U.S. Apple fans, rejoice: The Apple iOS 8.1 update is live for download as well as its new Apple Pay service, reports The Verge. iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2 users can now pay for merchandise by a finger swipe with Touch ID and a compatible app like Uber, Groupon and Airbnb. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users can also tap card readers at participating merchants to pay for items using Touch ID and NFC. Apple Pay allows you to setup and store debit and credit cards by integrating them into the existing Passbook feature on iOS 8.1.

More than 220,000 U.S. stores will accept Apple Pay. According to The Associated Press, Apple has worked with the following retailers to ensure most of their stores were ready to accept Apple Pay at launch:

  •  Aeropostale
  •  American Eagle Outfitters
  •  Babies R Us
  •  BJ's Wholesale Club
  •  Bloomingdale's
  •  Champs Sports
  •  Chevron
  •  Texaco
  •  ExtraMile
  •  Disney Store
  •  Duane Reade
  •  Footaction
  •  Foot Locker
  •  House of Hoops by Foot Locker
  •  Kids Foot Locker
  •  Lady Foot Locker
  •  Macy's
  •  McDonald's
  •  Nike
  •  Office Depot
  •  Panera Bread
  •  Petco
  •  RadioShack
  •  RUN by Foot Locker
  •  SIX:02
  •  Sports Authority
  •  Subway
  •  Toys R Us
  •  Unleashed by Petco
  •  Walgreens
  •  Wegmans
  •  Whole Foods Market

Apple iOS 8.1 also supports the new Continuity features which allow Macs to integrate better with iPhones and iPads. iOS 8.1 and OS X Yosemite now supports SMS from any device so that Mac or iPad owners can text friends without using their iPhones.

If Wi-Fi isn't in range, no worries. Apple iOS 8.1 has a new feature that allows iPads or Macs connection to an iPhone personal hotspot automatically.

There are photo improvements. The iOS 8 photo view has been replaced with the more user-friendly Camera Roll. iCloud Photo Library in iOS 8.1 now gives iPhone and iPad owners the ability to store all their images in the cloud with a condensed version available on devices, which ought to help resolve storage problems and avoid issues with sizable iOS updates.

Bug fixes and improvements should alleviate the crashing apps and disabled cell service users experienced with iOS 8 and Apple's botched iOS 8.0.1 update.

Apple Pay is expected to be available in other countries next year.