Along with the release of four major updates, the latest on the iPhone flagship devices is the iOS8. Even though several glitches and functional issues have yet to be fixed, the vast opportunities that have been brought to the forefront have resulted in tremendous excitement among professional iPhone app developers.
- Need for cross-device support: With the Handoff and Continuity features in the iOS, it is now crucial for every new app to have a perfectly functional OS X version as well along with the regular iOS version. This now means that it will no longer be sufficient for mobile app companies to make apps for a single range of devices (for instance, iPhones or iPads). That which was only a mobile app can now be used on an iMac too.
- Greater Significance of Cloud Services: Along with Apple who is doing its best to fix the numerous problems in the iCloud Drive, app developers have to begin making cloud services a part of their day-to-day tasks. The likely increase of the iCloud Drive storage, developers need to sync every application properly in the cloud so that it is storable and usable on the cloud network in order that the iOS app continues to remain promising.
- Increased APIs: The 4000 odd new APIs appear like a huge boost for the developers and the possibility for differentiating and segregating apps is somewhat similar categories are considerable. However, depending too much on new APIs for app differentiation could be risky as apps may not perform as expected. Also, without the requisite hardware, mobile app testing can be faulty, for those apps which are created with new APIs.
- The new language – ‘Swift’: One of the most exciting things for a professional coder is the prospect of learning a new programming language. After the arrival of iOS 8, Swift is definitely the ‘in’ thing and many mobile app developing companies have already started to create ‘swift-only’ apps. It is optimized to work simultaneously with Obj-C and has already received a ‘Gold Master’ status.
- The requirement of Greater Design Customization: Because the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus have by far the largest screens among Apple phones, app designers have to be more careful about the UI of apps not getting distorted. Each screen size and optimal display resolutions need to be noted and the UI is designing done accordingly.
- Apps across more devices: One of the best features of iOS 8 is the extensive interconnectivity which it supports. This also then becomes a challenge for creating applications whose performance is seamless across all the devices. Split-Screen multitasking preparedness: Even though Apple did not bring the Split-Screen multitasking feature in the iOS 8, as was rumored, it makes for the iPhone app developers to begin creating apps that can operate in split-screens (in the landscape mode). And with this, issues such as battery drainage, display resolutions and mobile bandwidth consumption, have to deal with, with great care.
The iOS 8 Application Development platform gives the final user the prospect of using mobile applications across a wider number of Apple devices than ever before.
