Craig Federighi, Apple's senior VP of software engineering, has announced that the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 8.1, will land on October 20, bringing with it a whole raft of new features.

The new release, switches on Apple Pay payments system for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, allowing them to make payments at brick-and-mortar stores by holding their phone near an Apple Pay-enabled card reader.

Owners of older models won't be able to use Apple Pay, even with the software update.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook also said deals have been made with hundreds of additional credit card issuers since the service was first unveiled last month. Cook also said additional merchants plan to accept Apple Pay by the end of the year.

Additionally, it brings back the Camera Roll feature – a feature that was removed in iOS 8 – but also makes available the beta of iCloud Photo Library. The update also brings with it Continuity compatibility, which means users will be able to make and receive texts and phone calls from their Yosemite-enable Macs. Then there's Handoff, which allows users to start working on a document on one device, and move to another iOS 8.1 or Yosemite-enabled device.

iOS 8 rollout has been far from smooth thus far. The initial release was so big that some users found it difficult to free up enough space on their devices to carry out the upgrade. Then iOS 8.0.1 had a bug that knocked out cellular and Touch ID for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners.

iOS 8.1 is compatible with iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPod Touch 5th generation, iPad 2, iPad with Retina Display, iPad Air, iPad Mini, and iPad Mini with Retina Display.

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