Are the new features of iOS 8 becoming a nuisance?

The latest operating system is now available to download, and has already been downloaded by many users. Even though there are a number of new features and benefits to the update, some users may want to change back to iOS 7.

Current users of the iPhone 4S have noticed a significant drop in performance and increased loading speeds due to the update. So how can you avoid using the features that affect the phones performance?

Disable ‘context-sensitive’ predictive text

You may have noticed that when you write a text, the iOS 8 keyboard offers a predictive typing function. This function allows you to potentially type faster by selecting words which you have previously used. If this is becoming a nuisance then it is easy to turn off. Either swipe down and it will disappear, or to get rid of it completely, go to ‘Settings’, then ‘General’ and ‘Keyboard’, then set the ‘Predictive’ option to off.

Hide ‘recent contacts’ menu

If you double tap the home button, a menu at the top of the screen will appear which shows the images or initials of your most recent contacts. Some users may not like this function due to privacy issues. Luckily this can be disabled! All you need to do is select ‘Settings’, ‘Mail, Contacts, Calendars’, then on ‘Show in App Switcher’ change this to off and the recent contacts will disappear.

Stop apps from accessing your data

It may be useful for some apps to gain access to your phone data as you could be notified when one of your contacts has joined a social media site. This may be useful as you can see which of your friends using a particular site. However, your data could be uploaded onto their servers, and this could result in a security risk as the data could be stolen. If you go to ‘Settings’, and ‘Privacy’, you can select which apps you would like to have access to your phone data – including contacts, emails, calendar or photos.

Changing your operating system back to iOS 7 is not a possibility, so altering or turning off these three features will benefit the overall performance of your Apple device.