Twenty one iOS 9 tips

Our guide will help you master Apple’s new OS

1. Teach iOS your routine

iOS 9 has arrived, and we’re enjoying its plethora of new features. In this article we’re going to walk you through some of our favourites, and help you to master the new features. We’ll start with a little something we call ‘Proactive’. This tries to stay one step ahead, always doing its best to work out what you’ll want to do next and then offer a shortcut to that behaviour.

Ring your mum at a certain time each week? iOS will start placing her contact icon in your Search screen when the appointed hour approaches, so you can make the call with a single swipe (left from the first Home screen/pane, or downwards from any Home screen) and tap. Like to hit the tunes at the gym? You’ll get a Now Playing in the lock screen at the usual time, or when you plug in the headphones.

How do you get these conveniences? Just use iOS as much as you can: it’ll soon learn. And look out for the shortcuts. Remember to browse the Search screen to see how much iOS has picked up about your habits.

2. Have two apps onscreen at once

This one is just for the iPad. The simple form of multitasking involves opening any app and then swiping inwards from the right-hand side of the screen. You’ll see a slim sidebar where you can pick another app, and have it open in that part of the screen while the first app remains visible in the rest.

Handy for various work scenarios: viewing an email and copy-and-pasting important elements into a Notes document open in the main window, for

example, or viewing a journey in Maps while noting down directions.

3. Have two tasks on the go at once

If you’ve got an iPad Air 2, you can take iOS 9’s multitasking elements to the next level, by having two apps running side by side, and interacting with them both at the same time. This function is called Split View. You can also change the screen space devoted to each of the two apps, although the default appears to be 50/50.

4. Picture in Picture

The third aspect of multitasking in iOS 9 is called Picture in Picture, and allows you to watch video clips and television programmes while working in other apps. On the Mac this sort of thing is easy: just run a video and place it in the corner while you work. On the iPad it’s not been possible – until now.

Apple’s new Picture in Picture mode moves the video into the bottom corner of the screen, while you carry on using another app. Whenever you’re watching a video, you just have to press the Home button to tell iOS 9 to shrink the video screen down to a corner of your display. You can then open another apps normally, and the video will keep playing in its little window.

Picture In Picture works with Apple’s video (the video you’re watching can be live FaceTime video) and third-party apps can use Apple’s SDK to implement PIP mode in their app. We hope the BBC implements it for iPlayer, and Google does likewise for YouTube.

5. Keyboard cursor

Let’s look at the system keyboard next: it’s not glamorous, but it underpins almost everything you do on an iOS device.

First up, and most ambitiously, Apple has given iOS 9’s system keyboard the ability to move around a document with a virtual cursor. Simply tap and hold anywhere on the screen with two fingers at once, and the keys will all grey out. From now on, moving the two fingers will move the virtual cursor, automatically selecting any text between the original point where you started and the new place you’ve moved the cursor to.

It’s tricky to get used to, even though Apple calls the function ‘Easy text selection’, and in some beta versions of iOS 9 was buggy. But we love that Apple is trying new things.

6. Shift key

We’re back in the realm of mundanity now, but this is an important enhancement. The Shift key in iOS used to be deeply ambiguous, switching colour between the white of the normal keys (off ) and the dull grey of the special keys (on) without

most people being able to remember which was which. Rather than adding colour to the On state, as some expected Apple to do, they’ve made the entire set of keys change from upper- to lower case, so you know exactly what’s going on.

7. Shortcut bar

The final stop on our tour of the keyboard concerns the new icons that sit either side of the QuickType suggestion bar. These are shortcuts for common commands. Depending on the app you’re in, the shortcuts will vary, but you’ll always get Cut (scissors), Copy (a square and dotted square) and Paste (a solid square and clipboard). If space is tight, however (such as in Notes), these three may be hidden together under a single icon: the scissors. Tap it to reveal the full palette of options.

Notes adds shortcuts for formatting options (a capital A and a lower-case a), to-do lists (a tick in

a circle) and sketches (a squiggle), both of which we’ll discuss in later slides.

Other apps may offer a camera icon for adding pictures and videos; a paperclip for adding attachments; bold/italic/underlined letters for more formatting options; and so on. As you can see, most are self-explanatory. Experiment if you see one you don’t recognise: there’s no ‘delete document with no confirmation’ icon, as far as we’re aware.

8. Add sketches

Let’s return, then, to the neglected Notes app, which in iOS 9 has had a few new features added.

Most appealingly (at least to us) is its new support for quick line sketches. Tap that squiggle icon we mentioned in the last slide, and Notes will open a new window where you’ll compose the sketch you wish to add to your document. Colours are selected along the bottom, as are pens and pencils of varying weight and texture (in fact, there are really only three options – from left to right: a straightforward thin pen line, a highlighter pen that will let pen lines show

through it, and a thin, textured pencil). You can also remove lines with the rubber.

Most fun of all – if digital stationery can ever be so described – is the ruler. Tap it once and it appears on the sketch; tap it again and it disappears. This can be moved around with a single finger, or rotated with two. And at any moment you can sketch along the edge of it with whichever pen/pencil tool you had previously selected (there’s no need to ‘deselect’ the ruler and pick a pen).

There’s an Undo and Redo at the top of the window; tap Done to save the sketch in your document. (You can also share or save the sketch on its own – use the sharing icon at the top right.) If you decide you want to modify the sketch after this point, tap it once in your document and the sketch-editing window will open again. Tap Done to return to your document, complete with updated sketch.

Finally, you can see which of your Notes have sketches attached, because a thumbnail of the

sketch will appear to the left of the document’s entry in the list of files. If you’ve included two or more sketches, only the first will be shown.

9. Add to-do lists

This one won’t take as long. But it can also be useful. Having taken on board the fact that many iOS users turn to Notes for shopping lists and other forms of the to-do list, Apple has made it easy to add tick boxes next to items on a list, so that you can make a note when each one is accomplished without having to delete it from the list entirely. (This can be handy for repeat lists that need to be performed every day, for instance, or a regular shopping list that is bought in whole or part on a semi-regular basis.)

Highlight your list, using the traditional method or the virtual cursor we mentioned above, and tap the tick-in-a-circle icon. They will immediately turn into tickable action points. Tap the same icon again to revert to a normal list.

You can also hit Return to start a new line, and tap the icon once to create a single tick box that you can then write a caption for, if you’d prefer to do things that way round.

10. Formatting

Notes now has more sophisticated formatting options. These are now accessed via the capital A/ lower-case A icon, instead of from the options bar.

The app has seven text styles (as well as the previously available bold, italic and underlined styles), but three of these are available as a starting default: Title, Heading or Body. You can decide which one the app defaults to when you start typing in a new document by going to Settings → Notes → New Notes Start With. If you select Title or Heading, Notes will default back to the Body style for the second and subsequent paragraphs.

11. Public transport directions

If you’re planning a journey and don’t own a car, Apple Maps was no help at all in iOS 8, lagging years behind its Google counterpart. But iOS 9 adds public-transport directions at last. Search for a location, then tap Directions at the top left to bring up that section. Select the Transport tab.

Choose the route you wish to take from the options given, then tap Start at the foot of the page. Maps will guide you through your journey.

Alternatively, you can jump to directions from the pin that appears when you run the original search. Note that the pin has a time and a walking icon next to it; tap this and you’ll open walking directions. Tap the Transport tab to revert to public-transport directions instead.

Bear in mind that, as far as the UK goes, publictransport directions will be limited to London. The list of supported cities is a bit surreal: six US cities, Toronto and some nearby cities in Canada, London, Berlin, Mexico City, and then more than 300 locations in China.

12. Power-saving mode

Here’s a small but potentially huge change that we’ve been demanding for years: a system-wide battery-saving mode.

Whenever your iPhone drops below 20 percent power, a message will pop up to warn you of this fact and to offer Low Power Mode. Tap this to reduce animations throughout the system, decrease the time before the screen darkens, and generally make every effort to eke out your battery life for a little longer.

You can activate Low Power Mode at other times: look for the option in the new Battery section of Settings. (It’s in the same grouping as the General section, and has a green icon.)

You can tell that Low Power Mode is in effect, by the way, by looking at the battery indicator at the top of the screen: whereas this is green when above

20 percent and red below, it will be orange if in Low Power Mode.

13. Apple News

Apple has been trying to bring better reading experiences to the iPad. Joining iBooks and replacing Newsstand is Apple’s new News app.

If you’ve used Flipboard, then, you’ll have a pretty good idea what to expect. News aggregates news stories from around the world and brings them to your iPad. When you first launch News, you’ll be given a range of news outlets to choose, such as the Daily Mail or Vanity Fair. Then you’ll get news stories from those organisations into your News app.

14. Wallet

Wallet is the new name for Apple’s Passbook app. The name change reflects the prominence of Apple Pay in the app. Although Apple Pay is out in the UK already, it will be a lot more useful when iOS 9 arrives. Wallet isn’t just a name change, though. A great new feature is Loyalty Card support, so you can now pay for items in your favourite stores and get automatic loyalty card points.

15. Back button

Google Android devices have always had a Back button that takes you back to the previous screen or app. While Apple isn’t going so far as to add a new button alongside the simple Home Button, the company has added a new Back to… option in certain contexts when you’re using iOS 9.

If you navigate from one app to another using the Notification pull-down or other direct jump, you’ll notice a new ‘Back to…’ icon in the top-left of the screen. This new button takes you back to the previous app. (The option doesn’t appear if you went back to the Home screen between apps.)

Similarly, if you go to the search page (swipe right from the starting Home screen) and select an option

from there, you’ll be given the option to go back to the search you ran.

We think this will be a very handy new tool to use, and generally makes navigation between apps a little more user-friendly.

16. Android Migration Assistant

Apple is making it easier than ever to migrate (we might choose to say ‘upgrade’) from a Google Android device to an iPhone.

A new app called Android Migration Assistant helps move all of a user’s data over from their old phone to the new one. It transfers contacts, email accounts, music, photos, web history, wallpaper, as well as any DRM-free songs and books.

It also goes through the apps on a user’s old Android phone and suggests equivalents on the App Store. Apps you’ve paid for on Android are added to the iTunes Wish List.

A nice idea, but wouldn’t it be great if Apple could go one step further and negotiate with app developers to offer discounts to iOS users who’ve previously bought an app on Android?

17. iCloud Drive app icon

The iCloud Drive app has always been a bit of an oddball. Rather than being a discrete app, like Mail or Calendar, it sits behind the scenes and pops up inside other apps when needed.

One great new feature in iOS 9 is an option in Settings that turns on the iCloud Drive app, so

it appears as an icon on the home screen. This enables users to access the files in the iCloud Drive.

18. Toggle the flash light on (and off) while recording video

When recording a video, you can turn on the LED flash on an iPhone to light up the scene. This is great, but sometimes you don’t need the flash on all the time. It’s a small touch, but in iOS 9 you can switch the LED

Flash on and off during the recording of a video. So if you start recording a video and realise that you need a bit more light, iOS 9 will be able to deliver.

19. Improved Photos app

The Photos app has had a few upgrades that make it easier to scroll around all your images. When you open an image, you’ll notice a new thumbnail strip. Sliding your finger across the thumbnail strip moves you quickly through the photo gallery. Another new gesture is a swipe down on Photos. This dismisses the photo and moves you back to the Albums view. You can also hide multiple photos at once using the Share Sheet.

20. Siri is more polite

Siri is famous for its wise-cracking answers to your questions, but in iOS 9 it gets a little bit politer. When you mute your iPhone, Siri will no longer speak replies. Instead, it’ll be quiet and just listen to your requests (and display answers on the screen). Siri also vibrates your iPhone to indicate when it’s ready, rather than making noise.

Don’t worry. Siri is still as smart-mouthed as ever, and we’re sure it’s only going to get smarter as time goes on. And don’t forget all the funny Siri responses you can enjoy.

21. Find My Friends and Find My iPhone now default

It’s a little thing, but Apple is going to include Find My Friends and Find My iPhone as stock apps from iOS 9 onwards. We think Find My Friends and Find My iPhone are both fantastic apps, and most iPhone and iPad owners are well aware of their existence. However, by achieving the default app status, they’ll be present on all iOS devices, so there’s no excuse for anybody not to sign up. People are certain to complain that Find My Friends can’t be deleted, though.