Apple will soon be launching its revised operating system for iPhones and iPads – iOS9. Due in the Autumn, iOS9 will come with a good variety of exciting new features as well as improved existing ones. Here’s the lowdown on what we can expect to see.
Apple Pay
Apple Pay will be available in the UK next month. The eagerly awaited contactless payment service can be used to pay for goods and services on the high street as well as for in-app purchases with some retailers. With the old Passbook app set to become the new Wallet app with iOS9, as well as storing your credit and debit cards for use with Apple Pay, you can also store your store loyalty and reward cards so you never miss out on collecting your points or getting a discount again.
You can find out more about Apple Pay here.
Passbook Out, Wallet In
As we mentioned above, Wallet will replace the Passbook app for iOS9. In addition to holding your bank card details and store card information for Apple Pay, it’s also the place to keep track of your flight boarding passes and concert tickets.
Siri
Did you know Siri handles a phenomenal 1 billion requests every week? So Siri is having a bit of a make-over for iOS 9 with accuracy and speed increased by 40%. Siri has also been designed to be more intuitive and will get to know the things you do regularly such as if you listen to music when you go running, she will automatically launch the music app or open up an audio book. Another handy new feature will be Siri’s ability to put meetings and events into a calendar, the information will be picked up from meeting requests on emails and messages. If you struggle to find specific photos then Siri can search for you by using dates or location.
Caller ID
If you’re getting cold called or are trying to avoid time wasters then the new Caller ID on iOS 9 will do its best to identify unknown callers by searching through emails and messages on your iPhone to try and locate the number.
A Better Notes App
The Notes app has been redesigned to make it more customisable and user friendly. You can now design your own checklists with tickable boxes, decide what headings to have and put your own doodles on your notes. There’s also a search function so you can pull up stored notes by looking for a date, specific attachment or by thumbnail.
Improved Battery Life
New battery optimising technology with iOS 9 promises to provide around an extra hour’s worth of battery life out of your iPhone. If you need more then check out the low battery mode which will squeeze an extra 3 hours of use out of your smartphone in between charges. As well as more battery time, Apple have improved the software update process so they will now take up less space on your phone when downloaded.
News
A brand new News app will be coming with iOS 9. News content will be pulled in from the NY Times alongside magazine features from titles such as GQ and Vogue. Personalise your news content by picking the topics that interest you and bookmark articles to read later.
So what do you think? Will you be rushing to download iOS 9 as soon as it’s available?
