iOS 9, thoroughly reviewed

Apple gives the iPad a lot of love as iOS goes back into spit-and-polish mode.

Read the whole story

 

[stormbeta]

I like the features, but I really, really wish they'd ditch this awful UI design language they introduced in iOS7/8.

iOS is finally at the point now where, feature-wise, I could seriously consider the iPhone a viable alternative to Android. But their UI design just makes my eyes bleed.

The fonts are too thin, and using plain undifferentiated text as interactive elements is UI Design 101 fail, but the real problem is the excessive use of muddy translucent gradients as the backgrounds to everything.

It makes the whole UI look like a pile of mud, and ruins the contrast between elements. Material Design blows it out of the water of course, but even the older iOS style was more usable (if somewhat dated looking).

 

[arthurdent4242]

I lol'd when you said you use nice ads. YOU HAVE FUCKING TABOOLA LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR PAGE. They are the scum of scum.

 

[Xign]

While I understand the need for consistency in battery life tests, I wonder if Ars' web browsing battery life tests are insufficient to test day-to-day use.

iOS 9 added features like using ambient light/proximity sensors to not show notifications when face-down on a desk, and things like that matter for normal use but not for a lab test where you just have a phone face-up, continuously in use for hours, unlike normal use cases where you lock/unlock phones over a day.

Not sure if there's really an easy way to reliable test that without help from Apple though. (Mostly commenting since Apple is claiming up to 1 hour of improvement in battery life, but Ars is reporting almost no different. Some phones (iPhone 4S) did give 30 minute improvement which I guess is pretty good)

 

[revco196]

Why have we got two options to search from the home screen; swipe far left and another to swipe down. It doesn't make sense? Why do we need two? Can I turn off the swipe left search option?

 

[revco196]

Huh. I thought the low power battery seeing would be accessible through a control panel button. Looks like you have to dive into battery settings to activate and deactivate it every time. That's going to be annoying.

 

[ssiu]

bri2000[/url]":30rlnv9m]I can certainly see how slide over and split view will be useful. However I'm a bit disappointed with the selection of compatible apps. There's a lot of padding (Tips, Game Centre, Find Phone, Clock) where quick access via slide over isn't that useful but not Music or Remote which would be, to me at least, for quick song selection while playing Hearthstone or something.

None of the Apple productivity software is compatible, although the MS stuff is, which I find odd. Split view will be great with the larger screen of the Pro assuming Apple sort out Pages etc by then. Not sure if I can justify one just for that though. Will depend on pricing and if there's an Air 3.

I feel the same way. If I just read Apple's advertisement/description of iPad multitasking features (from https://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/ for example), it just talks about "do 2 things / run 2 apps", and I have the naïve impression/assumption that "it just works with any 2 apps". (Speaking about the general public who may not be reading further technical articles about "apps need to be updated to support it".) Since any apps multitask on Windows/Mac, it is easy to assume "Apple finally allows any-2-app-multitasking on iPads".

Currently I see Apple highlights 33 apps in "iOS 9 -- Multitasking" category. Hopefully most apps will quickly add support.

 

[Vastarien]

"You call eight pages thorough?"

- John Siracusa

 

[InlineRanger]

Abhi Beckert[/url]":2cmnfvmw]You should give it more than a few hours though before making up your mind. I started ambivalent and now it's my favourite new feature in iOS 9.

Apple should let users downgrade whenever they want. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Od. There's no lag on my 5S, it's perfectly smooth 60fps animation even with scrolling through (literally) hundreds of apps in the switcher.

Maybe we have a different perception of lag. Now that I'm scrutinizing iOS 8 to see why I favor it, I even notice some occasional stuttering there too. I guess the more linear, even-sized movement of apps across the screen makes it less noticeable for me. I had to do a fresh-install to get back to 8.4.1 too... so maybe I got a phone made on a Friday?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just put 3 fingers on the screen with your left/right fingers roughly close to the edge and swipe up, it dismisses 3 apps at a time. If you flick fast enough, you only have to slide your finger about a fifth of an inch to close the app.

I know how to do it... It's just easier on iOS 8. Stick three fingers side by side anywhere near center of screen and swipe up. The targets are larger.

The problem wasn't the size, the problem was that only the current app (which I already had full screen a moment earlier) has all the text visible, the other two apps had massive amounts of text cut off.

On iOS 9 the *previously used* app takes up most of the screen and only it's right edge (which typically has no text in a left-to-right language) is clipped. I haven't checked, but I bet if you speak a right to left language the switcher works the other way around and so the left edge will be clipped instead of the right edge.

You have that backwards. The previously used app takes up most of the screen. The current app is placed to the left. While it's minor, iOS 9's clipping also doesn't take into account apps and websites that format text into multiple columns (e.g. weather, stocks, non-mobile websites).

It's a trade-off. iOS 9 enlarges the app window, but sacrifices orientation. iOS 8 emphasizes orientation, but has a lot of wasted space. I guess I prefer better orientation, since I'm usually there to switch between apps.

 

[jarek1]

How is their new LZFSE compressor, is storage and/or transmission being compressed?

 

[SraCet]

InlineRanger[/url]":1216wzro] ... I think it's easier to dismiss multiple apps at the same time on iOS 8. Since the windows are overlaid on iOS 9, you need much more accurate finger placement.
...

I can't think of a reason why you might want to dismiss multiple apps.

There are really only two cases where you would need to close an app manually:
1) The app has gotten itself into a bad state and restarting it might fix whatever bug you've run into.
2) The app registers itself as one of the select few classes of apps that are allowed to run in the background, e.g., a turn-by-turn navigation app, or an audio playback app, etc., and you want it to stop doing whatever it's doing (like audio playback) without futzing with its UI.

Otherwise there's no benefit to manually closing an app.

If the app is not running in the background (and 99% of apps don't) then all you accomplish by manually "closing" it is either deleting its memory image or deleting the screenshot of what it looked like when you last switched away from it. So you are really just saving some memory/storage, which you don't really save anyway because the OS would do that for you automatically if memory or storage were to run low.

It drives me a little bit insane to see all the people who think they're accomplishing something by "closing" all the apps in the task switcher because they think the apps are running in the background (they aren't) or they're taking up memory (they don't, practically speaking).

I guess Apple brought this on themselves to some degree with the design of the task switching UI, which gives the impression that all your apps are running and if you just switch to one of them them it will pick up where it left off because it must have been running in the background...

 

[passivesmoking]

The music app is still broken (though slightly less so than it was in 8.4 because they at least brought the shuffle all songs option back).

In iTunes you can set a "skip during shuffle" flag on music tracks you don't want to play when you're shuffling. In the iOS 8.4 Music app the music player stopped respecting that flag and you'd suddenly have tracks turn up in shuffle that you didn't want to listen to (chapters in radio drama or eBooks, little 1 or 2 second microtracks from CDs, etc etc). Stuff that's fine to listen to when you're listening to tracks in order but which make no sense when played out of context.

For the love of Cthulhu please fix this, Apple! It can't be a difficult fix!

 

[bri2000]

SraCet[/url]":xkfpdk36]I'm sad to see Apple cave in re: keyboard letters changing case.

It's distracting and annoying when all the letters on the keyboard change case simultaneously every few seconds.

Apple's continued insistence on their all-caps keyboard was a sign to me that the company still "got it" when it came to making nice UI.

At least this behavior is a user-configurable setting.

Personally I prefer it to change and so do many others given the popularity of Swiftkey etc. It is just personal preference, though, and I try to avoid criticising other people for theirs just because it differs to mine. However, as it's user configurable, I don't see how Apple can be criticised for including both options.

 

[SPCagigas]

jonah[/url]":2a7kq5wm]What does "Hey Siri, it's me" do?

It plays "Winners Take All" by Quiet Riot.

 

[SPCagigas]

simonm_1[/url]":38r5g3m0]

xaqattax[/url]":38r5g3m0]Didn't see the ability to make Google Maps default again, too bad. I prefer the iPhone over Android, but Apple Maps seems to be happy with mediocrity at best.

Apple Maps has come a huge way since its premature and problematic introduction. It's not only safe to dump Google maps now but I think Apple has overtaken it in many areas. Whatever they're doing in the Maps team it seems to be working.

Just the other day I was looking for the name of a tiny laneway and Apple Maps had it but Google didn't.

More public transport is needed but consider that what Apple are doing is way over and above Google including mapping all the entrances and exits to subways and their associated walkways and platform areas. This no doubt takes time but I'm sure it's worth it.

I'll give it a try, but my expectations for Apple Maps remain low. . . I've never even once had Apple Maps give me a better route or more accurate directions than Google Maps in the last year.

 

[TBoneT]

revco196[/url]":2qcm6tlm]Huh. I thought the low power battery seeing would be accessible through a control panel button. Looks like you have to dive into battery settings to activate and deactivate it every time. That's going to be annoying.

Not only that, I had to manually turn it off. My phone was charging and got back over 20% and Low Power Mode remained activated.

 

[MrMickS]

Two things about the update and space:

If you don't have enough space the updater will select some apps to remove and re-install after the update and prompt you about this.

The other is that I see way more space on some of my devices, around 1GB on a 16GB device, after the update compared with before.

 

[TBoneT]

SraCet[/url]":147m0zl1]

InlineRanger[/url]":147m0zl1] ... I think it's easier to dismiss multiple apps at the same time on iOS 8. Since the windows are overlaid on iOS 9, you need much more accurate finger placement.
...

I can't think of a reason why you might want to dismiss multiple apps.

There are really only two cases where you would need to close an app manually:
1) The app has gotten itself into a bad state and restarting it might fix whatever bug you've run into.
2) The app registers itself as one of the select few classes of apps that are allowed to run in the background, e.g., a turn-by-turn navigation app, or an audio playback app, etc., and you want it to stop doing whatever it's doing (like audio playback) without futzing with its UI.

Otherwise there's no benefit to manually closing an app.

If the app is not running in the background (and 99% of apps don't) then all you accomplish by manually "closing" it is either deleting its memory image or deleting the screenshot of what it looked like when you last switched away from it. So you are really just saving some memory/storage, which you don't really save anyway because the OS would do that for you automatically if memory or storage were to run low.

It drives me a little bit insane to see all the people who think they're accomplishing something by "closing" all the apps in the task switcher because they think the apps are running in the background (they aren't) or they're taking up memory (they don't, practically speaking).

I guess Apple brought this on themselves to some degree with the design of the task switching UI, which gives the impression that all your apps are running and if you just switch to one of them them it will pick up where it left off because it must have been running in the background...

Everything you say is true, in theory. I have apps on my phone that really drain the battery and I have to manually close them when I'm done, or else my battery will drain at an accelerated rate throughout the day. For example, if I were to play Breakneck for 20 minutes at the beginning of the day and then do other things, my battery is practically guaranteed to reach 20% by lunchtime. If I manually close it when I'm done, I'll be at 60-70% by lunchtime.

 

[BananaBonanza]

iOS 9 fixes the problem not by changing the Shift key, but by changing the way every other key on the keyboard works. Letters on the new keyboard will change from lower to uppercase depending on whether the Shift key has been pressed. No more ambiguity, and it's basically the same solution that companies like Google and SwiftKey have used.

If, for whatever reason, you prefer the old all-caps-all-the-time version of the iOS keyboard, you can re-enable it in the Accessibility settings under Keyboard. When you do this, the Shift key behaves as it does in iOS 8.

(emphasis mine)

Small correction there: The iOS 9 Shift button is different. In iOS 8 the arrow was filled whether Shift on or off. In iOS 9, the arrow is an outline if off (like it was in iOS 6). To me that is finally the change that made the difference clear.

The keycaps changing actually bothered me in my weeks of using the beta. I think the sudden visual change makes me pause for a fraction of a second as I position my fingers. Every time. I was glad to eventually find I could turn it off.

(Now the real annoyance in shifting behavior on iOS for me was always this: After typing a capitalized word and then deleting that word with backspace, iOS will re-enable Shift automatically. That means I always either capitalize the replacement accidentally, or I want to capitalize and therefore press Shift only to actually disable Shift. And this is even after turning off Auto-Capitalization.)

 

[MilanKraft]

STAY AWAY IF YOU HAVE AN iPHONE 4S + iOS 7.x!!

Attempted two installs and both get stuck on the White Screen of Death ("Swipe to Upgrade"). Factory reset didn't help. Others on the interwebs having the same problem and not just with 4s models apparently. I think though it is only happened to 4x and 5x customers, not 6x as far as I've seen.

Apple did a bang-up job of testing this in a variety of install scenarios on 4s apparently, though.

 

[SPCagigas]

OptimusP83[/url]":17wq5njd]Haven't finished the article yet, but HOW IN GODS NAME has it taken this long for Chronological notification sorting to come to iOS? One of my biggest annoyances (and the reason I rarely use the notification screen) is the fact that they're ordered by app. When you get a new notification but neglect to activate the notification screen properly, you have to dig through tons of useless notifications. Its worse if you didn't quite catch what app the notification was from.

I'm getting annoyed just typing this. Thanks, Obama.

Notifications are all kinds of borked up on iOS still. If I have notifications for 10 email messages, and I open the Mail app and read them all, why doesn't the notification list clear itself up?

 

[SPCagigas]

SraCet[/url]":2uz9qger]I'm sad to see Apple cave in re: keyboard letters changing case.

It's distracting and annoying when all the letters on the keyboard change case simultaneously every few seconds.

Apple's continued insistence on their all-caps keyboard was a sign to me that the company still "got it" when it came to making nice UI.

At least this behavior is a user-configurable setting.

I disagree. Their continued insistence on the all-caps keyboard was a clear case of form over function -- which we've been told over and over is anathema to Jonny Ives.

 

[Colm]

MrMickS[/url]":1z6h6sq7]Two things about the update and space:

If you don't have enough space the updater will select some apps to remove and re-install after the update and prompt you about this.

The other is that I see way more space on some of my devices, around 1GB on a 16GB device, after the update compared with before.

Observationally, I think I picked up some space too because the storage usage section is no longer reporting the health app as using almost an entire gig of space when I have it as disabled as it can be. But I may just be willing myself to notice some new shiny. I do love new shiny.

 

[Ruud Altenburg]

like with Apple Music, I don't see enough improvements that would justify the forced upgrade (to continue synching) to the trainwreck that is iTunes 12.

 

[SPCagigas]

jwbaker[/url]":2ca4zem4]I think you'd have to be taking a very uncritical look at Apple Maps to compare it favorably to Google Maps, even with the improvements Apple have made. Sure they have a few fancy stunts like accurate subway station maps, which only brings them even with Google Maps who have had for years inch-by-inch maps of airports and rail stations. Compare Google with Apple Maps of SFO airport or Zurich Hauptbanhof. No contest.

The new features aren't even really as advertised. They say they have transit information for San Francisco but they don't have any departure times from the main Transbay bus terminal. In fact it doesn't even say that they don't know, it says "There are no upcoming departures."

Spoiler

Added the spoiler tag to your image for brevity's sake.

Aside from the new features that are still pretty limited, I did a couple quick trials with Apple Maps navigation vs. Google Maps navigation this morning. Google still does a better job with traffic awareness and routing than Apple Maps. Apple Maps also defaulted to a route with an (expensive!) ferry crossing, and there's no option to exclude toll roads or ferries. . . At least I can get an (indirect, PITA) link from Siri to Google Maps navigation now -- I don't know if that was available in 8.4.1 or prior, though.

 

[revco196]

TBoneT[/url]":1l2yl0i2]

revco196[/url]":1l2yl0i2]Huh. I thought the low power battery seeing would be accessible through a control panel button. Looks like you have to dive into battery settings to activate and deactivate it every time. That's going to be annoying.

Not only that, I had to manually turn it off. My phone was charging and got back over 20% and Low Power Mode remained activated.

I've since discovered that you can ask Siri to turn battery savings on or off. But I reverted to iOS8 because I hate that the updated app switcher/search page to the left of the home screen. It's a dogs breakfast of mashed up bits and pieces that's too easy to swipe in to. The slightest swipe and you're into it. It should be treated not as a normal page and should require a bit more effort to get to. Maybe a longer swipe. Or even a slight delay. Something like the delay of when you place your cursor near the edge of the screen and the dock pops up on MacOS.

 

[SPCagigas]

Ruud Altenburg[/url]":xhe8i74m]like with Apple Music, I don't see enough improvements that would justify the forced upgrade (to continue synching) to the trainwreck that is iTunes 12.

You know, architecturally, this is one area that Apple really needs to copy from Android: unbundling all the built-in apps from the OS updates. It's ridiculous that launching Apple Music (f'rinstance) required a complete OS update, instead of being able to update (or not...) the Apple Music app all by itself.

 

[SPCagigas]

revco196[/url]":2hrr7wmp]

TBoneT[/url]":2hrr7wmp]

revco196[/url]":2hrr7wmp]Huh. I thought the low power battery seeing would be accessible through a control panel button. Looks like you have to dive into battery settings to activate and deactivate it every time. That's going to be annoying.

Not only that, I had to manually turn it off. My phone was charging and got back over 20% and Low Power Mode remained activated.

I've since discovered that you can ask Siri to turn battery savings on or off. But I reverted to iOS8 because I hate that the updated app switcher/search page to the left of the home screen. It's a dogs breakfast of mashed up bits and pieces that's too easy to swipe in to. The slightest swipe and you're into it. It should be treated not as a normal page and should require a bit more effort to get to. Maybe a longer swipe. Or even a slight delay. Something like the delay of when you place your cursor near the edge of the screen and the dock pops up on MacOS.

Good point. I only updated to iOS9 a couple of hours ago, and the swipe left thing is bugging the crap outta me. I hate the swipe-left-for-google-now thing on the newer Android launchers as well, but at least I can use a third-party launcher on the droids. . . Your idea to make it somehow a little harder/different to access is a good one.

 

[the_frakker]

SraCet[/url]":s84yaxn2]I can't think of a reason why you might want to dismiss multiple apps.

There are many times I want to dismiss ALL apps from the recent list. I want to clear all that up. iOS forces me to do this a few at a time (3 now with iOS9 on 6+). I tend to build up a long list of apps and I'd don't see why I can't have an option for dismissing everything with a single touch (two touches if confirmation).

Turn this around and ask: Why not have the option to dismiss all apps at once?

 

[mrsilver]

the_frakker[/url]":j6oue2ba]

SraCet[/url]":j6oue2ba]I can't think of a reason why you might want to dismiss multiple apps.

There are many times I want to dismiss ALL apps from the recent list. I want to clear all that up. iOS forces me to do this a few at a time (3 now with iOS9 on 6+). I tend to build up a long list of apps and I'd don't see why I can't have an option for dismissing everything with a single touch (two touches if confirmation).

Turn this around and ask: Why not have the option to dismiss all apps at once?

Because dismissing any app (beyond the first one or two) doesn't actually do anything?

http://www.imore.com/tipb-answers-close ... sking-dock

 

[the_frakker]

iMessage turned itself on when I upgraded!

I don't use iMessage and I noticed that the upgrade turned it on without telling me :/ it's off now

 

[the_frakker]

mrsilver[/url]":16us00u8]

the_frakker[/url]":16us00u8]

SraCet[/url]":16us00u8]I can't think of a reason why you might want to dismiss multiple apps.

There are many times I want to dismiss ALL apps from the recent list. I want to clear all that up. iOS forces me to do this a few at a time (3 now with iOS9 on 6+). I tend to build up a long list of apps and I'd don't see why I can't have an option for dismissing everything with a single touch (two touches if confirmation).

Turn this around and ask: Why not have the option to dismiss all apps at once?

Because dismissing any app (beyond the first one or two) doesn't actually do anything?

http://www.imore.com/tipb-answers-close ... sking-dock

At the very least, it clears the list. That's something that's important to me.

 

[MathieuLLF]

fulgu[/url]":rztvv2q4]the tablet that can replace your laptop, now with a fruity flavor

between the iPad with iOS9 and things with a Surface form factor, the choice has never been better!

Except that the iPad Pro runs iOS which isn't a laptop replacement at all.

 

[Me Myself And I1]

On the topic of whether installing ad blocker is ethical or not...

Strangely, it hasn't been much of an issue for desktop browsers and blockers were almost universally championed on this side of the IT industry.

Problem, even with serious sites is that there's TOO many ads, too many click-bait-only content. Ad blockers are nothing else than consumers fighting back.

 

[2136enfield]

I think a lot of us understand why sites need ads. What we object to are ads that take over our screens. Or feedback forms that pop up out of nowhere. Or ads that slow down things. Or ads masquerading as download links etc.

Trying to convince websites to have better ads, ones that don't destroy the experience is near impossible. As such, ad-blockers are becoming the users only means of wresting back the experience.

Yes, it's a sledgehammer approach but if sites don't keep the user in mind they have only themselves to blame.

 

[iMat]

flyingember[/url]":3kd0k0b2]the split screen app selector needs an overhaul already. That needs to be a priority for 9.1, it's that bad.

as more and more apps support it the up and down scrolling will become unmanageable. The UI could fit 8 icons where there's 3 on screen right now.

To make things worse, it's not alphabetical nor is it based on recent usage of the app. It's an entirely random order.

This selector also validates needing to be able to hide apps. I will never use Tips and I can't hide it from the multitasking view in any way.

Moreover it needs to be "circular". Because if you have lots of compatible apps you have to go back and forth on a scrolling list. It would be better if, once You reach the bottom of the list, there is a bar and then the first app reappears. And maybe have some apps marked as favorites that are always on top when you open the sidebar.

 

[The Ginger Rat]

MilanKraft[/url]":22o99awe]STAY AWAY IF YOU HAVE AN iPHONE 4S + iOS 7.x!!

Attempted two installs and both get stuck on the White Screen of Death ("Swipe to Upgrade"). Factory reset didn't help. Others on the interwebs having the same problem and not just with 4s models apparently. I think though it is only happened to 4x and 5x customers, not 6x as far as I've seen.

Apple did a bang-up job of testing this in a variety of install scenarios on 4s apparently, though.

My 5S refused to let me skip 8.4 (.1?). I had to update first before it would load 9.

My iPad went directly from 7 to 9 without problem. I did it mainly for the security benefits but it definitely is laggier.

 

[anjoschu]

martythecrow20[/url]":a1tgbkpv]

profiled[/url]":a1tgbkpv]Seems like the content blocking is at least in some ways a play to push web sites to develop mobile apps, where they still have control over ads, etc.

Take away their ability to have the ads in their actual websites on mobile, but give them the option to develop an app where the ads aren't blocked...

Edit: I mean this as more of a happy side effect, the bandwidth/annoyance improvements make it all the more justified, was simply trying to point out another impact that this could have.

How is this a happy side-effect for anyone but Apple, who would be the new ad proprietor in these apps?

Websites need to address these issues by finding better ways to make money, and which don't ruin the user experience - and not by having to develop a unique app for every type of device that might visit their website.

I agree with martythecrow on the aspect of apps that should have stayed websites. Too many websites are already trying to shove their app down my throat when I visit their site. When you give in to the nagging and install the app, you find out that it doesn't even offer the full functionality of their website. I'm looking at you, LinkedIn.

 

[deckeda]

After the dustup this summer about Home Sharing disappearing I didn't see it mentioned in the "thorough" review.

 

[Beaudotgiles]

One more bit of fragmentation. Ad-blockers require 64-bit, so the iPad 2, 3 & 4 cannot run them.

 

[SraCet]

the_frakker[/url]":2i1k6bv2]

mrsilver[/url]":2i1k6bv2]

the_frakker[/url]":2i1k6bv2]

SraCet[/url]":2i1k6bv2]I can't think of a reason why you might want to dismiss multiple apps.

There are many times I want to dismiss ALL apps from the recent list. I want to clear all that up. iOS forces me to do this a few at a time (3 now with iOS9 on 6+). I tend to build up a long list of apps and I'd don't see why I can't have an option for dismissing everything with a single touch (two touches if confirmation).

Turn this around and ask: Why not have the option to dismiss all apps at once?

Because dismissing any app (beyond the first one or two) doesn't actually do anything?

http://www.imore.com/tipb-answers-close ... sking-dock

At the very least, it clears the list. That's something that's important to me.

What is the possible value of having a clear task switcher list?

I guess if multiple people use your phone/tablet and you don't want the other people to know which apps you've been running then maybe it's a privacy issue?