the Photos App. Thus, developers are able to make technical adjustments by the virtue of which, the users can edit the images directly from the camera roll instead of having to import the images at first and then edit them. The most important features that the Photokit comes up with include a thread-safe architecture that fetches and caches the thumbnails along with full-sized assets, asking for changes in the assets, taking stock of the changes that are made by other applications and doing resumable editing of the content of the assets.

HealthKit

This is another extremely critical feature that helps the developers to incorporate fitness and health related services. It also helps them to store all the shared health and fitness related issues and information in a single location so as to be accessed as well as shared by the end users. The feature helps to store the information in a secured and centralized location. It also provides the users the option of deciding which data needs to be shared and which should be left aside.

It also helps access to any health related data that are shared and can also deliver user related information without the need of implementing the specific devices that are designed to track fitness.

Games

The new version has something new for the developers when it comes to games as well. The new range of technology that the new version has come up with has made implementation of the game’s graphics as well as the audio features much easier. The developers now are able to take the advantage of several high level frameworks for easier development and use of several low-level enhancements for harnessing the GPU power to the fullest extent. If you are looking for iPhone app development companies we can help you develop stable, scalable and secure apps.

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