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Hands-On With Apple's New Tips App in iOS 8 Beta 4

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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iOS 8 beta 4, released earlier today, included a new app called Tips, which is designed to offer iOS 8 users information about all of the new features in the operating system.

Tips was first hinted at during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, shown briefly on a display that rounded up dozens of unmentioned iOS 8 features, but it was missing from the iOS 8 betas until today.

It was unclear what would be included in the Tips app, but it turns out Tips is a simple tutorial-style app that gives users a look at some of the various features in iOS 8, using text, images, and brief animations.

As detailed in the above video, the Tips app has the following sections: Quickly respond to a notification, Notify me when there's a reply (in Mail), Hey Siri (on hands-free Siri operation), Send a spoken message (in Messages), Quickly manage your mail (using gestures), and Be in the shot (camera timer mode).

Tips has a simple interface that opens directly into the first tip, using swipe gestures to navigate through available content. There's a menu button on the bottom of the screen that gives a list of all the available tips, and each tip can be shared via Message, Mail, Facebook, or Twitter using the app's share sheet. There's also a "Like" feature, which most likely gives Apple information on which tips are most popular.

tipsappss.jpg
While there are only six different tips available in the app right now, an ending page suggests that users "Check back for new tips every week," indicating the app will be updated on a weekly basis. There's also a link to Apple's iOS 8 website, and the app will send notifications to users when new tips are available.

tipsappios81.jpg
Tips probably won't be a feature that's useful for seasoned iOS users, but for users who aren't familiar with the ins and outs of the operating system, the app will provide valuable information on accessing new features. The Tips app is a default iOS 8 app and cannot be uninstalled.

Tips is only available to registered developers who have iOS 8 beta 4 installed on their devices, but it will become available to all users this fall, when iOS 8 is released to the public.

Article Link: Hands-On With Apple's New Tips App in iOS 8 Beta 4
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/21/hands-on-with-tips-app/
S

slrandall

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2011
412
0
I think that video was narrated by a mouse. Also, why on earth is this app not able to be uninstalled?
 
springsup

springsup

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2013
1,222
1,209
autrefois said:
Hopefully the first weekly tip will explain how to put unwanted base apps into a junk folder, and give users Tim Cook's personal email address so people can email him about the ability to delete (at least some) pre-installed apps as a feature request. :D
Click to expand...

They could let you delete them, then download them via the settings app on-demand (as they do for Facebook, Twitter).

Or they could have a setting which lets you hide them.

----------

Notifications for this seem like they'll get really annoying. Not only that, but I expect people will go there looking for general help. They should include a copy of the manual (or preinstall it into iBooks, which is now bundled, and include a link to it in the Tips app).
 
seamer

seamer

macrumors 6502
Jul 24, 2009
426
164
If they let you remove Stock, Weather, and Tips, the App Store would be swamped with even MORE crud!

It's really probably a usability thing where they can write documents and videos explicitly, knowing that particular apps and features are always available. But I like the crud theory, too.
 
Dilster3k

Dilster3k

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2014
790
3,206
They could have implemented this differently. The amount of pre-installed applications (HealthKit, Tips, Podcasts, etc.) is rapidly increasing and it is getting bloated quickly. Android style.
 
Agent-P

Agent-P

Contributor
Dec 5, 2009
2,502
23
The Tri-State Area
Dilster3k said:
They could have implemented this differently. The amount of pre-installed applications (HealthKit, Tips, Podcasts, etc.) is rapidly increasing and it is getting bloated quickly. Android style.
Click to expand...

That means we'll see even more threads asking about how huge the Other space is on their devices.
 
Sirious

Sirious

macrumors 68000
Jan 2, 2013
1,582
2,737
United Kingdom
iOS 8 has so many new default apps that I really can't care less about. Tips should be optional through settings or disappear after a quick tutorial.

Just because we can fit more apps in folders since iOS 7, doesn't mean they should throw more apps at us.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but won't my storage decrease on my device because the OS is larger now with these preinstalled apps?

I'm all Apple at the end of the day though :)

/end rant.
 
P

proline

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2012
630
1
seamer said:
It's really probably a usability thing where they can write documents and videos explicitly, knowing that particular apps and features are always available. But I like the crud theory, too.
Click to expand...
This is justifiable for apps that are key to accessing a system service, such as contacts, Messages, FaceTime, Health etc. I don't think anyone objects to that. However, for apps that aren't part of any API and don't deliver any functionality beyond what a 3rd party app could do there should be a delete button. This holds true for
-stocks
-weather
-voice messages
-tips
-compass
and a couple more
 
jayducharme

jayducharme

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2006
4,529
5,973
The thick of it
springsup said:
They could let you delete them, then download them via the settings app on-demand (as they do for Facebook, Twitter).
Click to expand...

That's a great idea. Given how many options there now are to restore apps, there's no need for Apple to worry about users "losing" them. I have no problem with a new device coming pre-installed with apps, but once I buy an iPhone it's MY device and I should be able to set it up the way I want.
 
PorscheSpyder

PorscheSpyder

macrumors newbie
Jul 17, 2014
12
12
Loveland, CO
Well, considering that, with the new, larger design of the iPhone and the desire to see Android users switch, it makes sense to give them an app that helps them learn the ropes of iOS.

That said, though, I do wish it would be delete-able, since I really don't have a use for it. Sure, I might learn a thing or two, but for the most part I could do without. (Been using iOS since iOS 3)
 
R

RCAFBrat

macrumors 6502
Jul 10, 2013
270
79
Montreal, QC
Would it be neat or creepy if Tips monitored your usage of gestures, shortcuts, etc and then offered you tips that excludes what you already know how to do?

Doh! Should I have patented that first :D
 
Starfyre

Starfyre

macrumors 68030
Nov 7, 2010
2,905
1,136
Thr newest Samsung Galaxy I saw in the store the other day had a "tips" like app, though it had a human narrarator and takes advantage if the simultanrous multi application feature which makes the bottom video with an verlay at the top. Tips sounds like an attempt to copy Samsug, but use mouse cursors instead f narration.
 
0

0xyMoron

macrumors 6502
Oct 5, 2012
433
3
California
Just create a "Defaults" folder and throw all the garbage stock apps you never wanna use in there, it's what i've been doing for ages.
 
S

SAIRUS

macrumors 6502a
Aug 21, 2008
818
516
Looks like the engineers are running the company. Shouldn't applications be intuitive and anything new can be advertised in commercials which show us how we couldn't live without that feature?

Not that hard Tim.
 
O

octothorpe8

macrumors 6502
Feb 27, 2014
424
0
Dilster3k said:
They could have implemented this differently. The amount of pre-installed applications (HealthKit, Tips, Podcasts, etc.) is rapidly increasing and it is getting bloated quickly. Android style.
Click to expand...
Oh please. There aren't that many of them, they're all first-party Apple apps, and it's really, really easy to just group them on a screen or a folder you don't look at.

I agree it's a little lame to not be able to delete them, but let's not blow this out of proportion.
 
N

NMBob

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2007
1,913
2,456
New Mexico
So now the interface has become so bloated and confusing that they have to provide a manual? What a nice way to "progress".
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Agent-P said:
That means we'll see even more threads asking about how huge the Other space is on their devices.
Click to expand...
Except that these are not likely to be responsible for much of that other space.

----------
Sirious said:
iOS 8 has so many new default apps that I really can't care less about. Tips should be optional through settings or disappear after a quick tutorial.

Just because we can fit more apps in folders since iOS 7, doesn't mean they should throw more apps at us.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but won't my storage decrease on my device because the OS is larger now with these preinstalled apps?

I'm all Apple at the end of the day though :)

/end rant.
Click to expand...
The few MB that will be taken up by this won't really introduce any meaningful free space concerns.
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
SAIRUS said:
Looks like the engineers are running the company. Shouldn't applications be intuitive and anything new can be advertised in commercials which show us how we couldn't live without that feature?

Not that hard Tim.
Click to expand...
Or there are more and more less techy people coming to use iOS devices, and perhaps more and more are expected with new devices that will be released.

----------
NMBob said:
So now the interface has become so bloated and confusing that they have to provide a manual? What a nice way to "progress".
Click to expand...
Or the population that is coming to the devices is progressively less and less techy.
 
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