Apple has released the fourth beta version for its upcoming iOS 8 to developers, just two weeks after the previous beta version was released.
The new beta 4 version does not incorporate any major changes, but instead includes small tweaks to differentiate and improve the iOS 8 experience, along with the new Tips app.
The new Tips app replaces the Bug Reporter app that was present in the first three beta versions of the iOS 8. The app provides small tutorials on how users can fully utilize the iOS 8, including the operating system's lesser known capabilities. The app currently only includes seven tips, but there should be more added to the list as the iOS 8 comes closer to its much-anticipated public release.
One of the new tweaks found in the iOS 8 beta 4 is a slider that allows users to increase or decrease the size of text on the iOS device. Bold-faced text can also be turned on or off, though that requires restarting the phone each time the option is changed.
Another part of the iOS 8 beta 4 that features an aesthetic upgrade is the Control Center. Apple removed all the lines found in the feature, deciding to implement more subtle icons instead with dim areas to simulate buttons.
Home Data, part of the iOS 8's HomeKit function, also received an icon upgrade. The new icon is under the Privacy option of Settings.
When using Siri to type in Messages through the talk-to-text feature, Siri now dictates back what the users say live while they speak, so that they would know right away if Siri got a word wrong in the message.
Another new thing in Messages is that users are given options on whether a video received through the app will remain in the conversation history for only 2 minutes or for 1 year before being automatically deleted.
Apple also slowed down the animations used by multi-tasking features, but not too much that the tweak will most probably go unnoticed by most users.
In the first beta version of the iOS 8, Apple added to the Multitasking view a Contacts switcher that displays Recent contacts at the top of the list. In the beta 4 version, users can choose to switch on or off both Recents and Phone Favorites under a "Show in App Switcher" option.
In the Mail app, users are now given customized swiping gestures. Users can choose between Mark as Read, Archive and Flag when swiping to the right. When swiping to the left, users are only given the options Mark as Read, Flag, and None.
The iOS 8 beta version 4 also includes changes in the Handoff feature of the operating system, which lets users begin something on one iOS device and then continue it in another iOS device through the user's iCloud account. The change allows users to turn off location-based app suggestions, which was introduced in the second beta version, either for the whole App Store or for apps installed in the device.
Developers may download iOS 8 beta 4 through an over the air update, the iOS Dev Center, or from select direct download links.
