iOS 8.4.1 Update: 5 Things We Learned in July

mardi 28 juillet 2015

iOS 8.4.1 Update: 5 Things We Learned in July is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

The iOS 8.4 update won’t be the last iOS 8 update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Instead, it looks like Apple’s iOS 8.4.1 update will be the last in line ahead of the iOS 9 release in the fall. With that in mind, we want to take a look at what you need to know about iOS 8.4.1 as we push into the final days of the month.

Last month, Apple released its iOS 8.4 update, an update that delivered Apple Music and a number of other big changes to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The update is still the most current version of iOS 8 though that should change soon as Apple prepares to roll out another iOS 8 upgrade called iOS 8.4.1.

iOS 8.4.1 a few weeks after the iOS 8.4 release thanks to a beta for developers. Apple’s iOS 8.4.1 beta 1 was released two weeks ago and interest in the update has started to grow as we’ve pushed away from the beta release towards the fall and the release of Apple’s iOS 9 operating system.

Apple isn’t saying much about iOS 8.4.1 but we’ve learned quite a bit about the update that will likely serve as the bridge to iOS 9. With July coming to an end, we want to take a look at what you need to know about the iOS 8.4.1 update as we push into the month of August.

Don’t Expect Much from Apple

With an iPhone 6s release date now all but confirmed for September or later, we know that the odds of Apple talking about the iOS 8.4.1 update ahead of its release are very slim.

Apple only talks about new iOS updates and their release dates when it’s showing them off on stage during a launch event. The iPhone 6s’ launch event will almost certainly include iOS 9, not iOS 8.4.1.

So, the release of iOS 8.4.1 could come at any time. It could come this week before the start of August. It could come in August ahead of Apple’s big September. Or, it could come just ahead of Apple’s iOS 9 release in the fall.

Unless Apple breaks protocol, you won’t know much about the iOS 8.4.1 update until the iOS 8.4.1 update is released.

Now Is A Great Time to Prepare

With the iOS 8.4.1 release date all but confirmed to be a mysterious entity moving forward, now is a great time to start preparing for the update’s arrival.

We don’t know when Apple will release its new software and we probably never will. And that means that there will never be a bad time to do some prep work for iOS 8.4.1 and its release date.

If this is going to be your device’s first iOS update, now is a great time to get familiar with some of the quirks of the iOS update process. If this will be your first time moving to iOS 8.4, you’ll want to get familiar with iOS 8.4 and its changes. If this isn’t your first iOS update, you might still want to do some cleanup on your device before the iOS 8.4.1 update arrives.

We’ve put together a game plan that will help to make the iOS 8.4.1 release date more manageable. It will also help you minimize the chances of running into iOS 8.4.1 problems.

Don’t Expect Much from iOS 8.4.1

We’ve learned that the iOS 8.4.1 update probably isn’t going to be a very big release.

The iOS 8.4.1 update is currently in testing inside Apple’s paid developer program. Developers in the beta program have been testing out the iOS 8.4.1 for a number of days now and we haven’t seen anyone unearth big changes. The video below will give you some idea about what to expect thus far.

While we could certainly see some new iOS 8.4.1 betas emerge, the window is closing extremely fast. Again, the iOS 9 release is likely in the cards for September. If anything, this will likely be a small bug fix update that tackles a few very specific problems ahead of the iOS 9 release.

iOS 8.4 Jailbreak Could Be In Danger

One of the popular iOS 8.4.1 theories going around is that it’s going to be aimed squarely at the iOS 8.4 jailbreak that was released shortly after the iOS 8.4 update in June. It’s a theory that we’ve subscribed to and it’s a reason why iPhone and iPad users need to be leery of the iOS 8.4.1 release.

Jailbreak developers have been silent in the run up to the iOS 8.4.1 release date and that probably won’t change until after the iOS 8.4.1 update is released.

So, if you’re jailbroken or looking to jailbreak, you’ll probably want to avoid the iOS 8.4.1 release when it arrives. We probably won’t know if it’s safe before its release but we’ll almost certainly know if it’s safe (or not) immediately after the iOS 8.4.1 update’s arrival.

It May Not Bring Back This Missing Feature

The iOS 8.4.1 beta 1 doesn’t include a feature that Apple stripped from iOS with iOS 8.4. iOS 8.4 killed Home Sharing for Music for iOS, a feature that some iOS users have relied on for entertainment. And while the feature will make its return, it looks like it might not arrive until after iOS 8.4.1 arrives.

Apple promised that it would bring the feature back in iOS 9 and the latest iOS 9 beta does bring Home Sharing for Music on iOS back. Problem is, the iOS 9 release date won’t be happening for a few weeks.

The first iOS 8.4.1 beta doesn’t include the feature and with Apple proclaiming iOS 9 as the savior, there’s a very good chance that iOS 8.4.1 won’t include the functionality that iOS 8.4 took away. We’ve got our fingers crossed but we’re not optimistic at this point.

What’s New in iOS 8.4

Apple Music Streaming

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The new Apple Music app includes the new Apple Music streaming service designed to take on Spotify, Pandora and other services. The iOS 8.4 update enables this new app and includes a free three-month trial of the Apple Music service.

With Apple Music you can pay $9.99 a month for an individual or $14.99 a month for a family of up to six members and enjoy full albums on demand and save music for offline playback.

Apple Music uses your musical tastes to pick new music that you might enjoy listening to in a new For You section of the music app that will help you find new music to listen to. The video above shows how this works.

This new app replaces the Music app from iOS 8 and earlier. Apple is not adding another app you cannot install from the iPhone or iPad, just updating one that is already on your device.