If you’re not buying the new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus you can still get that new iPhone feeling with the latest free iOS 8 operating system upgrade available now.
The iOS 8 update is also available for the iPad and iPod Touch as well.
Those who have an iPhone 4S or later, iPad 2 or newer and the iPod 5th generation can upgrade their device to the new operating system today – for free.
iOS 8 has a number of new features including QuickType predictive text, Health Kit to gather your health and fitness data, new Photos app, audio messaging, family sharing to share purchased content and iCloud Drive.
Users can either upgrade their device over wi-fi or by connecting it to iTunes and updating through their computer’s connection.
Here’s how you do it.
UPDATE OVER WI-FI
Go to Settings > General > Software Update and it will check for an update and come back with iOS 8.0.
Click download, agree to the terms and your download will begin.
It is a 1.1GB file so it might take a while to download via wi-fi.
If you don’t have enough space on your device for the file you’ll have to download and install the update through iTunes.
Once the file is downloaded it will ask you to install it on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
After installation the device will restart and you’ve now got iOS 8.
UPDATE THROUGH YOUR COMPUTER
Connect your device to your computer using the USB cable and open iTunes.
Find your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch in the top tab of iTunes and click on it.
Here you’ll see an overview of your device and in the top half of the screen in a grey box.
On the right side of this box you’ll see an “Check for Update” button. Click this and it will say a new iOS 8 version is available.
Click “download and update” and it will the download the file and install it on your device.
After a few minutes your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch will restart and you can start enjoying the new features of iOS 8.
NEW iOS 8 FEATURES
QuickType: the new predictive text system makes it easier to type out your message as it can anticipate what your next word will be based on what you’ve written in the past.
Health app: The all new app can gather all of the fitness and activity data in one place and put it in an easy-to-read dashboard.
Photos app: now all of your photos can be organised even more efficiently to make it easier to find your favourite pictures. There are also more powerful editing tools.
Audio Messaging: Now instead of sending just text in a message, you can send your voice to other iOS 8 users.
Family Sharing: up to six family members can access the same purchased content from iTunes, the App Store and the iBook Store.
iCloud Drive: now you can work on files and share documents from your iPhone or iPad and also access them on your Mac or PC.
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