The Apple iOS 9 Review
by Brandon Chester on September 16, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- Tablets
- iOS 9
Final Words
This year has been a big year for Apple, and a big year for iOS devices. I’m interested to see how 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus changes how users interact with their iPhones, and I’m also interested to see what the iPad Pro means for the iPad as a productivity device. As for iOS 9 and all the existing devices it’s coming to, I would say that’s it’s not as big of a release as iOS 7 or iOS 8 was when you consider the entire ecosystem of iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. However, when you just consider the iPad iOS 9 might be the biggest and most important update that Apple has ever shipped.
Multitasking has a profound impact on how you can use an iPad. No longer do you need to interrupt your current task to quickly check another application, as you can now slide it in from the side. Watching videos is no longer something that prevents you from performing any other tasks, because now we have picture-in-picture support. The iPad Air 2 and now the iPad Mini 4 go even further with split screen multitasking, allowing you to have two applications running in the foreground at the same time. The boost to productivity that split screen multitasking enables will be enormous once applications enable support for it. To me, iOS 9 feels very focused on breaking down many of the limitation that have held the iPad back as a productivity device. The iPad has always had applications tailored to its large display, but you were still limited to using one app at a time just like a tiny 3.5” iPhone was.
The future of the iPad is something I don’t even want to attempt to speculate on, because I don’t know where it’s headed. Apple certainly gave the iPad Mini a significant update this year, but the smaller form and lower price prevent it from achieving the same performance as Apple’s bigger tablets. However, for many users the convenience of a small device is worth sacrificing a bit of performance. Apple has also gone really big with the iPad Pro, and there’s no way to say how popular it will end up being, or what percentage of users will adopt the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. I do wonder if they those accessories will also be made usable with future versions of the iPad Air if they prove to be popular, or if they’ll remain as tools specifically for the type of user that would purchase an iPad Pro.
While I definitely feel that iOS 9 focuses on the iPad, it’s not true to say that Apple’s other devices have been left behind. Every device benefits from the performance improvements and optimizations to save storage space that have been made to the core OS and to applications. New developer APIs open up many new possibilities, and some of the new features and APIs relating to Safari may have a significant impact on the web as we know it if Apple decides to allow ad blocking applications into the App Store.
As for Apple’s services, I think Apple Maps has matured more than I expected it would have in the past few years. Apple’s transit additions are actually really well executed, and they were enough to make me try out Apple Maps again which I think is impressive given how much I would use Google Maps on a daily basis. Apple’s foray into news aggregation with Apple News is definitely a great success as well, and while Flipboard is still my preferred application for news on Android and the web, Apple News is my app of choice on iOS. What surprises me is that Apple didn’t make an Apple News application for OS X, but I suspect that this will be coming in a future release after Apple opens up the iOS version to a greater number of countries.
I still have some complaints about iCloud. Part of the justification for 16GB devices is that users can now leverage cloud services for storing photos, videos, and other content. This is true, but Apple still only provides you with 5GB of free storage, and if you want to back up your iOS device to iCloud it counts against that storage. I think Apple is in a position where they could offer free users 15 or 25GB of storage for free, and not have their device backups count against it. This would allow all users to take advantage of iCloud backup without having to pay for an iCloud storage plan, and would make the experience on a 16GB a lot more comfortable even if 16GB is still not optimal.
On the topic of 16GB devices, it looks like we'll be seeing them for another year with the new iPad Mini 4 and the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Apple's app thinning optimizations are definitely going to help make 16GB devices more usable, particularly the app slicing aspect of app thinning. Obviously I would prefer that devices just ship with 32GB, but then I could also say that I think they should all ship with 128GB and what I would like doesn't usually align with maintaining a device's average selling price.
Siri is a feature that Apple can constantly improve on the back end, and I can definitely notice that the accuracy and speed of Siri has improved in recent times. I think Apple’s attempt to make Siri more proactive and intelligent didn’t really work out though, particularly the search screen to the left of your main home screen. I just didn’t feel that the suggestions for apps, contacts, and news were relevant to me. However, the improvements to search itself are substantial, and this will only become even more evident as developers allow their applications to be indexed by search so users can search through them for information or content.
It’s probably not surprising to hear that iOS 9 is better than iOS 8. On the iPhone I think iOS 9 brings along many smaller improvements throughout the OS, along with new APIs that developers can implement to improve the user experience. There are definitely some big changes such as the addition of Apple News and Transit in Apple Maps, but these are again just strengthening the core services of iOS rather than adding incredible new abilities and features. iOS 9 is definitely a huge release for the iPad though, and because I’ve been limited to Apple’s own applications I’ve only been able to scratch the surface of what capabilities the new multitasking features can enable. I think the iPad definitely deserved a major release that focused on it though, and it’s clear that Apple has had many of these changes in the pipeline for quite some time now.
In the end, iOS 9 offers something new and great for all iOS users, and particularly those who use an iPad. With Apple expanding their portfolio of iOS devices and implementing new features like 3D Touch there are a number of directions they could go in with future releases of iOS, and only time will tell which direction they choose.
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nafhan - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
Wrong. iPads get used by professionals (in addition to "prosumers") all the time for content creation tasks while on the go like music recording, viewing tablature, reviewing photos with clients, etc. Just because the content creation isn't happening on the tablet doesn't mean it's not getting used as part of a content creation workflow.That said: they are not a professionals primary content creation device. They're a secondary device that gets used when it's not reasonable to use the primary device for some reason.
The Surface is going to fall into the same boat. Someone who does these types of content creation tasks is probably going to want something more powerful than Surface for their regular work. The iPad Pro and the Surface will both be used when the primary device is not available.
Also, you are absolutely correct in that the vast majority of iPads (and computers) sold are as consumption devices. That's why the iPad mini exists!
superflex - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
Yikes.A koolaid fight has broken out and everyone is drunk on their brand of OS punch.
You clowns are worse the the GPU fanbois.
Makes reading the comments at AT a waste of time.
Now get back to your respective OS shrines.
lilmoe - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
You're contradicting yourself;"Just because the content creation isn't happening on the tablet doesn't mean it's not getting used as part of a content creation workflow".
That was exactly my point, and the point you emphasized in your last paragraph. iPads (even the lateset "Pro") can never be used for standalone, real professional work. The iPad "Pro" might be good for simple sketching at best... I mean, the new "pencil" doesn't even support hover or palm rejection, nor does the "Pro" run any full blown professional programs.
There's nothing an iPad can do that a Surface can't (provided the mobile app is there). But the Surface can also replace laptops for many consumers, they can be the sole PCs of many prosumers, and they can be the mobile workstations of professionals because they can run the full blown programs their used to. Something iPads can never do.
Android was never a real threat to iPads. However, while Apple isn't worried about the Surface series in particular, the real threat to iPads lies in Windows 10 and Universal Windows Platform.
I can't wait for a Samsung made Wacom Windows 10 tablet with a Core M7.
nafhan - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
I'm not contradicting myself.Your argument seems to be that since it could be used as an all around replacement for every computer, professionals are using the Surface that way. My observation is that you are wrong. People who make money doing creative work generally don't have an MS based workflow, at all, and that even if they did, they'd probably still only use the Surface as a primary computer when absolutely necessary. If you're making money at your job and doing creative work, you're going to want a more powerful computer with more storage than the Surface as your main computer.
I have a feeling that you have never worked with any professionals. They don't want Swiss Army knives. They want dedicated tools to get their work done easily and quickly. I'll sort of take that back: they do want the Swiss Army knife device, just as a secondary or tertiary device, not as a primary.
The-J-Man - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
This is changing. Some creatives are moving to Windows-based workflows as there are shifts in the industry, and Surface Pro is significant part of that. Ever since the first Surface Pro came out, the question among creatives is "Can it run Photoshop?" (Yes, it can.) Since that day, I think most creatives realize that iPads are consumption only. If you can have a tablet that is a presentation device that also lets you do actual work on a train or at a coffee shop between meetings, then isn't that better, even if it doesn't have iMessage?Apple has had some missteps lately in the creative world. The garbage can look-alike Mac Pro is selling so poorly that I don't know anyone who owns one. Adobe's Premiere Pro takeover of Final Cut market share is significant and seems to be accelerating. It is getting harder and harder to justify the IT costs of supporting a department of Macs in an otherwise Windows environment, just to get the graphics work done. (Yes, Macs need support. They are not magic.) Most artists are getting used to using Windows through Boot Camp, and Windows 10 is actually a really nice experience.
You are right that it is fairly safe to assume a creative is working on a Mac these days, but devices like Surface Pro are very impressive, even to us creatives. iPad Pro, to me, looks like a Surface Pro without the ability to run any of the apps that I really want to run. Let's face it, Creative Cloud programs like Photoshop and After Effects are where the money is, not those silly ideation apps Adobe keeps trying to push.
Most creatives work on a workstation with a Wacom tablet and multiple monitors for maximum productivity. Given the creative's standard equipment of a primary workstation, a secondary tablet/laptop, and a smartphone, I am guessing a lot of creatives would choose Surface Pro over iPad (Pro or otherwise) as their secondary device.
robinthakur - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
Most proper creatives doing it as a job that I know still use Apple, mainly for historic reasons it has to be said (try getting creatives to change tooling!) and the fact that the Surface Pro 3 runs Photoshop avoids the question of how well it runs it. The pen accuracy and pressure sensitivity as well as the display scaling are significant issues which hobble the SP3 to some extent and mean that it can't be used as a dedicated tool. The pen is designed primarily for OneNote, after all.The great unknown is the software for the iPad Pro. If Appl ecan persuade Adobe to release versions of CC and Micrososft to release versions of Office which are compiled for it with pen compatibility, then I can see it doing very well as all the User interface problems of not having a precision input device or keyboard will be solved.
KoolAidMan1 - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
A Macbook Pro is a much better laptop than the Surface and an iPad is a much better tablet. The value of the Surface is that it combines both. If you want to combine both devices while introducing compromises then its a good option. There's certainly something to be said for having fewer things.Sc0rp - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
The pencil supports palm protection dude.Morawka - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
they'll lose imessage and facetime.. they dont care about safari, and everyone can agree that itunes is garbage. you seriously cited itunes as a reason to stay apple? Simplistic device are great and all, but it severely limits how you can improve them 5-10 years down the road without inherently making them more complex (therefore losing the simplicity)they are made of metal and are nice looking. the ui looks like a candy shop. they are successful because the iphone is successful. you think it will stay this way for much longer tho? It remains to be seen, but odds are not in their favor.
apple is pushing everyone to apps, even website developers (by ad blocking). apple is a compartmentalized experience on each device. They created lots of devices that only do a few things (but do them well) and then hope you buy all of them so they make lots of money.
meanwhile competitors with complex systems which allow you to do much more with fewer devices, but has steeper learning curve. do you want to pack 3-4 devices that each do a couple of things good, or 1-2 devices that can do everything.
let the market decide over the next 10 years, but eventually people will wise up and spend less money and pack less gadgets
centhar - Thursday, September 17, 2015 - link
Apple users are the Pakleds of the computer world. "We can make it go, no intelligence is required"