1.
Siri goes proactive
One of the major
overhauls in iOS 9 can be found with Siri. The digital voice
assistant has received a colourful facelift, but it's what's going on
behind the scenes that is more interesting.
The new
interface displays content in a better way, and Siri can now
understand a wider range of requests on top of what was on offer in
iOS 8. We were shown a number of examples during the keynote,
including "show me my photos from Utah last August",
"remind me to grab my coffee off the roof when I get in my car"
and "play the top songs from 1982" via Apple Music.
Siri
has been, until now, a reactive service, but that's changed in iOS 9.
It's now Apple's answer to Google Now, with context sensitive
information based on time, date and location. It can, for example,
intelligently recognize when you get to the gym and plug in your
headphones you'll want your workout mix, and display it on your lock
screen.
2.
Battery performance
In iOS 8, there is
no clear battery saving mode. You're left to your own devices to turn
off data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc to try and conserve power.
That
changes in iOS 9 with the introduction of a "low power mode,"
which Apple claims will provide you with three additional hours of
typical usage.
iOS 9 apparently improves general
performance too, with Apple saying it gives you an extra one hour of
full usage over devices running iOS 8.
3.
Multitasking on iPads
There are a few
iPad-only new features incorporated into iOS 9. First up is the
QuickType Keyboard, which adds handy copy, cut, paste tools to the
suggestion bar, along with access to the camera, attachments and
formatting.
Use two
fingers on the keyboard and it becomes a track pad, allowing you to
easily select the text you want -- something which is a little tricky
in iOS 8.
There's also 'Slide Over', 'Split View' and
'Picture in Picture', which provide a range of multi-tasking options.
The first two see two apps share the screen, the former just for a
brief moment while the latter sees tho apps sit side by side
permanently.
If you're familiar with Samsung's top end
smartphones you'll recognize picture-in-picture, which allows you to
pop out a video into a floating window.
4.
App switching
Apple added contact
shortcuts to the multi-tasking pane in iOS 8, but the large app
previews means it's difficult to see just how many apps you have
running.
This has been improved in iOS 9, with app
previews now appearing as stacked cards, allowing you to flip through
open applications far more easily and quickly, while getting a better
overview on just how many you have open.
5.
Spotlight Search
Apple has launched a
search API for iOS 9, offering a huge improvement to the search
feature. It will allow developers to index and link out their apps,
making it easier to discover their content through the native search
experience on iOS 9. Basically, users will be able to search not only
apps or content from web, but also data within apps. This doesnt come
as a surprise, considering recently Google started showing results
from Android apps that users didn’t have installed on their phones.
6.
Apple Pay
Unsurprisingly Apple
Pay has been given a boost with iOS 9, but a word of warning -- it's
still only supported on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (and Apple
Watch).
Apple Pay on iOS 8 is compatible with a handful of
US bank cards, but that support gets extended with iOS 9 to more
providers including Discover, plus the service rolls out to users in
the UK too.
With iOS 9 you can also add store credit and
debit cards, plus loyalty and reward cards too. These are stored in
"Wallet", the new name for "Passbook" in iOS 9.
7.
Apple Maps gets transit data
Apple is regularly
improving its once-disastrous mapping effort and with each update it
becomes ever more useful, but it's still not quite a match for Google
Maps.
One major
improvement which was actually rumoured for iOS 8 but didn't arrive
was public transport directions, which would add bus, train and
subway routes, making it easier to get around.
Why it was a no show
isn't clear but we're hoping it's a feature that will be picked up
for iOS 9 if not before.
More ambitiously,
we've also heard rumours that Apple is working on an augmented
reality view that uses your camera to highlight points of
interest on your screen. We never expected that to make it into iOS
8, but fingers crossed for iOS 9.
8.
Support for older devices
Usually with a new
iOS release older Apple devices are cast out into the cold with no
update in sight, so it wasn't looking good for the iPad 2 and iPhone
4S.
That's not the case with iOS 9 however, as it will be
coming to all the iPhones, iPads and iPods which received iOS 8.
Therefore, iPhone 4S and above, iPad 2 and above, all iPad mini
models, and iPod touch fifth-generation will get the latest software.
9.
More free space
There's good news
when it comes to downloading and installing iOS 9, as Apple has
reduced its size.
The iOS 8 over-the-air (OTA) update was
a hefty 4.6GB download, which caused many users issues with space on
their devices. Last year, Apple had received a lot of flak from all
quarters for the iOS 8 update taking up too much space for the
install files.
The iOS 9 download is just 1.3GB -- which
should be much more manageable.
10.
Availability
As with iOS 8 last
year, you'll be getting the iOS 9 update this "fall"
(probably September) for free, but for the first time Apple will be
launching a public beta this July -- allowing anyone to sign up and
try the latest software before its official launch.
1) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/slideshow/apples-ios-9-vs-ios-8-ten-new-features/itslideshowviewall/47595112.cms
2)http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/apple-ios-9-seven-major-highlights-of-the-new-mobile-os-at-wwdc-270040.html
