iOS 9 Announced at WWDC 2015: Some Interesting Features

Apple has recently introduced at the iOS 9 at the WWDC 2015 on June 8 2015. Alongside, there was a lot of noise made about the release of Apple music, which is music streaming service. Also introduced were the OS X El Captain and Watch OS2. However, now that iOS 9 is here, it brings in a lot of changes and many features that standout. Let us examine some of the stronger features of iOS 9 one by one.

Battery Life

The update regarding better battery life was long overdue, and it is expected that this feature will be appreciated most of all. With a better battery life, you can expect iOS 9 to run smoothly. Additionally there is a new power saver mode, which can add three hours to battery life, and phones such as the iPhone 6 will get additional screen time of about an hour.

Shrinking Update Sizes

The iOS 9 updates are shrinking in size. The iOS 9 requires 1.3 GB of space to download as well as install. This is about 3.5 times smaller than iOS 8. This is indeed great news for people who have older devices and want to install ios9 on their devices.

Multi-tasking

Although this feature was only demonstrated on the iPad, the ability to run multiple apps at the same time is going to be a reality on iPad Air 2 to see all the functionality, as well as probably on some of the iphone 6 ‘plus’ models. Hence, for the iPad, iOS 9 gives it true multitasking ability, as users can split screen apps on the iPad.

This is similar to the features that some Android tablets as well as Windows have. Additionally, a track-pad is introduced into the on-screen keyboard for fine cursor control while adding quick app switching that users are familiar with when using physical keyboards with the OS X.

Faster Siri

With Siri, this existing feature has been enhanced. According to Apple, Siri is now 40 percent faster compared to last year, and currently handles over a billion requests per week. With iOS 9, Siri takes contextual awareness to a higher level and makes the user’s iOS 9 experience a bit easier by learning their habits. For example if a user is habituated to listening to music while at the jogging tracks in the morning or evening, Siri has the ability to detect this and automatically open the music app for them he or she plugs in the app around that particular time of the day.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is first coming to UK, and many banks are supporting this new feature for iOS 9. It is expected to work on almost 70% of all UK credit as well as debit cards. Additionally, it can be used at many department stores and mall as well.

Other Additions

Other sops include the addition of Apple Maps with much needed information that travelers will require for transit. This information is available for 10 cities around the world. There is step by step info for communing by and using public transport. Also available are a new iOS app that will replace as apple’s newsstand app. However, the initial rollout is limited to three countries: US, UK, as well as Australia.

Conclusion

Apple’s iOS 9 has definitely some improved features, but it seems that the existing features are enhanced rather than new features being introduced. Nevertheless, it will give its competitors such as Android M a strong run for their money! Let’s wait and see who wins the OS supremacy!