iOS 8 to gain at least five new first-party apps - ZDNet.

iOS 8: Apple works to further push iCloud as the future of the file system.

Like Jason O’Grady, I have a list of iOS features on my wishlist that could keep me on the platform past iOS 7.1.

Apple made changes in iOS 7 which addressed my earlier criticisms, namely:

  • Control Center
  • “Today” view in Notification Center
  • Better multitasking UI
  • A refreshed UI

Maybe iOS 8 will address some of my concerns with iOS as well. I’ve divided my list into categories:

Likely:

  • Better data sharing experience, rather than a few promoted services like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.
  • Allow me to completely disable Game Center. I have stopped using many casual games because they pop up Game Center every time I open them.

Possible:

  • Default apps. I should be able to make Chrome my default browser and Gmail my default email client if I want to.
  • Make FaceTime audio automatic, like iMessage.
  • More intelligent weather notices via notifications.
  • Landscape springboard on the iPhone. I was sure this was coming after using it on an iPad, but it’s been absent for years.

Unlikely:

  • Better background APIs (e.g. so Dropbox can backup my photos without a location-checking hack)
  • Multiple user accounts. Many apps allow multiple accounts, but if I want to switch my iPhone to “work mode” during the day, it’s a pain compared to Android.
  • Someplace to keep installed apps other than the home screen. Android solves this with an “app drawer”.

Very unlikely:

  • Allow 3rd party browsers like Chrome and Firefox in the App Store. (Chrome for iOS is just a skin on Safari.)
  • Allow applications to be installed from outside of the App Store if a setting is changed, like OSX and Android.
  • An service to move my paid iTunes purchases to another service such as Google Play or Amazon. Right now, my purchased DRM-locked media from iTunes is only playable on an Apple device. A cross-platform “iTunes Video” app would be another option.
  • A less app-centric iCloud. Until I can combine files for a single project in a folder like Dropbox or Google Drive, iCloud seems fairly useless for me. I currently only use it for backup and “find my device”.

Unfortunately, most of my wishlist is unlikely to be addressed in iOS 8. Although I’ve been invested in iOS since 2008 (back at version 2), my impression is that the only way to get what’s on my wishlist would be to switch to another platform. I’m curious to see what iOS 8 brings in June.