Hands-On With Apple's New Tips App in iOS 8 Beta 4 [iOS Blog]

iOS 8 beta 4, released earlier today, included a new app called Tips, which is designed to offer iOS 8 users information about all of the new features in the operating system.

Tips was first hinted at during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, shown briefly on a display that rounded up dozens of unmentioned iOS 8 features, but it was missing from the iOS 8 betas until today.

It was unclear what would be included in the Tips app, but it turns out Tips is a simple tutorial-style app that gives users a look at some of the various features in iOS 8, using text, images, and brief animations.

As detailed in the above video, the Tips app has the following sections: Quickly respond to a notification, Notify me when there's a reply (in Mail), Hey Siri (on hands-free Siri operation), Send a spoken message (in Messages), Quickly manage your mail (using gestures), and Be in the shot (camera timer mode).

Tips has a simple interface that opens directly into the first tip, using swipe gestures to navigate through available content. There's a menu button on the bottom of the screen that gives a list of all the available tips, and each tip can be shared via Message, Mail, Facebook, or Twitter using the app's share sheet. There's also a "Like" feature, which most likely gives Apple information on which tips are most popular.

While there are only six different tips available in the app right now, an ending page suggests that users "Check back for new tips every week," indicating the app will be updated on a weekly basis. There's also a link to Apple's iOS 8 website, and the app will send notifications to users when new tips are available.

Tips probably won't be a feature that's useful for seasoned iOS users, but for users who aren't familiar with the ins and outs of the operating system, the app will provide valuable information on accessing new features. The Tips app is a default iOS 8 app and cannot be uninstalled.

Tips is only available to registered developers who have iOS 8 beta 4 installed on their devices, but it will become available to all users this fall, when iOS 8 is released to the public.