20 things that should be in iOS 8

Although iOS has matured over the years with features being added every time a new version is released, there’s always more that can be done. As other operating systems such as Windows Phone and Android expand their feature set it would be unwise for Apple to be content and not expand its feature-set. iOS, released last month, brought with it dozens of new features as well as a re-designed (undoubtedly Windows Phone Inspired) interface.

Looking ahead there is still room for improvement so here are my most requested features for iOS8.

1. Text pop ups - Replying to texts should be done as a popup on top of the app you’re currently using - you shouldn’t have to switch apps to do it.
2. Natural calendar speak - Instead of having to enter an event title, date, and a start and end time it’d be great it you could just type in “lunch with mum tomorrow at 2” and the event would be added to your calendar - kind of how “Fantastical” works for the iPhone.
3. Close all apps - Instead of flicking open apps off the screen in multitasking view, how about a button that would just close all of them at once.
4. Google Now - There is some attempt at this in iOS7 where apparently, though I’ve not noticed this, the maps app will predict your next journey. How about integrating Google’s solution to this, Google Now?
5. More configurable Timer - Sometimes you have to time something that takes 1m30 and you want a countdown. You can’t do that with an iPhone as countdowns are only done in minute increments meaning you’ll either have to select 1 minute or 2 minutes.
6. Multitask by splitting the iPad's screen - It’s not very Apple but it’d be great to be able to split your screen in two - you could have pages on one side and safari on the other and be able to multitask. Or watch TV whilst browsing the web all on one device/
7. Public transport in Maps app - Apple still hasn’t mastered this yet with no public transit info meaning Google Maps is still your best bet.
8. Auto turn off wifi - Wouldn’t it be great if you could leave your house and as your phone disconnects from the wifi if it could just turn wifi off altogether saving on battery life. Geofencing doesn’t seem to be the solution in my opinion as it drains battery life a lot.
9. Hide native apps - I don’t use the native stock app, or the contacts app so why can’t I hide them from view?
10. Auto deleting alarms - I’m not a fan of opening my clock app and seeing I have 35 alarms in total - how about an option for an alarm to delete itself after one use?
11. Swype Keyboard - The iPhone keyboard is great but Swype is out this world.
12. Guest mode - It’d be great to be able to hand your iPhone or iPad over to a friend or customer and they just see what you want them too - this mode could hide apps, photos, music, browsing history, bookmarks etc. It could also wipe all the guest’s data after use.
13. Ability to share screens over FaceTime - This would be even better on a mac but great on a phone too.
14. iMessage toggle - How about Apple lets me decide whether I want my message sent as a text instead of an iMessage instead of having multiple threads.
15. Ability to leave a group iMessage conversation
16. Siri app integration - Let non native apps integrate into Siri so I could ask “When’s the next bus?” and have it tell or show me.
17. Multi-way Facetime - You should be able to Facebook 3 people instead of just the one if you wanted.
18. Play videos in the background - Sometimes the audio will suffice so let us do other things whilst we have a video playing. This did used to be a feature in previous iOS versions.
19. Set your own default app - I don’t want to use Apple Maps, I want Google Maps so it’d be great if that were possible. The same applies to calendar and browser apps too.
20. Better battery life - I know this is generic but Apple writes the software and makes the hardware. It can do a much better job than it currently does with battery life.

That’s the end of my iOS8 wish-list; some of the requests I’ve mentioned can be accomplished with other apps but it’d be great to have them as a native part of the OS all integrated together.

I’d also like to credit some of these ideas to this webpage.

Got any more ideas for what should be in the next version of iOS? Let me know in the comments below.