With the release of iOS 9.0.1 on September 23rd, 2015—a patch that arrived just over a week after initial release—Information Systems & Computing (ISC) believes that it is reasonable for many iOS users at the University with a compatible device to upgrade to iOS 9. Before upgrading, faculty and staff should consult with their Local Support Provider (LSP) to ensure that local requirements are fulfilled. Users of managed iOS devices should consult their LSP before upgrading to iOS 9.
iOS 9 is compatible with iPhone 4s and later, iPad 2 and later, and iPod touch (5th-generation) and later. It ships preloaded with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, which will release tomorrow.
ISC and others across campus have tested iOS 9 and have not discovered any compatibility issues with various University systems and many current University apps, including a suite of apps and services listed here.
Provisos
- ISC recommends updating all apps immediately prior to upgrading to iOS 9. In an ISC survey of 210 actively maintained apps, over 40% were updated (some of them multiple times) in the two weeks since Apple released the iOS 9 Golden Master (GM) on September 9th. The upgrade process is also a good time to remove obsolete or unused apps.
- For small but non-insignificant amount of users, iOS 9 functions correctly, but exhibits a significant amount of lag performing some operations.
- Most VPNs do not function with iOS 9.
- The Divide app for iOS crashes in iOS 9. Divide was purchased by Google in 2014, ceased providing support in June 2015, and the product is end-of-life as of the end of September 2015.
- The Solstice Client app for Mersive Solstice will not mirror from an iOS 9 device.
- In general, ISC and others at Penn have found that apps with GPS and/or audio/video streaming functionality and have not been updated since iOS 9 went GM on September 9th are more likely to have issues in iOS 9.
- iCloud preferences are sometimes changed or reset during the upgrade process.
- Screen rotation on older iPads such as the iPad 2 is often inconsistent or non-functional.
Changes
Notable new iOS 9 features include:
- Updates can be installed much more efficiently on iOS 9 devices as the amount of space required to install the operating system has been reduced. One major and justifiable complaint with iOS 8 was the approximately 4.5 GB of space it took to install the update, preventing many with 16 GB devices from updating to the operating system. With these optimizations, iOS 9 requires approximately 1.3 GB of space to install. If a device still has insufficient space to update to iOS 9, a popup dialog offers to temporarily delete some apps in order to make room. Those deleted apps are reinstalled and replaced after the operating system update is completed.
- Functionality of the Shift key on the default soft keyboard has been changed, and now acts like a “Caps Lock” key on traditional keyboards, dynamically changing the keyboard to more easily distinguish between lower case and capital letters. The QuickType keyboard is expanded for the iPad form-factor. This iPad-specific keyboard now has a shortcut bar and a virtual track pad.
- Security improvements include built-in two factor authentication and optional longer passcodes for better security. The default passcode for iPhones and iPads is now six digits instead of four.
- Siri is better at searching through the content of an iOS device. For example, it can now respond to commands like “show me photos from last July”. Also, Siri now can provide transit directions.
- Spotlight search now can perform simple conversions and calculations. Settings are now searchable.
- Apple Pay and Wallet (which was previously called Passbook) can add store credit cards and rewards cards in addition to bank debit and credit cards.
- A low power mode which can help extend battery life by modifying the amount of energy dedicated to background services, animations, and the like.
- Notifications in iOS 9 are now arranged chronologically, so that the most recent notifications are listed at the top.
- Notes now has a toolbar with formatting options. The new version allows users to add photos, sketches, drawings, and links, and checklists can be created within Notes for instant to-do lists. Many of these improvements to Notes require that all of the user’s synchronized devices be running either iOS 9 or OS X version 10.11 El Capitan (which will not release until the end of September 2015).
- Maps now includes a new Transit view for finding public transportation stops and stations and getting directions. Tapping on a station shows additional information. Maps now calculates travel time more accurately than previous versions.
- News has replaced the Newsstand app. It is built around topics and channels selected by the user. Newsstand can be searched for specific topics and categories. A function to save stories for later reading has been added. Layouts are designed to be magazine-like.
More information on iOS 9's features can be found at Apple's iOS page.
Upgrading
Upgrade notes and best practices:
- The upgrade to iOS 9 should not erase any information on the device, but doing a backup with iTunes before applying a major iOS upgrade is always advisable.
- Upgrading to iOS 9 through the desktop requires iTunes 12.2.
- As is the case with all large downloads, Apple requires using WiFi or iTunes to upgrade iOS 9.
- ISC strongly suggests that the device be connected to a power source before beginning the upgrade.
- The upgrade process takes approximately 15 to 25 minutes.
- An active network connection is needed after installation for upgraded devices to reactivate.