At the Worldwide Developers Conference last night, Apple announced a slew of features that will be coming to iPhones and iPads later this year.
Siri Proactive
One of the major overhauls in iOS 9 can be found with Siri. The digital voice assistant has received a colorful face-lift, but it's what's going on behind the scenes that is more interesting.
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.
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.
Spotlight Search
Apple's Spotlight Search on iPhone and iPad also benefits from the new and improved Siri, with app suggestions, keys contacts and other location and time specific info displayed on the main search page when you swipe left from your home screen.You'll also spot videos in your search results, something which isn't available on iOS 8, which you can play without leaving the search screen.
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.
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
