Hell yeah, iOS 4 is out today! And while it hasn’t yet officially hit iTunes, we’ve been touring the developer forums to discover some of the less obvious new iOS 4 features. Sure we all know about iOS 4 multitasking and folders but what else has Apple stuffed into the new software? Head through for 10 iOS 4 features you might miss at first glance…
Spell check
If you’ve got an iPad, you’ll be used to spell check already as it arrived with iOS 3.2. On an iPhone or iPod Touch packing iOS 4, words that Apple thinks you’ve misspelled will be underlined in red. Tap on the word and you’ll get a popup with suggestions.
Wi-Fi stays connected
Previously, the iPod Touch would hop off Wi-Fi when it entered sleep mode but no longer. It’ll stay hooked up even when you’ve left it unattended which means background VoIP calls, notifications and other apps that need active Wi-Fi won’t grind to a halt.
Bluetooth keyboard support
Another feature that’s found its way across from the iPad to iOS 4 is Bluetooth keyboard support. You’ll know be able to hook up your favourite typing peripheral to your iPhone or iPod Touch to bash out a quick email or work on that novel you’ve been squirrelling away in notes.
New indicators
The status bar at the top of the iPhone screen will now give you even more info. You’ll get a compass arrow to alert you when location-based services are being used and a lock icon when you’ve locked your screen to portrait mode (another addition in iOS 4). The colour bands that appear at the top of the screen when a voice or data connection is running have also been expanded. You’ll still get green for Phone, red for Voice Memo and blue for tethering but red will also highlight VoIP connections from apps like Skype.
Smarter SMS
Messages has had a minor overhaul in iOS 4. It now features the same Spotlight search as Mail. Flick to the top of the main messages screen and you’ll be able to search through your archive. Another useful addition is a character count. It kicks in after 50 characters and will let you know when you’re nearing the 150 character limit that will tip your over into another text.
Apps can add appointments
It’s an odd little addition but Apple is now allowing developers Calendar access. That’ll mean if you book tickets through an app or want to set a reminder, it’ll be able to automatically add the information to your calendar.
Notes sync to any email account
Notes tapped out on your iPhone or iPod Touch have been synced to MobileMe and Mail on your Mac for a while but Apple has added Account in iOS 4. That means you can now sync your notes via IMAP to other email accounts. They’ll pop up labelled in Gmail and in a separate folder in other email systems.
Create real playlists on the go
On-The-Go playlists have been killed and you can finally add fully fledged new playlists on your iPhone or iPod Touch in iOS 4. You simply add an item in the Playlists section of the iPod app and name the new list. You can then add songs and the list will be synced to iTunes the next time you hook up the device.
More location controls
Previously, location services on your iPhone were either on or off. In iOS 4, there’s a lot more control. You can now choose which apps can access location data by turning them on and off in settings. The location services indicator will also pop up and remain in your status bar whenever an app has tapped into your GPS, Wi-Fi or cell tower data in the last 24-hours.
Proper passwords
The safe-cracker style numeric passcode has been phased out in iOS 4 and you can now lock your iPhone or iPod Touch with a longer alphanumeric passcode.
If you’ve grabbed iOS 4 early, let us know what other interesting features you’ve found.
Out today | £free | Apple
