Apple Releases iOS 8.1 With Apple Pay, iCloud Photo Library, Camera Roll, More

Apple released iOS 8.1 Monday afternoon. The update includes the launch of Apple Pay for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in the U.S., the return of the Camera Roll in Photos, the launch of iCloud Photo Library "as a beta service," the ability for Messages users to send SMS and MMS text messages from their Macs and iPads, and several bug fixes.

Other notable features include Wi-Fi improvements, a bug fix for screen rotation issues, and AirDrop support for Passbook passes.

We're seeing intermittent outages of Apple's iPhone Software Update server from iTunes, but our iPhone tests in TMO Towers saw the update quickly.

This release includes new features, improvements and bug fixes, including:

  • Apple Pay support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus (U.S. only)
  • Photos includes new features, improvements and fixes
    • Adds iCloud Photo Library as a beta service
    • Adds Camera Roll album in Photos app and My Photo Stream album when iCloud Photo Library is not enabled
    • Provides alerts when running low on space before capturing Time Lapse videos
  • Messages includes new features, improvements and fixes
    • Adds the ability for iPhone users to send and receive SMS and MMS text messages from their iPad and Mac
    • Resolves an issue where search would sometimes not display results
    • Fixes a bug that caused read messages to not be marked as read
    • Fixes issues with group messaging
  • Resolves issues with Wi-Fi performance that could occur when connected to some base stations
  • Fixes an issue that could prevent connections to Bluetooth hands-free devices
  • Fixes bugs that could cause screen rotation to stop working
  • Adds an option to select between 2G, 3G or LTE networks for cellular data
  • Fixes an issue in Safari where videos would sometimes not play
  • Adds AirDrop support for Passbook passes
  • Adds an option to enable Dictation in Settings for Keyboards, separate from Siri
  • Enables HealthKit apps to access data in the background
  • Accessibility improvements and fixes
    • Fixes an issue that prevented Guided Access from working properly
    • Fixes a bug where VoiceOver would not work with 3rd party keyboards
    • Improves stability and audio quality when using MFi Hearing Aids with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
    • Fixes an issue with VoiceOver where tone dialing would get stuck on a tone until dialing another number
    • Improves reliability when using handwriting, Bluetooth keyboards and Braille displays with VoiceOver
  • Fixes an issue that was preventing the use of OS X Caching Server for iOS updates

We'll update this article with additional information as it becomes available. TMO staff is intrepidly installing the update—please feel free to post your notes on updating in the comments.