Apple Adds Music Streaming And Fixes iMessage Bug With iOS 8.4 Release

Apple has made iOS 8.4 available to compatible iPhones and iPads, introducing its new music streaming service and improvements to iBooks, alongside the usual host of bug fixes.

A new music application hosts the ‘Apple Music’ service unveiled last month at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, and users are treated to a three month trial before being subject to the £9.99 monthly subscription fee.

iOS 8.4

Like rival Spotify, users can stream music, download tracks for offline listening and create playlists, but Apple hopes its ‘human’ curated recommendations, social features and Zane Lowe-fronted Beats1 radio station will give it an advantage over the incumbent market leader.

iBooks gets a new ‘now playing’ feature for audiobooks, new navigation and pre-ordering capabilities as well as a new setting to turn off ‘auto-night’ theme. Apple has also fixed issues that might prevent ‘hide purchases’ from working and another problem that prevented books from downloading from iCloud.

On the security side, Apple has remedied the ‘effective power’ iMessage flaw that caused iDevices to crash when certain text was sent to an unsuspecting user and has also solved a problem that stopped GPS accessories from providing location date. iOS 8.4 also repairs a bug that allowed deleted Apple Watch apps to re-install.

iOS 9, the next major iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system, will debut in the Autumn and will appear as a public beta from July. Among the headline features are new standard apps, more intelligent search and Siri capabilities, and better multitasking for newer iPads.

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