Apple releases iOS 8 beta 4 to developers ( New Features, Design Tweaks & Emoji )

Nearly two weeks after releasing the third beta of iOS 8, Apple has this morning seeded the Fourth beta of iOS 8 to developers. The beta is labeled as build 12a4318c, and is available for compatible iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

If you’re a registered iOS developer, you can grab the new beta from either the online dev portal as a standalone download, or via your device’s OTA (over-the-air) update mechanism. 

iOS 8 beta 4, which is available for download from Apple's developer portal or as a 253-megabyte over-the-air update. The company says it brings "bug fixes and improvements," and it carries Apple's now-customary warning that the beta software should only be installed on dedicated development devices.

New Features & Changelog : 

Tips App 

The Tips app, contrary to what it sounds like, has nothing to do with tipping calculations. Instead it’s a dedicated app that shows you tips on how to use your iPhone or iPad. The Tips app actually made a brief appearance on a slide at WWDC, but this is the first beta it comes installed on.For example, there are directions on using quick notification responses, sending voice messages, using notifications for Mail responses, activating Siri hands-free, and more. The Tips app is a default iOS app and cannot be uninstalled. The app is device-specific, so iPhone users will see slightly different tips than iPad users. Overall it’s a great app for noobs.

Control Center: 

The Control Center has seen a redesign that removes the black borders around the icons on the top and bottom and turns icons white when activated. 

Bug Reporter:

Apple shipped iOS 8 betas with a new Bug Reporter app that let developers easily file bug reports they’ve encountered while using the OS. The app has been removed in beta 4. Here’s what Apple says: “We’ve received wonderful feedback on previous betas via the Bug Reporter app. Thank you! However, this app has been removed in beta 4.”

New Settings Menu: 

iOS 8 beta 4 adds a new Display and Brightness Settings menu that lets you control brightness, text size and enable or disable auto-brightness and bold text.

HomeKit: 

The Privacy section of the Settings app has gained a new Home Data icon. 

Messages: 

The Messages section of the Settings app has new options for Message storage that includes separate expiration options for Audio and Video Messages. The Talk-to-Type option in Messages now displays spoken text in real time rather than waiting for an entire message to be complete before displaying text. 

Disable Suggested Apps

A new feature of iOS 8 is called “Suggested Apps”. These suggestions appear on your lock screen or in the App Store when you are physically close to a brick and mortar store that also has an app. With beta 4 you can toggle these location-aware app suggestions on or off. 

View Or Hide Contacts In App Switcher 

A new setting allows you to hide (or view) your favourite (or most recent) contacts inside the all new app switcher/contacts screen in iOS 8.

Manage Bluetooth Devices In Settings

A new Bluetooth setting allows you to view and manage all the Bluetooth devices that are currently or have previously been connected to your device.

New Swipe Settings For The Mail App 

iOS 8 will see the introduction of new swiping gestures in Mail, including the ability to swipe to Mark As New and swipe to Mark As Junk depending on the direction you are swiping from.

Beta 4 brings the ability to customize what a left or right swipe does.

Health App

Health App Gets Smarter About Calories.Of course a big new feature of iOS 8 is the Health app, which is a central app that tracks vital statistics about the user. In previous builds the app only tracked total calories, but now Health will track Active, Resting, and Dietary calories separately. 

Emoji Keyboard Icon:

 The icon for Emoji on the keyboard has been updated with a happier smiley face. 

iCloud Photo Library: 

It's now possible to select a length of time when pausing iCloud Photo Library in the iCloud section of the Settings app.