It’s certain that Apple will launch a new iphone in 2014, quite possibly the iPhone 6. It’s just as certain there will be a new version of iOS running on that hardware. Here we look the rumoured new features, along with when you’ll be able to get it.

There’s plenty of excitement about a new iPhone this year, not least because 2013’s models comprised a repackaged 2012 iPhone (5C) and a tweaked 2012 iPhone (5S). You can find out more about the iphone 6 over here,

iOS 8 Release Date.

If history is anything to go by, Apple will launch a new version of iOS along with new hardware and we’d be very surprised if it doesn’t call it iOS 8.

Chances are that Apple will announce iOS 8 at WWDC (its annual Worldwide Developers Conference), which starts on 2nd June. In fact, the company has already confirmed that it will talk about the future of iOS at the event. It’s less likely, but still possible, that the iPhone 6 will be unveiled at the same time.

Using the past as a gauge for the future, if iOS 8 is announced in June it will probably be available as a free upgrade for existing owners a few months later, potentially in September. Whether the outgoing iPhone 4S will be compatible with iOS 8 is unknown. iPhone 5, 5C and 5S owners can be fairly certain to get it.

iOS 8 features: new apps.

iOS7 wasn’t well received by everyone. The redesigned interface wasn’t universally popular and some of the low-contrast elements caused problems for some people with impaired sight. Whether Apple will address any of the criticisms of the interface design remains to be seen.

If there’s one feature you can put money on being in iOS 8, we reckon it will be a health / fitness app. The iPhone 5s already has the M7 co-processor, but Apple hasn’t yet produced its own app to take advantage of it.

You can install the free ” FITBIT” app, but we’d love to see Apple’s take on activity tracking and sleep monitoring.

Rumour has it the app will be called Healthbook.

Other images, created by 9to5mac show that Health Book could offer comprehensive tracking and monitoring including not just steps and estimated calories burned but also heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and weight. There are links to sleep, hydration and nutrition, suggesting you would be able to enter or keep track of what you eat and how much (and well) you sleep.

iOS 8 Features: New Functions

Many people are speculating that iTunes Radio (which still isn’t available to UK users) will be split out from iTunes and made into a separate app.

Linked to this is a rumour that Apple has hooked up with Shazam, possibly to enable Siri integration which would allow you to ask your iPhone “Which song is playing?” and get an answer using Shazam’s recognition engine.

TouchID capabilities are likely to be expanded to include support for more services and retailers, allowing you to use your new iPhone (or maybe even iPad!) to make purchases using your fingerprint.

iOS 8 Features: Multiple user accounts.

The safe bet is that Apple won’t introduce multiple user accounts in iOS 8, despite this feature being widely available on Android and – to some extent – Windows Phone 8.

Although this is a feature we and millions of parents around the globe are yearning for, the smart move for Apple is to make it less convenient for families to share their devices. After all, why sell only one iPad when you can sell five?

Having user accounts – or profiles – would mean you can choose which apps and other content your kids have access to. Currently the parental controls within iOS (which aren’t half bad) are effectively useless as you have to disable them (a time-consuming task) when you want to access blocked apps or content yourself.

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About the author

Chetan Anand
Chetan Anand is Technical Writer at Gadget Tech. He has pursued his career in IT field. He has good knowledge of smartphones and smartphone technology ecosystem.