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Exploring even more hidden features of iOS 8

ios8morehidden7Despite the issues with iOS 8 this week, the new iPhone and iPad operating system has been adopted very quickly. Here are some more hidden features.

After its release just over a week ago, iOS 8 was installed on 46 per cent of all Apple mobile devices within a few days.

But it wasn’t without its problems with some users with around 40,000 customers affected by a bug within the iOS 8.0.1 update that crippled their devices.

Apple took down the update within an hour and yesterday sent out the iOS 8.0.2 update that resolved all of the issues.

iOS 8 is bursting with a number of new features with many you many not even know about.

THE TOP 10 HIDDEN FEATURES OF iOS 8

Here are even more hidden features of iOS 8:

Swift Key is one of many BYO keyboards that will work with iOS 8

BYO KEYBOARD

The new iOS 8 update will allow iPhone and iPad users to install their own keyboards to use with their device.

A popular choice has been Swift Key which finally offers iOS users the swipe typing that has been available on Android devices for years.

Now you can record and send audio in iMessage

AUDIO MESSAGING

A new messaging feature onboard iOS 8 is the ability to record and send audio just as easily as you can send a picture or video with your iMessages.

iOS 8 lets your turn your iPhone to grayscale

GRAYSCALE MODE

If you don’t want to see the bright colours of your home screen it’s possible to switch to grayscale mode.

Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Grayscale and a simple toggle of the control turns your iPhone to black and white which is helpful for people with certain vision problems.

Now you can add contacts from your email

ADD CONTACT FROM EMAIL

When you receive an email from a person who isn’t already in your contact list there is a section at the top of the message that lists that person’s phone number – information gathered from the content of the email – and gives users the option to adding them.

Now you can reply to a message from notifications

REPLY TO MESSAGES FROM NOTIFICATIONS

If you are using your iPhone and a new text message comes in it usually comes down from the top of the screen as a notification.

But now with iOS 8, users can answer from the notification. Simply swipe down on the notification and you’ll see a text entry window so you can send a quick reply if you need to.

You can leave a group message or mute the conversation

LEAVE GROUP CONVERSATIONS/MUTE CONVERSATION

It’s common to be included in a group message but when a lot of people are onboard and there are replies flying everywhere it can get annoying receiving constant notifications.

With iOS 8 you now have the option to either leave or mute the conversation to stop those notifications or messages coming in.

Click on Details in the top right hand corner of the message and you’ll see the options to “leave the conversation” or “Do Not Disturb” which mutes the conversation.

You can name your group message

NAME A MESSAGE THREAD

Keeping track of group messages can be confusing but now it’s possible to name each group for easier identification.

Click on Details and pull down on the screen and a text entry field will be revealed to allow you to name the group.

You can access and save all the attachment from a message in one place

SAVE ATTACHMENTS FROM A GROUP MESSAGE

When pictures and videos are shared in a group message there is now an easy way to view and save those attachments in one place.

Click on Details and scroll to the very bottom of the screen and you’ll see all of that content in one place.

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The top 10 hidden features of iOS 8