Apple iOS 9 preview: Hands on with the iPhone and iPad update

If Apple’s 2015 WWDC keynote was notable for one thing, it’s that few – if any – of the upgrades, new features and services were actually new ideas. As the presentation rumbled on, I was shocked at how frequently I found myself nodding knowingly, mumbling “yep, seen that before” under my breath, or thinking, “they’ve copied that from so and so”.

Nowhere is this trend more apparent than in iOS 9, whose every new feature, it seems, is borrowed from some other platform somewhere else – and that feeling hasn’t abated yet, hours after first installing the developer preview on the office iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6.

Slide Over and Split View

Perhaps the biggest developments in iOS 9 – at least for iPad owners – are borrowed from Windows 8 of all places: the Slide Over and Split View modes.

As you may know by now, these two new views add for the very first time a way of displaying two apps on screen instead of one, and the gesture to access the view will be familiar to anyone who’s used a touchscreen Windows 8 or 8.1 device: a simple swipe in from the right edge of the screen with a finger or thumb.

Those of the sinister persuasion will be disappointed that there’s no left-handed mode, but it seems to work pretty well. The first time you pull out the Slide Over panel, you’re presented with a list of enlarged app icons displayed against a rather stark grey background (surely Apple will improve the look before launch), which slides smoothly over the top of the app you’re currently using.

You can swipe up and down to browse the list, and tap to launch an app; what’s displayed next is a compressed view of the selected app, which lies over the top of your current app in a narrow strip.

It’s all pretty straightforward, even elegant: the apps you launch in the Slide Over panel can be used just like any app, making it a snip to, say, refer to and scroll through a web page while you’re writing up some notes or an email. And once you’ve finished, it’s a simple matter of tapping back on your initial app to tuck the panel away; either that, or pull down from the top to switch to another Slide Over app. Simple.

It’s certainly a handy addition, but for iPad Air 2 owners, Apple is taking the feature even further. A fully functional Split View mode will allow you to run two apps side by side, flitting between them at will. In this view, the split becomes adjustable between 50:50 and 70:30 when you’re holding the iPad in landscape view, depending on your needs.

All of which is undoubtedly useful, but these modes are pretty limited in their current form. Right now, non-Apple apps do not appear in the right-hand slide-over panel, and won’t let you go into Split View either. Developers, it seems, will need to build in hooks to the Slide Over and Split View APIs before users will be able to use third-party apps with the system. I also hope Apple will eventually include Settings in the list of apps that can be displayed in the Slide Over panel, because it isn’t available now.

These problems will almost certainly be fixed over time, but there are some inherent issues that may be more tricky to solve. Like how the new views are pushing use of the iPad, which has always been primarily a portrait device, towards a landscape-focused future. In portrait, neither Slide Over nor Split View looks particularly slick: the screen is split 60:40, and right now there’s no way of adjusting it.

It also appears from the announcements Apple made at WWDC that video-based apps may not work in these modes either. Instead, Apple is borrowing Samsung’s Pop up Play feature to enable multitasking for video – launching a picture-in-picture mode for apps such as FaceTime, so users can continue to view video while carrying out other tasks.

As yet, there appears to be no way for apps displayed in Split View to interact with each other, either. It isn’t possible, for instance, to drag and drop images from the Photos app over to an email or a note; it seems plain daft to have to open an extra pop-up if you already have the Photos app open in a side panel.

And neither is there an elegant method for switching the left-hand app in Split View. Currently, the only way to change this is to launch the gaudy new sideways-scrolling 3D recent apps view and select from there, which feels like a major kludge.

A new-found intelligence: Siri and Spotlight search evolve

Taking a leaf out of Google Now’s book, Apple also revealed both a new look and a more “proactive” Siri for iOS 9. In other words, Siri’s a little more colourful now, and will attempt to cleverly offer information before you have to ask for it.

Just like the recently announced Now on Tap feature in Android M, Siri will be able to access information not only in set silos, but across all your apps. It will be aware of not only simple location context, but of what you’re doing through awareness of other factors, from Bluetooth connections to what you’re reading right now. And Siri should also be able to scan your email in an attempt to identify incoming phone numbers that aren’t in your contacts list.

I haven’t yet experienced any of Siri’s newly helpful behaviours. They’ll presumably flower as I use the devices more. But iOS’s proactive features aren’t limited to the voice-driven assistant: they’re spread across search and the operating system as a whole.

The revamped Spotlight search is a case in point here, and the new system appears to be fully working in the developer preview. For starters, it makes a very welcome return to the left of the main homescreen, which is where it used to live before iOS 7 ruined everything.

That’s a bonus, and in iOS 9 there’s a whole lot more going on. Swipe left from the main homepage and, just below the search box, you’ll see “Siri suggestions” appear at the top (a list of frequently used phone numbers and apps), a list of nearby places listed horizontally by category below this, and some news items below listed vertically.

Hopefully this will generate more appropriate suggestions with use, as iOS 9 and Siri (which appears here to be merging with search in a distinctly Google-esque manner) gather more information about what you use, when and where on your mobile devices. Right now the results – aside from the rather generic UK-based news stories – aren’t hugely helpful.

Another thing to look forward to is much deeper, more meaningful Spotlight Search capability. Thanks to new APIs, iOS 9 will allow you to use your iPhone or iPad’s search facility to hunt through the data held by third party apps. Imagine being able to search through your Evernote notes, feedly stories, office email and Slack messages all in one hit. This is one change I’m really looking forward to.

Security and privacy enhancements

Along with iOS 9’s increased access to information, it was interesting to see Apple place a renewed emphasis on privacy and security.

All data gathered by iOS 9 to enable its proactive features will be stored locally, and not in the cloud. There’s also evidence of this approach during setup, where iOS 9 defaults to requesting a six-digit passcode. A longer passcode was an option in iOS 8, but users had to make a conscious decision to implement it.

If you object, you can actively select the four-digit option (or opt for a passphrase instead), but the six-digit code is clearly now Apple’s preferred default, and it’s what most new iPad and iPhone users will end up using.

So far, the extra two digits haven’t bothered me on the occasion that I’ve had to tap them in. While some will inevitably moan, I doubt many will have a problem with it, especially those with Touch ID-enabled devices.

A smaller installation footprint and more lightweight apps

A couple more behind-the-scenes updates are aimed at those using lower-capacity devices with 8GB or 16GB of storage. The first is that when the iOS over-the-air upgrade is issued, it will need much less space to install. iOS 8 required an infuriatingly hefty 4.6GB, which for those on low-capacity iPhones and iPads would often mean clearing out apps and media files; iOS 9 is down to a far more manageable 1.8GB.

Indeed, there are signs that Apple should be able to achieve this. Both of the developer images I downloaded were at around the 2GB mark already.

Apple’s assault on hefty downloads doesn’t end with the OS installer, though. Its new “app-thinning” scheme could also dramatically reduce the amount of space occupied by third-party apps.

Previously, universal apps – those capable of running on iPad, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – would be downloaded in their entirety, including (but not restricted to) assets for each and every type of device, and even 32-bit and 64-bit code. With app slicing, developers will be able to tag the various assets, and the device will download only the bits it needs.

Apple has another method for saving space, too. On-demand resources will enable developers to split their apps into chunks that can be downloaded on demand, or even cleared from the device when no longer needed. For example, a games developer may decide to remove data for levels you’ve already completed.

Whether developers will back the new schemes or not, only time will tell, but Apple suggests it’s possible to reduce an app’s installation files to around 60% of their original size. I imagine that the savings could be even greater for games that are coded with space-saving in mind, since the big titles can occupy gigabytes of storage.

iOS 9 also adds an additional feature to help those with small amounts of storage left. When you try and install an update which requires more space than you have available, your device will offer to uninstall enough applications to make room for the update file. Then, once it has finished updating your iPad or iPhone, it will reinstall those applications, complete with all their data and settings. It’s an extremely helpful system, which will make those of us with 16Gb iPhones very happy.

Power saving

Among the most welcome improvements in iOS 9 are a handful of new power-efficiency measures. First up, in what seems to be another homage to Android, iPhone and iPad users will be able to kick their devices into a new Low Power mode, which disables various features and reduces performance in order to extend battery life.

To quote the wording used in the Settings entry itself: “Low Power mode reduces performance and networking activity to extend battery life. When this is on, Mail Fetch, Background App Refresh, motion effects and animated wallpapers are disabled.”

The new mode kicks in once your device hits 15% capacity, but it can also be enabled or disabled at any time by visiting the new Battery section in Settings and hitting the toggle switch. You’ll see here also that Apple has expanded on the details given under the Battery Usage section, with more detailed information supplied on what exactly each app has been doing.

Under the Outlook entry in the screenshot below, for example, I can see that I’ve spent 11 minutes reading email, while the app has spent three minutes in the background downloading messages.

That’s not all, though. Apple devices with iOS 9 installed will employ a device’s proximity and light sensors to detect whether the device is facing down and prevent the screen turning on when notifications arrive.

Apple claims these new techniques will ultimately save iPhone users an hour of battery life on average, with the Low Power mode extending use by a further three hours. 

New apps and app upgrades

If more battery life wasn’t enough on top of all the other improvements, iOS 9 also boasts a number of enhancements to core apps, plus a couple of completely new additions: News and Music.

News is a Flipboard-style magazine app designed to aggregate new stories from multiple sources, and Music is Apple’s all-new streaming service, built as a rival to services such as Rdio and Spotify. You can read more about Apple’s forthcoming streaming service here.

Neither of these new services have touched down just yet – presumably Apple needs more time to get all the content providers onboard – but I have had the opportunity to briefly play with the new Maps and Notes features included in iOS 9.

Maps and Transit

First on the list is the addition of public transport planning and live arrival and departure information to Apple’s much-maligned Maps application, as well as in-station navigation, entry and exit details, plus lines and routes plotted on the map itself.

It’s a timely addition, with Google also recently adding live arrival and departure information to its transit instructions.

Is it time for Citymapper fans and Google Maps users to jump ship? Maybe in future, but right now Apple’s transit instructions seem just as flawed as its Maps app was when it was first introduced.

A simple request for a route from my house in north-east London resulted in a recommendation to catch a bus that runs every 20 minutes to the Tube station, which is a mere nine-minute walk away. Hopefully, though, the company will use the usage data it’s able to gather during the developer and beta release phases to improve this feature.

Notes

iOS’s long-neglected Notes app is also getting a boost, with a decent selection of new sketching tools, even including a ruler tool that helps you draw straight lines.

Building to-do lists is now a doddle, with the ability to insert checklists into notes. It’s also possible to embed a map, add URLs more easily, and take photos from within the Notes app.

Possibly the most powerful new feature of the new Notes app is the ability to add attachments from other apps, via iOS’s Share infrastructure, into new or existing apps. And, as with OS X El Capitan, you can use the Attachment Browser to see all of the URLs, Maps, images, and so on that you’ve gathered together into Notes.

New font, keyboard tweaks and other small changes

Finally, there’s a host of other small changes scattered throughout the OS, of which I’ve picked out a few highlights below.

Improved keyboard

iOS 9’s keyboard finally has letters that change case dynamically when you press the Shift key. There are also a few new shortcuts that appear along the top edge of the keyboard.

Keyboard gestures

That isn’t the only improvement Apple has made to the keyboard, however. It’s also added an incredibly useful cursor control and text selection gesture, too. Simply drag two fingers anywhere on the keyboard and the letters fade from view, allowing you to use the area like a giant touchpad to scrub the cursor back and forth accurately through blocks of text.

It’s a huge improvement on the old method of tapping, holding and waiting for the magnifiying glass to pop up, and addresses a long-standing complaint I’ve had with the iPad’s keyboard – that you had to take your fingers away from it in order to select text and move the cursor around.

A similar method is used to select blocks of text. Instead of double-tapping a word, then dragging the rather fiddly handles around to select, you can now hold your two fingers down on the keyboar, wait until the selection handles appear, and then drag your fingers around on the keyboard to select. Again, it’s a massive improvement.

Quick-select photos

In the Photos app, it’s now possible to simply and quickly select multiple photographs without having to tap each one individually. In Select mode, all you need to do is hold and drag.

New font

Look really, really hard and you’ll see that Apple has introduced a new font – San Francisco – in the new OS. The differences are subtle, but in some places, the result is a touch more white space. This font will also be used in OS X El Capitan, and it looks pretty good on retina screens – a little lighter and more “friendly” than Helvetiva Neue. 

Applications also get “Back to” links: If you launch into an app from a notification or Spotlight search results, you’ll get a handy “Back to” link in the top-left-hand corner that gets you quickly back to where you were before.

Search in Settings

At last, it’s possible to search the Settings menu by keyword, so no more head-scratching while you try to work out where to find a certain option. Now all Apple needs to do is plumb this into Spotlight search so that Settings items appear alongside your main results. If BlackBerry can do it, why not Apple?

Custom lock switch settings

In iOS 9 on the iPhone it’s now possible to switch the function of the lock switch to rotation lock instead of mute.

Organisation options in Notifications settings

The Notifications section of iOS 9’s Settings menu now allows you to sort by different criteria and group entries, making it easier to browse through them. Items can be sorted manually, by most recently installed apps and grouped by app.

Preliminary verdict

Apple’s new iOS 9 encompasses so many changes and upgrades that it’s impossible to be downbeat about it. Indeed, with so many improvements to existing tools, UI tweaks and apps, it’s one of the most positive and significant updates to iOS in recent times. Even owners of existing iDevices have had attention lavished upon them, with Apple finally recognising the need to improve both power and storage efficiency in the new operating system. For that alone, Apple should be applauded.

As with any beta, there’s plenty of work to do, not least to improve the quality of the new Transit functions and the way Split View and Slide Over work on the iPad. So far, though, so good. Although most of iOS’s “new” features have been borrowed from somewhere else, that’s no bad thing if it improves the flexibility and usability of the OS as a whole.