WWDC 2015 Recap: iOS 9

06/08/2015 14:45

At today’s WWDC, Apple announced iOS 9. Like most predicted, there isn’t a whole lot new with this version. Rather, it focuses on the smaller things and improves on them. It includes bug fixes and other things that many will enjoy.

With iOS 9 we now see a new Spotlight page. Like iOS 6, it’s now to the left of the first page. There are a ton of changes. First, Spotlight is now smarter. It can provide weather, sports scores, and much more. Also, it isn’t just Spotlight on that page. There’s four top contacts and four apps that you might want to use. There’s also suggestions for places you might want to go and breaking news.

Apple Pay also has some improvements. There are more locations that support it, it now accepts reward cards, store cards, and will work on the UK in July. There’s also no Passbook. Now, it’s been renamed Wallet because it’s a lot more than just passes. Notes got some improvements, like being able to insert websites, add a check list, and draw on your notes.

For Maps, there is now transit maps and where you can find stops. Next is Intelligence. This is now built in to Siri. If you tell Siri to remind you about “this” she will know what this means. For example, if you’re on a website and you ask to be reminded about this, she will remind you about the site. This also works for other things like emails and messages.

Something that was really interesting was Slide Over. This is basically like multitasking. It allows you to run two apps side by side on an iPad. Because it’s smart, it can do picture in picture for videos.

Developers have also got a lot of new things. First, there’s new APIs for Spotlight and Slide Over. There’s some new kits as well, which include GameplayKit, Model I/O, ReplayKit, and Swift 2.

iOS 9 is available to developers for download starting today from the iOS Developer Center. It will come to the public this fall.