The top features of Apple’s new iOS 9 for iPhone and iPad

Apple’s has provided the first glimpse at the upcoming iOS 9 for iPhone and iPad at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco which offers all new enhancements and improved performance.

iOS 9 will provide new ways to access your content, be more organised, work more efficiently, see what’s going on around you and even extend your battery life.

The new iOS 9 update will be released round September and it will work on iPhone 4S and later, iPad Mini, iPad 2 and later and the iPod Touch fifth generation.

Here’s a look at the new features of iOS 9

NEWS

News is a brand new app within iOS 9 that will aggregate stories from the top sites and news sources and serves them up in one place.

The app will provide beautifully designed layout that offers the essence of a printed reading experience along with the interactivity of digital media.

Content is adjusted for the iPhone and iPad screens to maximise the reading experience and keep you in touch with all the stories you care about.

NOTES

The Notes app until now has been limited as just typing plain text but with iOS 9 you can now add photos, links and maps to create more detailed and even richer notes.

Users can also draw sketches with their finger on the device’s screen, create checklists and take a photo while inside the Notes app

And with the help of iCloud all of these notes are accessible across all of your Apple devices.

SIRI

Siri will be a lot faster and smarter in iOS 9 and also has a new look.

Not only can Siri find answers for you from the internet, it will now give you even easier access to the content on your device.

You can now ask Siri to find photos from your trip or from a particular event as well as remind you to follow up on emails and sites you you’ve been looking at later.

PROACTIVE ASSISTANCE

Proactive assistance puts the most relevant information at your fingertips based on what you’re doing and the apps you’re using.

This could be people to contact based on usage patterns, telling you when to leave to make your next appointment on time and remembering what you like to listen to in certain times and locations.

MAPS

Apple Maps will now be able to provide even more information about your surroundings including restaurants, shopping and other points of interest with the new Nearby feature.

Maps will also include metropolitan transit information and schedules to make using public transport even easier.

Train station entrances and exits will be even clearer to help you plan your trip faster and more accurately.

And you can also find the fastest way to your destination whether you’re on the bus, driving or walking.

MULTITASKING

With iOS 9 the iPad will inherit a few multitasking features that will increase your productivity and use the device more like a computer.

One of the these new features is Split View that will work on the iPad Air 2 and make it possible to run two apps at once side by side and share content between them.

Slide Over works in a similar way to Slide View and lets you open a second app without leaving the app you’re currently using and then slide it away when you’re done.

With Picture in Picture you can keep your FaceTime video call open or continue watching a video while using other apps.

BATTERY LIFE

Apple has engineered iOS 9 to deliver not only a host of new features but to also to deliver improved performance.

One of the benefits of this is extended battery life. Apple says the battery will run for an hour longer with iOS 9.

There’s even a new low power mode to extend your battery life even further.

And the good news with iOS 9 is the size of the download will only be 1.3GB compared with 4.58GB for last year’s iOS 8.