Last week Apple released the first official information on the upcoming iOS 8 and OS Yosemite for the iPhone and Mac respectively. As a college student, the best information we can get is how to make our complicated, stress-filled lives even easier.
Apple did just that.
Starting with integration: all of your notifications will show up on all of your iCloud-connected Apple devices at the same time. Receiving a phone call? It’ll show up on your iPad, iPhone and Mac at the same time and you’ll be able to answer the call from any of the devices.
This is especially handy for all of those times where your iPhone is charging in a different room from your Mac, or when your phone is just out of reach and you’re binge-watching Netflix.
When it comes to being in class, having a phone call pop up on your laptop makes those awkward moments of pulling out your phone in class to see what the buzzing in your pocket is all about much easier - and much more discreet.
The greatest information has to do strictly with iOS 8 and that is the announcement of the Apple health app. Just like Passbook is with tickets, everything fitness will be in one place.
Personally, I love having a pedometer on my phone but I also love fitness apps like MyFitnessPal. Currently, I have roughly 3-4 apps involving tracking health-related items. With the health app, these will all be in one place and will have the slick, sleek design that Apple brought to us in iOS 7 and will be perfecting with iOS 8.
Another feature with the health app is the ability to have your emergency information (allergies, required medicines, etc) and your emergency contact information all in one, easily accessible place: the lock screen.
A lot of college kids have allergies that might require an EpiPen, like a bee allergy. With the information on the lock screen, you can find out everything you need to know if someone is having a reaction without ever having to speak a word to them.
Apple has always been about speed and ease and with the newest operating systems coming out this fall, it will get even simpler for all of us.