Two great features of iOS 8

It’s not that big a deal if it takes you a few taps and swipes to get to Candy Crush or Angry Birds. In fact, from a business and productivity standpoint, that’s probably a great thing. Bury those apps even deeper. But, when it comes to finding information you need, and communicating with others, you want to maximize efficiency, and minimize the amount of interaction it takes to accomplish. The new iOS 8 will do that.

I wrote a blog post about two features of iOS 8 that will streamline key tasks and let you get more done with fewer swipes and taps:

Yesterday Apple unveiled the new iPhone 6 smartphones and the upcoming Apple Watch. The new iPhones will be available soon, but even before they hit the street, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 8, will roll out.

Of the many new and updated features in iOS 8, two in particular will help people be more efficient: the new Spotlight search, and Notification Center. Both help you find what you need to find, and do what you need to more simply, and with fewer swipes and taps.

First, let’s look at Spotlight. In iOS 7, when you swipe down the middle of the screen to use Spotlight, the search field displays text that reads “Search iPhone” (or “Search iPad,” as the case may be). In other words, it’s a quick way to find apps, messages, contacts, or other information, but only as long as it resides on your device.

The new Spotlight expands the horizons of the search capability to include the world beyond your device. Instead of “Search this iPhone,” it will now say, “Spotlight Search.” When you enter your search terms, instead of just looking at the content of the iOS device, it will also consider your location and the context of the query, and provide relevant results from Wikipedia, news, nearby location information, the iTunes store, movie showtimes, suggested websites, and more.

Click here to read the full post at PCWorld: The new, more productive iOS 8: Spotlight and Notification upgrades make it well worth downloading.