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Top 10 hidden features of iOS 8 (Video)

Now that iOS 8 is officially out for developers, it’s time to start digging into the apps and settings to find out what Apple didn’t tell us. Sure there are plenty of new features available in iOS 8, but there are definitely other little (and bigger) ones that didn’t make it to the unveiling.

We’ve been exploring iOS 8 and finding all sorts of features and helpful tips that Apple failed to mention during the keynote, but we feel are important enough to share with you. Check out our top 10 hidden iOS 8 features video below…

Keep in mind, there are a lot more than just 10 hidden gems in iOS 8, but to keep things from running too long we’ve narrowed it down to a handful of favorites. It’s unclear if all of these features will make it to the public release as Apple has a tendency to remove smaller features throughout the beta period before a public launch.

At this point, I think it’s safe to say that iOS is heading in a great direction. Apple has definitely taken the time to listen to the public’s feature requests. It’s a shame it took this long for certain features, but overall I’m happy with the progress.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q14H_ZNOFI]

Here are the top 10 hidden features mentioned in the video above:

  • Customize/Rearrange iOS 8 share sheets (Thanks, Ravirajm!)
  • Self-timer in Camera app
  • Time-Lapse videos
  • New accessibility zoom features
  • Grayscale
  • Request desktop site in Safari
  • Siri with Shazam integration
  • Independent exposure and focus control in Camera app
  • Battery usage (percentage) per app
  • Auto-delete messages

Which one is your favorite hidden feature?

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Comments

  1. Eric Weinberg (@TheERW) - 10 years ago

    Shazam / Siri integration is not a hidden feature (it was talked about during the keynote)

  2. danbridgland - 10 years ago

    newly added ‘Recently Deleted’ album allows recover of recently deleted photos from the photo app.

  3. Jorge Pinto (@jpintobks) - 10 years ago

    Battery usage by Apps

  4. You forgot to mention realtime integration with the NSA hidden app… :P :D

  5. Bryan Buitron - 10 years ago

    Time-Lapse video will probably be my favorite.

  6. Nick David (@N1ck2D) - 10 years ago

    I’m starting to dislike Apple more and more. Why so many options? I liked the way it was.. so many settings.. Steve at least had identity. You want settings ? Go to Windows or Android. The control panel is so freaking great on the mac vs control panel at windows. Apple has lost it’s way.

    • Jesse Supaman Nichols - 10 years ago

      I thought this was serious for a second. Lol. Then I realized that nobody is that stupid. Lol.

    • thathang3 - 10 years ago

      I am inclined to agree. However, it’s all about how these settings are exposed. Are they hidden in a settings pane for casual uses, and ready to be found by power users? That’s fine!
      Do you need to change and deal with settings to get a reasonable experience? That sucks!
      To me, ios8 is primarily in the first category. Yes, some things are not optimal but the entire ecosystem and OSes are by far the user friendliest.

      • Clint (@ClintAustin26) - 10 years ago

        A good example of this is moving Touch ID settings to the 1st level in 7.1 or bluetooth settings before iOS 6 (I think it was 6, maybe 5). Commonly used settings on 1st level. Other “power user” settings 2nd level. I think they should re-label Privacy settings to “Privacy and Location,” also.

  7. rettun1 - 10 years ago

    Time lapse actually seems cool, there are a ton of times where I could use that. I originally saw it on an s4 commercial and thought it was silly (which it may be) but I will welcome it to ios

  8. Nick Santos - 10 years ago

    Hi Dom. This one is just to congratulate you. Couple weeks ago I saw a lot of comment criticizing you because of the mockups articles. I agreed with some of those critics. :) Now I’m enjoying your last articles with these nice videos about iOS8, so now I have to say: Congrats man! Good job!

  9. Frode Rise - 10 years ago

    Still regretting at all upgrading from iOS 4 – currently running iOS 7 since my son upgraded from iOS 5 directly to iOS 7( without asking) on my iPhone 4 and it was a struggle removing all for me useless stuff. Calendar, SMS messages, e-mail, internet (Safari), taking pictures and calling is all that is needed. The rest just takes the power out of the battery and complicates life.

    • telecastle - 10 years ago

      That would be a feature phone no reason to buy a smart phone for you.

    • Bernardo Pérez - 10 years ago

      Why not buy a chewing gum phone and you’re ready to go! :)

    • Jesse Supaman Nichols - 10 years ago

      Dear God! How did you even find your way onto this site!? I figured you would be too busy typing away at a typewriter and adjusting the RabbitEars on your black and white television to find the internet! Congrats! Welcome to the future! Embrace it and stop looking back!

    • Clint (@ClintAustin26) - 10 years ago

      A) iOS 4? Seriously? Your iPhone will still do all of those things you want it to. You don’t have to use any of the new features (but I don’t know why you wouldn’t). Stop being an old curmudgeon.

      B) At least you won’t have to worry about upgrading to iOS 8. The iPhone 4 is no longer supported. Leading to…

      C) If your phone struggles with iOS 7, upgrade it. The 4s is your current free upgrade. I’d personally wait until the iPhone 6 comes out so you can probably get at least a 5C for free. If you had iOS 4 that thing is ancient. Your battery probably sucks. Upgrade. You’ll be happy you did.

      D) This is a thread about iOS 8. Nobody cares about your reminiscing of iOS 4. I don’t know why you bothered to post, really.

    • degraevesofie - 10 years ago

      I smell troll, but to be sure: If battery drain is your primary concern, iOS 7 is *significantly* better than iOS 4 in that department. (And apps/features you don’t use don’t drain the battery.)

  10. Tom Lake - 10 years ago

    If you can rearrange the Share Sheet, can you rearrange Control Center?

  11. We need a speedier MAC/PC/-iphone/ipad communication. Presently, my WIFI is faster then USB transfer. I have been recovering and restoring few iphones/ipads, 64GB and 128GB, which had full backups, and with the separate app instalations, it took me ages to do…..THIS really needs to be speedier. per 64GB iphone, it was 2.5 hours!!! I hoped lightning cable would offer faster transfer.

  12. Bernardo Pérez - 10 years ago

    So now that iPhone will have a Time-Lapse option and things like that… I just bought a GoPro for nothing :P

  13. anthonynavas - 10 years ago

    The battery usage percent looks good to me

  14. Horatio Ozsvath - 10 years ago

    I’m just curious DOM is it impossible for you to keep referring to Android? We get it that you are using one but who cares. If I was interested in the features of an Android phone I would be reading something about their latest release. Better yet I would buy one of their phones. The reason I visit this site is for apple news. Pure and Simple. Thanks good videos besides the slight complaint.

  15. herb02135go - 10 years ago

    Battery usage per app is available on Samsung. Same with time lapse photography.
    Camera exposure is available in the HTC One.

    Glad to see Apple ahead of the pack.

    • Damian Eron - 10 years ago

      and now u dont have to buy and carry all of this phones… You will have everything in one phone! ur welcome…

    • Hey look everyone, Herb has joined in once again to share some delightful and enlightening tid-bits about the wonderful world of Samsung and all things Android.

      Try not to get sucked into the vacuum.

      Sorry Herb but you know its true

  16. Kenny Smith (@knesmth) - 10 years ago

    You can get to the control center with an active keyboard now. No more having to double tap the home button

  17. Clint (@ClintAustin26) - 10 years ago

    It’s a minor feature request and maybe not a high demand one (and definitely a purely cosmetic one) but would it be too hard for Apple to include automatic wallpaper switching like in OS X? I can’t imagine it would eat that much battery. It seems like such a simple thing. It’s one of my favorite things about jailbreaking.

  18. herbstwald - 10 years ago

    Nice video, thanks!

  19. alexmack - 10 years ago

    Two not mentioned:

    • Time Limits in guided access
    • Disable dictionary lookup in guided access (great for exams)

  20. Every feature that Apple did not talk about in their keynote is under NDA. Please so developers and Apple some respect and don’t abuse your “developer” membership.

    • Clint (@ClintAustin26) - 10 years ago

      Dude. Don’t be lame. You’re not the Apple police. I have a dev account too. I could care less what they post. Don’t act like you’re some kind of moral authority. Technically, most (if not all) of this WAS shown in the keynote on the slide listing the features they didn’t highlight. If Apple wants to they could slap them with a cease and desist and they’d have to take it down. Until that happens, kindly untwist your underoos.

      • First of all, NONE of this content was shown in the keynote. You could care less about what they post because you’re not a real developer.

  21. Shawn McBee (@jedibugs) - 10 years ago

    You don’t need to ask Siri what song is playing. Just get her to where she’s listening… she’ll hear the song and identify it.

  22. equinox2000 - 10 years ago

    Been waiting for it what feels a age, but webgl now working on the device :)