IOS 9

Introduction and initial release

iOS 9 was introduced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, with the first beta made available to registered developers after the keynote, and a public beta made available in July.

iOS 9 was officially released on September 16, 2015.

9.0.1

iOS 9.0.1 was released on September 23, 2015, as the first update to iOS 9. It included multiple bug fixes.

9.0.2

iOS 9.0.2 was released on September 30, 2015, to fix multiple bugs, including a lock screen bypass issue.

9.1

iOS 9.1 was released on October 21, 2015. The update included support for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil and the 4th-generation Apple TV. It also added support for over 150 new emoji, as part of the Unicode 7.0 and 8.0 emoji standards. Live Photos now intelligently sense when the user raises or lowers the phone, and doesn't record those movements. Bug fixes and improvements for security and performance are also included.

9.2

iOS 9.2 was released on December 8, 2015. The update included Arabic language support for Siri and iPhone support for Apple's Lightning-to-SD-card Reader accessory, which lets users transfer photos and videos from an SD card (commonly used in DSLR cameras) to iPhone without the need for a computer. iOS 9.2 also included a new visual download indicator in Apple Music, support for Wi-Fi calling for AT&T users, along with bug fixes and stability improvements.

9.2.1

iOS 9.2.1 was released on January 19, 2016, with some bug fixes. On February 18, a second version of iOS 9.2.1 was released to fix a bricking issue that impacted iPhones with Touch ID sensors that had been repaired by a third-party.

9.3

iOS 9.3 was released on March 21, 2016, with new 3D Touch Quick Actions for several of Apple's built-in apps; Night Shift mode; Notes with password protection and Touch ID; News with better personalized recommendations, support for in-line video and iPhone landscape view; Health with Activity view; CarPlay updates for Apple Music and Apple Maps; new languages for Siri; multi-user mode for iPad in education; support for pairing multiple Apple Watches to one iPhone; Wi-Fi calling for Verizon users; as well as major bug fixes.

9.3.1

iOS 9.3.1 was released on March 31, 2016, with a fix for an issue that caused apps to become unresponsive or crash after tapping on links.

9.3.2

iOS 9.3.2 was released on May 16, 2016. The update made it possible to use Night Shift and Low Power Mode simultaneously, which was not previously possible. It also fixed a Bluetooth issue for iPhone SE. However, iOS 9.3.2 bricked some 9.7-inch iPad Pros, preventing them from being used. Apple pulled the update for iPad Pro on May 20, 2016, and re-released 9.3.2 for the device on June 2, 2016, fixing the issue.

9.3.3

iOS 9.3.3 was released on July 18, 2016, with bug fixes and performance improvements.

9.3.4

iOS 9.3.4 was released on August 4, 2016; the update fixed a memory corruption issue that could enable an app "to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges". The update consequently patched an iOS jailbreaking method used by the Chinese programming group Pangu Team.

9.3.5

iOS 9.3.5 was released on August 25, 2016; the update fixed three critical security vulnerabilities where, if a user clicked on a malicious link, a jailbreak was enabled on the device that installed spyware to intercept and collect all information on the device, as well as activate the microphone and track the device location. The spyware, called "Pegasus", used strong encryption to avoid detection.

Proactivity

Intelligence is one of the main features in iOS 9, consisting of the newly integrated Siri and Search (previously known as Spotlight), as well as "proactivity" throughout the operating system. iOS is now more aware of contextual information (such as time and location), and proactively provides the user with what they may need in advance to save them time and effort. When typing, Search has also been improved to display instant answers in an at-a-glance, widget-like format, similar to that provided in the Siri interface. Search can display current weather, sports scores, news, and more. The Search screen with proactive suggestions can be accessed either by pulling down the notifications window, in the Safari web browser through the search bar, and to the left on the home screen.

The intelligence also extends into apps. For instance, in Mail, events can be automatically added to Calendar if details are found in the message content, and likely additional recipients are suggested during message composition. Siri is also aware of what is currently on screen when it is engaged by holding down the home button.

Battery

iOS 9 comes with two important battery-saving updates. When a phone has been placed face-down, the screen will not light up upon receiving notifications. Apple has also added Low Power Mode, which modifies the amount of energy dedicated to background services and animations. For example, background app refresh and push email are paused during Low Power Mode. When a phone reaches 20% battery level, users are automatically prompted to turn on Low Power Mode, which changes the color of the battery icon in the top row status bar on the screen. When the battery goes higher than the 20% level, Low Power Mode automatically turns back off.

Performance

iOS 9 includes performance and speed improvements thanks to the expanded use of the Metal API. Metal was introduced in iOS 8 and was previously limited to game developers. In iOS 9, the use of Metal is expanded to let it handle many of the core user interface elements and graphics.

Security

iOS 9 introduces multiple security enhancements. It introduces a 6-digit passcode as a default, an extra two digits from the previous 4-digit default, as well as support for two-factor authentication.

The original iOS 9 release in September 2015 fixed a security issue within previous iOS versions where a "flaw allowed anyone within range of an AirDrop user to install malware on a target device and tweak iOS settings so the exploit would still work if the victim rejected an incoming AirDrop file".

Settings

Settings in iOS 9 has a search bar that makes it easier to find settings and options.

Multitasking

iOS 9 adds a number of features to the iPad to improve productivity. These include Slide Over, Split Screen, and Picture in Picture, for enhanced multitasking, similar to the experience found on OS X El Capitan. Slide Over allows the user to pull in a second app with a swipe from the right edge of the display. This app takes up 1/3 of the screen and sticks to the right side of the screen, while interactivity within the full-screen app is disabled while left inactive in the background. The feature allows users to perform quick tasks and then dismiss the app again.

If the user taps on the handle next to the Slide Over window or extends the window further towards the left of the screen, the user enters Split Screen, which allows them to interact with two apps simultaneously side-by-side in a 50/50 split. Users can also switch to another app in either Slide Over mode or Split Screen view by pulling down on the handle on top of either app and selecting another app from the list to replace the existing one.

Picture in Picture mode allows users to minimize supported videos and continue watching them while doing other tasks on the iPad.

The Split Screen multitasking feature is only available for iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, and iPad Pro, while the Slide Over and Picture in Picture features are available on the iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2 and newer, and the iPad Pro.

When banner notifications are tapped, causing another app to open, a back button at the top-left corner of the screen has been added, bringing the user back to the previous app.

3D Touch

On the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, a touch-sensitive display feature called 3D Touch is incorporated into iOS 9. It is similar to Force Touch that can be found on the trackpad of some Apple MacBook computers. Quick Actions and shortcuts are added to apps that support the 3D Touch feature and are triggered by pressing slightly harder on the app icon. It also introduces actions known as Peek and Pop, which lets users firmly hold to preview ("Peek") at any kind of content in a hovering window, before they optionally apply more pressure to enter ("Pop") the content into full view.

The taptic engine in the iPhone 6S provides haptic feedback each time users press the screen harder.

Night Shift

Night Shift is a display mode introduced in iOS 9.3. The mode shifts the colors of the device's display to be warmer, similar to F.lux, a popular program for Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS computers. When enabled, it uses the device's clock and geographic location to determine when to turn the feature on or off. Optionally, the user can set a manual schedule, or not have a schedule at all. For ease of access, there is a new Night Shift toggle in the Control Center. The settings for Night Shift are located under "Display and Brightness" in the Settings app, and on top of enabling the feature and setting a schedule, the user can also set the warmth of the display.

Despite being introduced in iOS 9.3 in March 2016, it wasn't possible to use Night Shift and Low Power Mode simultaneously until the release of iOS 9.3.2 two months later. Night Shift requires a 64-bit processor only found in the Apple A7 or newer chips, which means older iOS devices, including the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, first-generation iPad Mini, and iPod Touch 5, do not receive Night Shift mode.

Installation

iOS 9 is a smaller update, requiring 1.3 GB of space, compared to 4.58 GB for iOS 8. Additionally, iOS 9 includes an option to temporarily delete apps to allow the update to install. Once the update has been installed, the apps will be automatically restored. iOS 9 also features "app thinning" functionality, whereby only the necessary assets needed to run apps on each individual device is downloaded rather than the entire app, potentially saving space.

Design

San Francisco, a new system font, has replaced Helvetica Neue as the system typeface of iOS.

iOS 9 adds a new battery widget to the Notification Center that displays the battery life and charging status of any connected Bluetooth device.

When the shift button is inactive, lowercase letters are displayed, instead of the all-caps representation on previous iOS versions.

Other changes

On iPad, a two-finger drag on the keyboard moves the cursor freely like a traditional trackpad, making positioning the cursor and selecting text easier.

The keyboard-to-trackpad feature is also extended to iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, in which users can 3D Touch (force press) the keyboard to enable the trackpad.

On iPad, a shortcut bar has been added for cut, copy, paste, undo and redo functions.

iOS 9 introduced Wi-Fi Assist, a feature, on by default, that automatically switches the phone to cellular data when the Wi-Fi connection is spotty.

News

iOS 9 includes a new Apple News app (replacing the Newsstand app), which aggregates news from different sources in a similar style as Flipboard. The app features a "mobile-formatted layout that loads quickly and has informative animations and full-bleed images". Additionally, News supports RSS feeds from the Safari web browser. At launch, the News app was only available in the United States, but it was expanded to the United Kingdom and Australia with the iOS 9.1 update.

In March 2016, Apple opened the News platform to all news agencies, including independent bloggers.

Notes

The Notes app has received a number of enhancements in iOS 9, including the ability to draw sketches with a number of different tools, including a ruler for straight lines. Images can also be added, and links to websites and Map locations get a more prominent, visual appearance when added to notes. On the iPad, and on iPhone in landscape mode, Notes has a range of color options for drawing, as well as an eraser. Advanced formatting options including checked, bulleted, dashed and numbered lists.

Secure notes, introduced in iOS 9.3, lets an iOS user protect their notes with either a passcode or Touch ID.

Maps

Apple Maps adds support for transit directions in Baltimore, Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington D.C., along with "over 300 locations in China".

The Maps app now also has enhanced location details, including a Nearby feature that recommends shops, restaurants and places to drink in close proximity to the user. For places serving food, users can specify exactly what type of food they want.

Safari

With the release of iOS 9, the Safari web browser allows for third-party content blocking apps.

A few days after the release of iOS 9, ad blocking software had topped the App Store charts, with Marco Arment, developer of a Peace app, saying that "web advertising and behavioral tracking is out of control. ... They're unacceptably creepy, bloated, annoying, and insecure, and they're getting worse at an alarming pace."

Photos

The Photos app on iOS 9 included the improved scrubber bar in the photo viewer, "Screenshots" and "Selfies" albums, and the ability to hold and select multiple photos easily, without having deleted it individually. It also hides sensitive material through a new Hide option.

iCloud

iOS 9 has a setting that enables an iCloud Drive app on the home screen. iCloud Drive lets the user save and browse files and folders in iCloud.

iBooks

As of iOS 9.3, PDFs saved to the iBooks application via Safari or iTunes can be synced with iCloud.

Wallet

The Passbook application was renamed Wallet in iOS 9 and includes many new changes, such as support for store loyalty cards, gift cards, Discover credit/debit cards, and Apple Pay in the UK. The Wallet app can also be accessed from the lock screen.

Health

The Health app, introduced in iOS 8, has received landscape mode on iPhone. It also added support for reproductive health, UV exposure, water intake and sedentary state data types.

In iOS 9.3, it also tracks sleep, exercise, and weight from the Apple Watch.

Reception

iOS 9 received mostly positive reviews. Dan Seifert of The Verge praised the improvements in Proactivity and Siri, highlighting how the notification drop-down contains most, if not all, the information the user needs. Although he pointed out that Google's Google Now and Microsoft's Cortana personal assistants offer similar services, sometimes with "better and more varied ways" of achieving results, the improvements to iOS "lay the foundation for even more capabilities in the future". Chris Velazco of Engadget liked the "small, thoughtful" design changes, but was most impressed by the new multitasking features for the iPad, referring to Split Screen as a "lovely little feature". He did, however, criticize the low number of decent-looking articles in Apple News, writing that "you'll notice a discrepancy in how some articles are handled -- most are just formatted text on a white background with the outlet's logo up top" and also noted the limited number of locations in Apple Maps that, at launch, supported mass transit directions. Matt Swider of TechRadar wrote that Siri and Proactivity lists were "robust", and enjoyed that notifications were sorted chronologically rather than by app. Samuel Gibbs of The Guardian welcomed the changes to the built-in apps such as drawing and photo insertion in Notes, unknown number identification from emails through Phone, and Siri automatically launching the Music app upon plugging in headphones. He also praised the updates to the keyboard, calling it "much easier to use".

Apple is facing a $5 million lawsuit over allegedly slowing the iPhone 4S with iOS 9.

On September 21, 2015, Apple announced that iOS 9 had been installed on more than 50% of "active" iOS devices, as measured by the App Store. According to Apple, this was "the fastest adoption rate ever for a new operating system".

Error 53 bricking issue

In February 2016, news outlets reported that users who updated to iOS 9 on a particular device that had components repaired by a third-party (notably the Touch ID fingerprint recognition sensor) rendered their phone bricked. The issue, named "Error 53", was, according to iFixIt, limited to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices. Apple stated:

We protect fingerprint data using a secure enclave, which is uniquely paired to the Touch ID sensor. When iPhone is serviced by an authorised Apple service provider or Apple retail store for changes that affect the Touch ID sensor, the pairing is re-validated. ... This check ensures the device and the iOS features related to Touch ID remain secure. Without this unique pairing, a malicious Touch ID sensor could be substituted, thereby gaining access to the secure enclave. When iOS detects that the pairing fails, Touch ID, including Apple Pay, is disabled so the device remains secure.

Apple released a new version of iOS 9.2.1 later in February to fix the issue.

Date reboot issue

In February 2016, a bug was discovered that could permanently disable 64-bit devices. The bug, setting the time to 1 January 1970, would cause the device to get stuck in a reboot process. iOS 9.3, released on March 21, 2016, fixed the issue.

9.7-inch iPad Pro bricking issue

In May 2016, Apple released iOS 9.3.2. The update was followed by reports that it bricked some 9.7-inch iPad Pros, with a "Connect to iTunes" message, and an "Error 56" message in iTunes that it couldn't restore the tablet.

Apple temporarily stopped offering the 9.3.2 update, until a re-release of the version in June 2016 fixed the issue.

iBooks crash

The release of iOS 9.3.3 in July 2016 was followed by reports that the iBooks store crashed. However, Apple explained in August that the timing was a coincidence, and the iBooks app crash was a result of a server issue, not the software update.

Spyware attack

The release of iOS 9.3.5 in August 2016 fixed three critical security vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities could be exploited to silently enable a jailbreak and allow the malicious installation of a spyware called "Pegasus". Pegasus could intercept and read text messages, emails, track calls, trace phone location, activate the microphone, and gather information from apps, including (but not limited to) iMessage, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Skype.

The discovery of the vulnerabilities dated 10 days before the 9.3.5 update was released. Arab human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor received a suspicious text message with a link and sent it to Citizen Lab. An investigation ensued with collaboration from Lookout security company that revealed that if Mansoor had followed the link, it would have jailbroken his phone on the spot and implanted it with the spyware. Citizen Lab linked the attack to a private Israeli spyware company known as NSO Group that sells Pegasus to governments for "lawful interception".

Regarding how widespread the issue was, Lookout explained in a blog post: "We believe that this spyware has been in the wild for a significant amount of time based on some of the indicators within the code" and pointed out that the code shows signs of a "kernel mapping table that has values all the way back to iOS 7".

News of the spyware received significant media attention, particularly for being called the "most sophisticated" smartphone attack ever, and for being the first time in iPhone history when a remote jailbreak exploit has been detected.

Supported devices

With this release, Apple did not drop support for any iOS devices, with all devices supporting iOS 8 also able to run 9. This marks several records: