Apple just announced iOS 9, the next iteration of the operating system that drives and powers Apple’s mobile devices, like the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Although iOS 9 focuses mainly on making its current features more powerful and improving the stability and performance of iOS as a whole on all devices, Apple has brought some significant changes via iOS 9 that are worth noting.
As we’re sure you want a simplified digest of the features (TL;DR), we’ve composed a list of all of the greatest new features you can expect from iOS 9 that Apple has publicized:
New Features in iOS 9:
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A new News application that can be tailored to your personal news/blog interests
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An improved Notes application that accepts text formatting, images, smart links, sketches, checklists, and other interactive content
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An improved Maps application that gives you transit directions, walking distances, and the ability to see what’s nearby with Yelp-like discovery
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A new Wallet application that stores your Apple Pay credit cards/debit cards, store loyalty cards, boarding passes, coupons, and more
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CarPlay now works wirelessly with your car to provide music, notifications, and much more
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Siri just became smarter with an Apple Watch-style interface and the ability to search for things on your iPhone more effectively, perform more personalized actions, and more intelligent responses and features
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An all-new start screen next to your Home Screen with shortcuts to your favorite contacts, applications, SpotLight, Siri, news, and what’s nearby
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Plugging in headphones or speakers now instantly displays music controls on your Lock Screen
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Caller ID improvements now suggest who may be calling you when you get that random number on your Lock Screen
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An all-new low power mode is now available to save your device’s battery when it’s getting low
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Developers now have access to even more APIs to make third-party applications even better on iOS 9 devices all across the board
New Features in iOS 9 Designed Specifically for iPad
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All-new multitasking experience with redesigned App Switcher, side-by-side applications, and slide-over quick reply
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New video experience allowing you to have picture-in-picture multitasking so you can watch a video while you write an essay or surf the Web
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An improved QuickType keyboard with text-editing tools, like cut, copy, paste, and text-formatting tools like bold, italics, underline, and attachments
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An improved text editing experience with two-finger swipe gestures that let you position the cursor where you want it
Improvements to iOS That Aren’t Really New ‘Features’
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iOS 9 can make your iOS device last up to one whole hour longer than with iOS 8 or earlier installed on it
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iOS 9 OTA (over the air) updates have been made much smaller to improve storage space problems on earlier versions of iOS (iOS 9 is only 1.3GB OTA, while iOS 8 was 4.58GB)
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iOS 9 has been given improved animation fluidity, responsiveness, and performance due to fine-tuning performance with the CPU and GPU, especially with Metal
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iOS 9 gains improved security with six digit passcodes and two-factor authentication
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Apple now provides an app to easily migrate your data from Android devices to iOS devices for those making the switch
iOS 9 is currently in its first developer beta, but it will be available to the general public starting this Fall. iOS 9 works on all devices that can run iOS 8, so Apple hasn’t dropped support for any devices with this release. Compatible devices include:
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iPhone 4s
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iPhone 5
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iPhone 5c
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iPhone 5s
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iPhone 6
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iPhone 6 Plus
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iPod touch 5th generation
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iPad mini
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iPad mini 2
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iPad mini 3
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iPad 2
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iPad 3rd generation
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iPad 4th generation
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iPad Air
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iPad Air 2
