Now that iOS 8 is out, all we have to wait for is the release of the new iPhone 6 on September 19. Not only will iPhone 6 be available in more than one size, but iOS 8 itself offers lots of new things, especially for iPhone app developers. In this post we’re going to remind you why Apple says that iOS 8 is the biggest release for developers since the App Store was launched.
Extensions & Touch ID
With iOS 8 you can expand your app’s functionality using extensions. Basically, these extensions are code that customizes app functionality based on the user task’s context. And thanks to the addition of Touch ID to apps, you can now let your users sign in or access some content using touch authentication.
Kits
iOS 8 is all about kits. No matter what sort of a function you need, there’s a kit for that. There’s the PhotoKit to work with photos and videos, the special HealthKit for health and fitness apps, HomeKit for communicating with devices in the user’s home, and CloudKit to let you tap into iCloud’s full power. Oh, and if you’re a mobile game developer, then there are even more kits for you: SceneKit, a framework for high-level 3D graphics and SpriteKit for creating high-performance 2D games. Add to that Metal, a performance booster for your graphics, and you have everything you’ve ever wanted for game developing.
As you can see, iOS 8 has a lot to offer. So we encourage you to download iOS 8 SDK and Xcode 6 to start developing for the new iOS right now.
