5 Cool Features of iOS 9

iOS 9 is finally out, and those of you who haven’t updated your iPhones and iPads yet can do so while we tell you some of the neat new features of the latest operating system.

New icons

Whenever we do an update it’s obvious our eyes are going to search for something new from the get go. While the iOS 9 is mostly the same as the iOS 8 in terms of the look of it, users will find three brand new icons in their home screen (Well, two actually and one revamped). The two new default apps are called Find iPhone and Find Friends. Both these apps were already available for download in the App Store. Find Friends/iPhone is pretty useful if you want to know if a friend is nearby for a cup of coffee, or if you’ve suffered a mini heart-attack from losing your iPhone.

The Passbook has been renamed as Wallet, which is a cleaner name and suits that fact that the app can now store all your credit cards, reward cards and membership cards.

A back button

The iOS 9 has plenty of new features that are hidden away from the usual ones. Once you start using your device as you normally would, you’ll find subtle changes and additions in your iPhone that really make a difference to your usability.

Take for instance the new back button that appears on the top-left corner of your screen when you switch from one app to another. And if you open a link from your Mail that takes you to Safari, the back button will appear that will take you back to Mail. Now you won’t have to double-click the Home button every time you want to go back to the previous app.

New Low Power Mode

This is perhaps one of the best new features Apple could have provided. The new Battery settings comes with The Low Power Mode which promises to give you an additional 3 hours of battery life, if you find yourself on really low power and still need the phone to stay alive for a few more hours.

The Low Power Mode disables background app refresh, automatic downloads, mail fetch and visual effects to give you as much extra battery life as it possibly can. Battery information will be displayed in the Notification Center for the iOS device and the Apple Watch.

Changes to the shift key

Apple has made another subtle but much needed change to the keyboard. You can actually see the capitalized letters when you turn on the caps lock. The letters change to upper case when ‘shift’ is on and change back to lower case when ‘shift’ is turned off.

New Notes app

Notes has undergone some major changes. You now have the feature to add Photos to your notes, make a checklist, and draw and doodle using your fingers. The Notes app also allows you to embed websites, photos, maps, and more without having to leave the app.

You can take a photo from within the Notes app as well. Finally, you can arrange the items attached to your notes with the new Attachment Browser.

These are but a few of the subtle and not-so-subtle changes that come with the new iOS 9. Other features also include split-screen multitasking and picture-in-picture for the iPad, a new and improved Siri, with a Proactive feature when you swipe right on the homescreen, transit directions in Maps, new search bar in Settings, and much more. Though some of these features are yet to work well in India.

What are your favorite updates from the new iOS 9? Let us know in the comments below.