iOS 9 has been officially unveiled at WWDC and the Beta 1 is available for download and testing right now. As Apple gears up for the release of the next iPhone model and continues to tweak the new Apple Watch, they’ve included dozens of new features in iOS 9. From improvements to Siri’s accuracy and speed, predictive help with Proactive Assistant, an overhauled Maps, a new Wallet app and fully integrated Apple Pay, and a few major new official apps.
Apple’s new Notes app should prove to be the king of helpful note taking apps. You can even doodle sketches and integrate photos, maps and webpages to any note. It should make iOS devices even better for productivity.
Apple has also proudly shown off a new official News app which both shows news stories and curates those that you might be interested in based on your browsing habits and stories you like to read. The News app will have full multimedia support for audio, video, photos, etc. to make it more immersive and interactive. News looks like it will be also usurp most other News aggregation apps for iOS.
The iPad will receive full multitasking support for two apps open on the same screen, running simultaneously. Even more impressive, you can drag and drop data between the two apps which will open up a huge array of options and should be great for work and productivity.
iOS 9 promises to dramatically increase battery life as well by cleverly managing resources and using sensors to turn things off when not in use or not needed. A new Low Power mode can also be engaged to stretch out usage.
The iOS 9 Beta 1 includes all of these features to try out today. However, you must be enrolled in the Apple Developer Program at $99 a year to download and install the beta. You’ll also need a compatible device which means a newer iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini or iPod Touch. Finally, you’ll need the device’s UDID to register with the Apple Developer Program. If you have all of that, it’s a simple matter to download the iOS 9 Beta ipsw firmware file for your model and then install it to the device using iTunes.
Everyone else can wait a little bit for July to roll around and with it, the public beta release. Then you won’t need an Apple Developer Program account and anyone can try out these features. Or you could wait a little longer until September and just get the official iOS 9…patience, patience.