By tomorrow, September 19, Apple, Inc. retail stores will be swamped with fanboys wanting to upgrade to a new iPhone, but purchasing a brand new device isn’t the only way to get a brand new iPhone experience. Apple’s updated operating system, iOS 8, has some worthy features we’ll review below. First, here’s a quick guide on how to update your iPhone for iOS 8.

How to upgrade to iOS 8

To update your device, go to Settings > General > Software Update > Download. Depending on whether your device is updated to latest version of iOS and your internet connection, the download can take up to 30 mins to a few hours, including the installation process. Before you start the update, make sure you’re not using cellular data, as that could eat up your monthly allotted data and result in overcharges.

Once the download is complete, your phone will restart to initiate the installation process. Then just follow the steps on the screen to set up your iCloud account and edit other phone settings.

So what’s new with iOS 8?

Predictive keyboard

Finally, Apple Inc. decided to get with the program and give people a tool to help them avoid embarrassing text conversations because of autocorrect. An iPhone with iOS 8 now has a predictive keyboard, enabling the quick typing of words, and it supports various languages. It learns individual users’ typing styles and suggest words based on frequent use.

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Battery usage

Those flustered with an iPhone battery that keeps dying by lunchtime will be able to better manage battery usage with iOS 8. Under Settings, the iPhone will display each app’s  battery usage to determine the most power-hungry culprits. Just go to Settings > General > Usage > Battery Usage. By knowing which apps use up the most energy, users can close those apps from the multitasking queue.

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Multitasking

Apple’s iPhone still does not offer a true multitasking in the sense that you can simultaneously watch a video and write an email, but the Cupertino, CA giant has added recent contacts to the multitasking page. This way you can quickly access the contacts with which you most recently interacted. Tap on a contact and you’ll be presented with options to send a message, FaceTime or call them on their mobile or landline number.

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Camera features

You can now manually change the iPhone camera’s exposure before taking a photo. Just tap on the screen to bring up the focus square if it’s not already present, and you’ll see a sun icon beside it. Just drag the sun icon up or down to brighten or darken it until you are satisfied with the exposure.

The camera has also been upgraded with a time-lapse feature and a timer to choose between a 3-second or 10-second delay before the shutter snaps. Also new for iPhone 4s upgraders is the Instagram-like filters.

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Spotlight

Most people don’t care about Spotlight, the search bar accessed by pulling down on the home screen to find apps on the device. But things may change as Spotlight now supports searching the web. This upgrade makes it easier to search for things on the Internet or your phone, as you no longer have to launch a mobile browser, or even Siri, to perform a web search.

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Message details

In Messages, a Detail feature has replaced the Information icon. Before, by tapping on the information icon, you could see contact details of the person as well as additional actions. But now you can choose to turn on Do Not Disturb for specific contacts to silence notifications from certain conversations without shutting out all other attempts to reach you. With iOS 8, Messages also show all the attachments that have been sent between you and a particular contact.

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Hey Siri

You can now activate Siri without touching the Home button by just saying “Hey Siri.” However, your phone needs to be plugged in for this feature to work. Also you need to configure this in Siri’s settings. To do this, go to  Settings > General > Siri > Allow “Hey Siri.”

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Health app

This new app serves as an app for all your fitness and health tracker apps. This allows users to see and better analyze how they are doing, and if they are reaching their set goals. Users can set up a Medical ID, which can be easily accessed even when your phone is locked. You can but important medical information here such as food or medication allergies, blood type, and other information that could be useful during emergencies.