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iOS 8 App Store Enhancements Coming Soon

With over 1.2 million iOS apps available in the App Store, finding the best and most useful can seem like a daunting task. While the App Store app in iOS 7 has received many improvements, Apple has not stopped working to make the experience even better for mobile device users. iOS 8 promises to incorporate several enhancements to help users and app developers alike.

iOS 8 App Store enhancements

There are currently 300 million visitors to the App Store every week, so it's no wonder that 75 billion apps have been downloaded since 2008. There are also 9 million registered developers making apps for a total of 800 million iOS devices already sold. Apple CEO Tim Cook detailed the company's latest plans for the App Store at the WWDC 2014 keynote presentation this week.

Photos App Gets New Features in iOS 8

One of the major improvements to iOS 8 announced at today's WWDC keynote presentation are new features coming to the stock Photos app. Apple is adding a new service called iCloud Photo Library to help store iOS users' photos safely in the cloud. However, that's just the beginning.

iOS 8 iCloud photo library

Apple touts the iCloud Photo Library as a way to store and easily search any photo from any device. Once enabled, Photos will automatically keep everything on iCloud in its original resolution and format. The files can be accessed on the web or from any iOS device. Searches result in suggestions to check out favorite photos, or those taken around the same time or place.

Apple Announces New Health App and HealthKit Tool for Developers

As predicted, Apple announced its new Health app at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2014 in San Francisco, California. The new app and HealthKit tool for developers will give iOS 8 users an "easy-to-read dashboard" of their health and fitness data, according to Apple.

Apple Health

The new Health app works a lot like the Passbook, collecting data from third-party apps that monitor your heart rate, calories burned, blood sugar, cholesterol and so on. Users will then be able to access all the collected data under one hub so they have a more accurate view of their overall fitness level. The app will also allow users to share their information with their doctors and create medical emergency cards that can be accessed directly from their device's Lock screen.

WWDC Keynote Unveils Some Big Improvements to Messaging in iOS 8

At today's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote presentation in San Francisco, Apple Senior VP of Software and Engineering, Craig Federighi, unveiled new features of the Messages app that most people are going to like. The improvements, which include changes to group messaging and a "tap to talk" feature, will debut with iOS 8 in the fall.

iOS 8 Messages app improvements

There are several big improvements to group messaging in iOS 8. You will be able to add and remove people from ongoing threads, rather than starting a new thread without someone, as you currently have to do. If you want to remain on a thread, but don't wish to be disturbed (and who hasn't been in this situation), there is now a

Apple Announces New 'Family Sharing' Option in iOS 8

Apple has given parents more control over the App Store and iTunes by adding a "Family Sharing" option to iOS 8. The new feature allows up to six users to share App Store purchases such as songs, apps and games when using the same credit card. Families can also share photo streams, calendars and reminders without sharing their individual Apple IDs or passwords.

Family Sharing

Family Sharing gives moms and dads more parental control over purchases thanks to its "Ask Permission" feature. The credit card holder will receive a notification every time a member of the household attempts to purchase a new app or song on their iPhone or iPad. Parents will then have the choice to deny the purchase or review the media and approve the transaction. The new "Ask Permission" feature and the ability to disable in-app purchases are just two ways Apple is helping parents protect themselves from unwanted App Store and iTunes purchases showing up on their credit card bill.

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