Love texting? Yeah, lots of iPhone users do, which is why Apple unveiled a bunch of new messaging features in its latest operating system for the iPhone and iPad: iOS 8.
"Messages is the most frequently used app on iOS," Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, told the crowd at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.
Some of the new messaging features in iOS 8:
- The ability to name threads in group chats. Why is this useful? You could name one thread "road trip" and another "New Year's Eve plans," making it easier to keep track of different conversations, even if they are with the same people.
- A new feature that lets you share your location with someone you are messaging. It can be set to stop sharing your location after a certain amount of time.
- A swipe gesture that lets users add video or audio messages to a conversation.
- The ability to leave a thread or add a "Do not disturb" sign, perfect for when someone does not want to be included in a debate over whether to have Chinese or Italian food for dinner.
- QuickType, which offers predictive suggestions as people type, something that many Android keyboards already offer.
The new iOS 8 also lets users "Like" Facebook posts from the notification screen and bring up Siri by simply saying, "Hey Siri," instead of having to hold the home button. Apple is also giving a little more love to third-party apps by letting users add widgets to their notification centers.