iOS 8
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iOS 8
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| Developer | Apple |
|---|---|
| Announced | June 2, 2014 (WWDC) |
| Initial release | September 17, 2014 |
| Final release | 8.4.1 (August 13, 2015) |
| Launch devices | iPhone 6 · iPhone 6 Plus |
| Preceded by | iOS 7 |
| Succeeded by | iOS 9 |
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iOS
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iOS 8 is the eighth major release of iOS, released on September 17, 2014, with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apple pitched it as "the biggest release since the App Store," and structurally that held: Extensions opened the system's sealed borders, letting third-party apps provide keyboards, share sheets, Today widgets, photo filters, and Safari content blockers — the platform's most significant loosening since native apps arrived.
It also laid rails Apple would build on for a decade: HealthKit and the Health app, HomeKit, Handoff and the Continuity bridge to the Mac, Family Sharing, iCloud Drive, and — via the 8.1 update — Apple Pay.
1 Features✎
Extensions and third-party keyboards led; interactive notifications, QuickType predictive text, Continuity (Handoff, SMS relay, iPhone calls on Mac/iPad), Family Sharing, iCloud Photo Library (beta), time-lapse video, and the Tips app filled the launch. iOS 8.1 switched on Apple Pay; 8.4 delivered Apple Music and Beats 1 in June 2015.
The cycle's stumbles were memorable: the 8.0.1 update briefly killed cellular service and Touch ID on iPhone 6 units (pulled within hours), and the ~5 GB free-space requirement to install over the air left 16 GB device owners deleting their photos — a storage squeeze that drew a class-action suit and sharpened criticism of the 16 GB tier.
2 Supported devices✎
iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, and iPhone 4s (sluggishly), plus iPad 2 and later and the fifth-generation iPod touch — dropping only the iPhone 4.
3 Legacy✎
Extensions rewired what "an app" could be on iOS and remain the mechanism behind every keyboard, widget, and share target since. HealthKit and HomeKit grew into platform pillars; Continuity became the connective tissue of the Apple ecosystem strategy; and Apple Pay, delivered mid-cycle, outgrew them all. iOS 8's bumpy quality record, together with iOS 7's, also set up the pendulum swing that made stability-focused iOS 9 and iOS 12 a recurring Apple genre.