iPhone 6 Concept Image by Dani Yako
iPhone 6 Concept Image by Dani Yako Dani Yako via Concept-Phones

Within a week after releasing iOS 7.1 update, Apple seems to be concentrating on major improvements with their iOS 8 software. The technology site 9To5Mac has some of the exclusive information on the speculated features and changes in iOS 8 software.

To know more on the features of Apple's iOS 7.1 update, click here.

Here are the excerpts from 9To5Mac on the rumored iOS 8 software update.

Auto-Delete Option:

For the ones who never delete their old messages, here is an update from Apple which might add the ability for "Message threads" to automatically be deleted with their iOS 8 software. The two options for auto-deletion of threads on a user's device are said to be "deletion after a month" or "deletion after a year". Also the auto-deletion feature will be optional.

Uncomplicated Notification Center:

Apple is simplifying the Notification Center. Rather than having three columns in the Notification Center for today's notifications, missed notifications and all notifications, Apple is weighing to reduce the panel to include "Today" and "All Notifications" view.

iTunes Radio as a Standalone Application:

With iOS 7, Apple introduced their new streaming music service: iTunes Radio. Apple is testing iTunes Radio as a "standalone application" with iOS 8, according to 9to5mac. iTunes Radio arrived as a feature within the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Music application.

As a standalone application, users will be able to access iTunes Radio quickly. iTunes Radio will be positioned in the likes of Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio apps. As per reports, iTunes Radio will be pre-installed.

Intelligent Siri, a la Google Now:

Apple is furthering Siri by making it more intelligent and flexible akin to Google Now. This will be of great use to devices whose screens aren't big enough, according to BGR.

The forthcoming Siri can be expected to get integrated with various apps seamlessly. "The improvements to Siri would potentially enable those types of things, enabling third-party integrations that don't require one-to-one business arrangement between Apple and the external company," writes TechCrunch.

Removal of Game Center App:

The Game Center application for iOS and OS X may be removed. Instead of maintaining a Game Center app, the functionality can be found in games that were integrated with the social gaming service.

CarPlay Over Wi-Fi:

Apple iOS 7 version of CarPlay works over the Lightning cable, but Apple is testing versions of iOS 8 that can make CarPlay work over Wi-Fi.

Better Map App:

As per reports, iOS 8 would have an improved map experience. There is no in-depth detail available as to how Apple is going to achieve this target. Apple has not been successful with its Map App compared to that of Google Maps. Apple maps App was bombarded with complaints of bugs and other issues from the time they introduced Apple Maps.

The report also stated that the updated mapping app will also have new features along with vital inputs from the recent acquisitions such as BroadMap, HopStop and Embark. 9To5Mac claimed that the iOS 8 Maps app will be better than the original app and Apple will be aiming to win over Google Map fans.

Performance Improvement:

Apple's iOS 7.1 update's performance (especially the speed) was much appreciated by the critics and the users alike. With iOS 8, Apple is trying to better the speed further. No specific information available at this point of time.

Speculated Release Date:

Apple iOS 8 software can be expected to make a debut this summer at the annual WWDC conference ahead of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone phablet launches, claims BGR.

What do you think should Apple incorporate in their iOS 8 software? Please feel free to leave a comment.