People love gadgets. If you are like me having a new gadget means having a new toy you can customise and tweak the way we like. I am gonna share all tweaking that I have done to all my gadgets.
Based on Apple’s previous software update schedule, iOS 9 should be announced next month followed by a public release in September. Now it is being reported that iOS 9 will have improved support for devices that are more than three years old, including the iPhone 4S and iPad mini.
Sources with 9to5 Mac are reporting that iOS 9 will not be a major release because engineers are holding back on new features in favor of “under-the-hood” quality and stability improvements. “I wouldn’t say there’s nothing new for consumers, but the feature lists are more stripped down than the initial plans called for,” said one of 9to5Mac’s sources.
Every new version of iOS tends to support Apple devices that are a few generations before the current shipping model. However, the oldest supported devices tend to have major lags and stability issues. For example, the iPhone 4 becomes very slow after upgrading from iOS 6 to iOS 7. And the screen size and processor used in the iPhone 4S does not play nice with iOS 8. Optimizing iOS 9 for older devices would be especially beneficial for Apple customers in emerging markets where the upgrade cycles have wider gaps.
Apple developers would also have to adapt to iOS 9 supporting the iPhone 4S. For example, the iPhone 4S display has a 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen touch display and 512MB RAM so developers will have to ensure their apps look good on smaller screens and have efficient memory management. Apple switched to display sizes of 4 inches and above when the iPhone 5 was released.
Apple devices running on iOS 8 / Credit: Apple
What else is expected to change in iOS 9? There are rumors that Apple will change the default font, add a Home application for HomeKit devices, set up split-screen views for the iPad and upgrade Apple Maps with transit directions. When Apple launched iOS 7, the default font was set to Helvetica Neue — which is expected to be changed to the San Francisco font in iOS 9. The first batch of Apple-certified smart home devices will launch next month under the HomeKit program, according to a report by FORBES Aaron Tilley. A new app called Home may be added to iOS 9 as a control center for managing the HomeKit devices such as smart light bulbs, coffee pots and smoke alarms. 9to5Mac’s sources also said that Apple is building 12-inch iPads (code-named J98 and J99), which would support multi-user logins and split-screen applications after iOS 9 is released. And Apple Maps for iOS 9 is expected to have transit directions for subways, trains and buses.
Another iOS 9 feature that may be released is called “Rootless.” Rootless is a kernel-level feature for OS X and iOS that could prevent malware from spreading and increase extension safety. Rootless would be able to prevent administrative level users from accessing protected files on Apple devices. “Sources say that Rootless will be a heavy blow to the jailbreak community on iOS,” added 9to5Mac.
Apple announces upcoming versions of iOS during keynotes at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) every year. This year WWDC is taking place on June 8th. I am looking forward to hearing about the new features that will ship with iOS 9 when it arrives this in September.
The iPad hasn't been able to match the extraordinary growth curve of the iPhone, with the tablet's growth hitting a plateau recently. Some people have attributed this to the durability of iPads, and this makes sense when you consider that even the iPad 2 - launched four years ago - will get the upcoming iOS 9 update, and remains usable for many. While new versions of the iPhone have usually meant a significant leap forward, successive iPad versions have not been as compelling, unless you're a gamer. This might finally be changing, with iOS 9.
Apple's iOS 9 operating system was billed as one that introduced a host of minor upgrades and bug fixes, unlike the previous two versions that featured big changes. In contrast, iOS 7 featured a major redesign, and iOS 8 introduced vital features such as extensions, which made iOS a lot more powerful. But amongst a host of minor upgrades, iOS 9 has introduced true multitasking, which will change the way people use the iPad. This could prompt many people to buy iPads again, as some features will only work on the latest iPad Air 2.
What are these new features?
The primary change is of course the introduction of true multitasking. Until now you could only use one app at a time on the iPad, in many ways, limiting its usability to that of a phone. Multitasking lets you use more than one app at a time. Want to watch a video while making notes, or checking your Twitter feed? Until now, there was no way to do that on the iPad.
With iOS 9, Apple has introduced three main features - Split View, SlideOver and Picture in Picture. Split View is exclusive to the iPad Air 2 and it lets you use two apps side by side. If productivity is essential to how you use the iPad, then this is the feature you've been looking for all along.
SlideOver lets you swipe inward from the edge of the screen to open another app. This app is pinned to the side of the screen and is useful when you want to jot down notes or tweet without leaving the app you're using. Once you're done, you can just swipe towards the edge of the screen to return to the app you were using.
Picture in Picture keeps videos or FaceTime video calls in a small box on the screen even after you hit the home button. This is a big feature because it lets you use other apps while watching a video. As tech journalists, we're smiling at how we can finally use the iPad to write a live blog, and the feature will be useful for a number of different scenarios for all users - like catching up on email or Twitter while watching sports.
These may sound like ordinary features to PC and Mac users but these are big changes for the humble iPad.
No longer just an enlarged iPhone
Until now, the iPhone could do everything that an iPad could. This made the iPad feel redundant. While the iPad's large screen and portability make it a great device to read books, play games or watch films, the lack of multitasking did limit it as a productivity device.
This doesn't mean that Apple hadn't been thinking about these features until now. It's a lot more likely that the iPads didn't have the processing power to implement these features without impacting performance and the overall experience. Older iPads - which ran on chips that were dual-core or worse - now take a long time to open apps or switch between them. The iPad Air 2 is a lot more powerful. With a tri-core A8x chip and 2GB RAM, it is the most powerful iOS device - up to 55 percent faster than the iPhone 6.
This allowed Apple to introduce relatively resource intensive features such as running two apps side-by-side. The company had been dropping hints about this for some time. Last year at WWDC, Apple announced adaptive user interfaces for apps, which hinted at a future where one app could be scaled to multiple resolutions to adapt easily for Apple devices of varying sizes. Apple's Senior Vice President for Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller spoke about this in an interview with Daring Fireball founder John Gruber.
Schiller said, "Remember, when we launched iPad, the very first iPad, a lot of work went into rewriting all of the applications in the system to take advantage of that big beautiful screen, and a lot of thought went into that. And then, we put that out in the world, and saw how people use it, and then we went back to it, and said: 'Well, what are the next things we need to do [that are] unique for iPad, to make it a more productive, more useful product in the things you do.' And one of the things was to help you use multiple applications in new ways."
The plan was always to make it easy for apps to be pinned to one side of the screen in a multitasking environment as well. Schiller said, "And it actually took a couple years of development to get to this... It took a while to, for example, put out last year the size classes and auto-layout in iOS so that people can develop ostensibly for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but we knew that by doing that work, we were laying the groundwork to make this happen with El Capitan as well. So some of these things take multiple years to put everything in place; to do it the right way. Because you can rush it out and do it the wrong way, and then we don't all like when we are."
But even the iPad Air 2 may not be powerful enough to let you run two games or play two high-definition videos at once. Its battery may drain rather quickly if two heavy apps are running at the same time. But these are problems developers will address. They can opt out of multitasking if they feel it doesn't help their app. Apple's documentation advises developers against implementing multitasking for resource intensive apps or for games that require the iOS device's sensors for core gameplay elements. All of this shows that Apple has thought this through.
More and more like a Mac
Apple now has a single-port 12-inch MacBook in the market and an iPad that can handle multitasking. Both these devices have roughly the same battery life as well. The rumour mill suggests that Apple will introduce a larger 12-inch iPad this year.
On the software front, the iOS and OS X ecosystems are now closer to each other than ever before. Continuity on iOS 8 lets you take calls and reply to texts via your iPad and Mac, apart from letting you continue working on compatible apps across Apple devices. If you are using an iPad with iOS 9 that's connected to a keyboard, you can switch between apps using the command+tab shortcut, like on OS X.
These minor things hint that sooner or later the market will have an iPad and a MacBook that are equally powerful and functional. The iPad is finally ready to take a big step in the right direction - where the iPhone 6 Plus cannot cannibalise its sales easily.
Powerful hardware and multitasking mean that the iPad could well become a full-fledged computer for many people, instead of making you choose between portability and productivity. For many of us, that's going to be a really strong reason to finally switch to an iPad, and if you already own one, then it's going to be a good reason to upgrade to the latest devices.
If Apple wants to make the iPhone fresh, it should take a lesson from its new companion gadget and use the Force.
It’s come a long way since its humble beginnings, but the iPhone has yet to go through a truly radical transformation. While the iPhone 6 was certainly a significant upgrade from the 5s, each biannual revision has mostly brought expected design changes—larger screens, higher resolutions, thinner chassis—and for the most part, the iPhone hasn’t strayed too far from its original concept.
But while Apple may be very pragmatic with its releases, it also understands the need to take risks to keep a product fresh. A recent report by DigiTimes suggests that the company may be preparing to take a big one. According to the site’s sources, Apple is developing its own in-house touch and display driver integration chips for use in future multitouch devices. As the site explains, the new tech “will also come with integrated fingerprint sensors … with a whole-plane design, eliminating the home button.”
A year ago I would have quickly dismissed a rumor like this. Even if Apple was able to move the fingerprint sensor under the display, the home button is iconic, and eliminating it would not only require a major shift in how we operate our devices, but also take away one of their most defining characteristics. But if Apple Watch is any indication, Apple is ready to think beyond not just the limitations of its single-button design, but how we use and interact with our mobile devices.
Navigation system
The home button is obviously the biggest obstacle to any serious design change. No matter how much further Apple refines its rounded rectangle, as long as that circular button stays firmly planted below the iPhone’s screen, there isn’t a whole lot more that can be done. Assuming we’ve reached the limits of screen size, that leaves only a few scant millimeters in thickness and bezel width, neither of which will bring the kind of improvements customers demand with each new release.
BEN PATTERSON
Even with a limited range of functions, the home button is the most familiar part of the iPhone. Its ubiquity is part of the reason some early adopters struggled with the Apple Watch’s navigation—we’re so accustomed to clicking the home button to return to the home screen of apps that we naturally expected a similar thing to happen with Apple Watch. When it didn’t, people were confused.
But after using it for a stretch, it becomes the clear that Apple Watch actually has a smarter navigation than the iPhone’s ultra-simplistic method. On Apple Watch, the de-facto home button (pressing the Digital Crown) is contextually aware enough to act as a sort of back and a next button—when you’re in Glances, it brings you to your watch face; when you’re on your watch face, it bring you to the apps; and when you’re in an app it returns to the home screen. You can even double-tap it to jump back to the last thing you were doing. In practice, it makes perfect sense, and the more I use it the more logical it seems.
That kind of navigation is just as logical on the iPhone. While a fixed button on the front has always implied a singular, central action, removing it—whether by moving it to the side or the more likely option of making it virtual—would take the pressure off of it as a primary tool and open iOS to new kinds of navigation.
A better focus
On the iPhone, the home button is a direct path to our apps. No matter where we are, pressing it brings us back to the icon grid. But on Apple Watch, apps aren’t central to the experience. The main screen is the face, followed by Glances. Apps on Apple Watch essentially exist in the background, in direct opposition to the iPhone method, where they’re always front and center.
With or without a home button, the iOS home screen is overdue for a change. On Android, an app drawer keeps installed apps out of sight, leaving the home screen free for widgets and shortcuts, and I could see Apple doing something similar with iOS. The new proactive search page in iOS 9 is the first step, and it could become a pivotal screen. By learning which apps you use most and when, you won’t need to swipe between pages of icons. Apps you don’t regularly use will stay out of your way, and the home button would be less important to navigation.
Quick look
Apple could solve the problem of constantly jumping in and out of apps by borrowing another Apple Watch feature: Glances. With Glances on my watch, I can get a day’s worth of information without needing to launch any of the apps—that’s not quite so easy on my iPhone. Notification Center widgets can be helpful in some cases, but the infinite scrolling method isn’t nearly as useful as full-screen Glances on my Apple Watch, and I usually find it quicker to check scores or weather by visiting the app on my iPhone, not its widget.
By reimagining the Control Center, iOS could bring a similar swipe-up method for quick actions. People have been calling for a way to customize Apple’s quick-launch screen since its debut in iOS 7, but I’d love to see a swappable series of Watch-style Glances that bring quick actions and bite-sized data chunks, so I can rely less on the apps. If I could swipe up to quickly jot down a thought in Drafts or compose a tweet in Tweetbot, I could reserve the full-featured apps for longer sessions, and I wouldn’t have to switch between apps as often.
Force of change
Even if Apple does plan to ditch the home button, it’s not going to happen this year. But a good start toward our home-button-less future would be to incoporate another key Apple Watch technology. Force Touch on the iPhone 6s is the biggest inevitability since Siri on the iPad.
On the Apple Watch, Forch Touch is like a right-click, offering options that would be clunky to access via menus. The potential on iPhone is even bigger. While an SDK would blow the doors off what developers can do, even at a basic system level, Force Touch could radically change how you navigate iOS.
Instead of double-tapping the home button to enter the multitasker, a hard press could initiate the same command, letting you switch apps without changing your grip. Or maybe Siri could be summoned via a forceful touch on the screen, making it more accessible. Currently, Siri acts as a separate app, but incorporating it into the task you’re working on—letting you perform searches or dictate text within an app—would make more sense.
Button down
While DigiTimes isn’t a reliable source of rumors, getting rid of its largest button does seem like a natural progression for the iPhone. There was a time when a home-button-less iPhone would be a fantastical notion, a pie-in-the-sky concept that looks great but ultimately would confuse more than simplify.
ROB SHULTZ
But the Apple Watch changed my thinking. Moving to a wrist-sized screen has enabled Apple to think beyond the conventional navigation and operation, and it won’t take long for that mentality to make its way to iOS. We’re already seeing signs of major changes with the iPad’s gesture-based multitasking and the new smart search window, and the idea of an iPhone 7 without a physical home button doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.
Besides, I never expected Apple to replace all of the ports on the MacBook with a single USB-C connector either.
BEN PATTERSON
ROB SHULTZ