4 things iOS 8 still can’t do

iOS 8 was just launched together with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and the OS is available for most Apple devices out there. While iOS 8 aimed to focus more on functions than design, it kept the looks of iOS 7 and built in new features that remind us of an Android OS. Even though Apple didn’t get off to a good start with iOS 8, with numerous bugs and issues plaguing the iOS in its first edition, the iOS 8.0.1 and iOS 8.0.2 updates fixed most of the things wrong with iOS 8. An even newer update is coming, according to Apple, later this month which will change iOS 8 to version 8.1. Until that comes, we can still say that there are things iOS 8 still can’t do.

Many Android OS fans have been criticizing Apple and iOS for not implementing simple things like third-party keyboards, widgets, customization, NFC and many other shortcomings that are required by the Apple ecosystem. The company tried resolving a few of those issues and iOS 8 now offers third-party keyboard support, as well as access to certain customizable features. Nonetheless, there still are 4 important things missing from iOS 8, in my opinion. Here they are.

1. Third party launchers

With iOS 8, you can’t use them. Even though with Android, third-party launchers are all the rage and have actually become the norm for those of us who like to change our phones’ or tablets appearance once in a while without having to root the device. iOS and iOS 8 users cannot benefit from launchers, nor third-party lockscreens, which is a shame in my opinion.

2. Homescreen widgets

iOS 8 can’t do those. While iOS 8 brought a lot of improvements to the today screen, it failed to bring widgets onto the homescreen, which would have been a nice, if not necessary touch. For example, I use a world clock widget and a weather widget on my homescroon and I find myself wondering each time I look at iOS 8: how many steps does it take the iPhone 6 user to get to the information they need? I’ve calculated 3 or 4, depending on what you’re looking for. On Android, all it takes is to turn you screen on and check your widget. Maybe iOS and iOS 8 users are used to this, but I think they would also love the widget option on their homescreens.

3. CPU Governors

While I’m not a fan of CPU and battery apps, there are a whole lot of people out there who use them and vouch for them. Android users have had these apps forever now, and iOS 8 should have included them in order to allow users to customize how much their CPU uses, which clock speeds suit them best, how much battery should it save and how and so on. These are handy options for those of you are interested in nitpicking your phones, but iOS 8 won’t allow you to, though. Even though iOS and iOS 8 works just fine without having to govern power and CPU usage, there might be a few people out there who would have like access to this kind of customization.

4. ROMs

CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android are the most popular ROMs running on Android, and people are loving that they can easily root their Android devices and install new ROMs which allow for infinite customization possibilities and a whole new relationship between you and your phone. You can’t root an iOS or iOS 8 running device, so you should forget about benefiting from either of these ROMs. We don’t know why Apple won’t allow ROM flashing on its devices, since voiding warranties should be the consumers’ concern, not the company’s.