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iOS 9 was unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). This article covers new features in iOS 9.
Apple seemed to cram as many features as possible into iOS 8. It has gone down as one of the most defective versions of iOS in recent history. To put it in perspective, however, many recent iPhone converts have commented on how stable and responsive iOS 8 is. No company makes perfect products, and quality is relative.
Compared to other options iOS 8 is stable and robust. Long time Apple customers have grown weary, however. We are used to near-perfect products, and iOS 8 still has some glaring flaws. It seems that every update is two steps forward and one step back. Many users are still plagued with diminished battery life and unstable WiFi. I don’t experience these issues on my iPad 2 or iPhone 6, both running iOS 8.4. I experience a few app crashes where the app (usually Safari) closes unexpectedly.
Apple has finally taken accountability for the relative lack of quality in iOS 8. The release was the biggest update to iOS ever. They simply put in too many features and monumental changes, providing customization features such as Extensions. Apple promises that iOS 9 will have fewer new features and focus on performance and stability. From what they presented at the WWDC, this seems to be the case. Let’s take a look at iOS 9 features and the devices that will support Apple’s new mobile operating system.
Foundation Improvements in iOS 9
iOS users only see the top layer of the operating system — the shell. Beneath the shell, the foundation of the operating system provides the core logic and functionality. iOS 9 improves the operating system’s foundation with enhancements to extend battery life, improve performance, enhance privacy and add intelligence. iOS 9’s core operating system is much smarter, particularly with improvements to Siri and Spotlight.
Siri is More Capable in iOS 9
Siri has come a long way from its humble origins, when it was almost just a curiosity. Apple’s digital personal assistant is much smarter and more capable in iOS 9. Improvements in speech recognition, with 40% fewer errors, make it much easier to interact with the service. Siri also responds to questions 40% faster.
Apple will provide deeper integration of Siri in iOS 9. Siri can now operate many new capabilities, such as searching for photos, adding Reminders, and being aware of context.
For example, if you are viewing a web page in Safari, you can ask Siri to remind your about “this”, and it will remind you to look at the web page. This also works with apps.
Siri is more proactive with iOS 9. Apple’s personal digital assistant can learn from what you do and predict what you will need. For example, if you listen to music in the morning, Siri can learn this and present music when you plug in your headphones. The learning is context sensitive to time, place, and connected devices. Siri can also automatically place received invitations on Calendar.
Once relegated to its own screen, Siri is now presented and operates in other user interfaces. For example, if you get an incoming call from someone who is not in Contacts, Siri will attempt to identify the caller based on email content.
Spotlight also features Siri suggestions. Siri can now present apps in Spotlight based on downloaded apps that you haven’t tried or apps that you use at a certain time of day. It can even present apps on the lock screen, based on usage patterns. (continue…)