iOS fans have had a veritable smorgasbord of leaks this week that could offer insight into what Cupertino is planning for iOS 8, and there's still more to come.
9to5Mac is wrapping up a busy week of iOS 8 reports by detailing a number of other areas Apple appears interested in tweaking.
According to an unnamed source, a more streamlined Notification Center is in the cards. It would remove the third and seldom-used "Missed" tab and instead rely on the far more useful "Today" and "All" views to make information presented there easier to access.
The built-in Messages and Voice Memos apps are also said to get modest overhauls, with the former adding an option for automatically deleting message threads after a certain period of time. A more refined button arrangement is tipped for the latter.
RIP Game Center?
Moving on to potentially larger changes with iOS 8, Apple is said to be considering the removal of its Game Center app. It would instead push its somewhat limited functionality into apps that tap into the social gaming service.
Although no drivers are actually using CarPlay now that iOS 7.1 is available, Apple also appears to be working on cutting the Lightning cord requirement, allowing compatible vehicles to work wirelessly over a presumably ad-hoc Wi-Fi network instead.
Last but not least, a new developer API is rumored to be in testing that provides an "XPC" service, which apps can use for better data sharing and communication between one another.
Earlier rumors this week revolved around changes to Apple Maps, the potential for iTunes Radio to become its own app and the possibility of new Preview and TextEdit apps, but keep in mind this is all just speculation until we have official confirmation.
- iOS 8 is out! Here's our updated review
