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iOS 9 Beta 2 Tidbits: iPad Keyboard Tweaks, New Podcasts Icon, Improved Search and More

Tuesday June 23, 2015 12:29 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released the second beta of iOS 9, introducing a number of performance improvements, feature updates, and bug fixes to the beta software that was first seeded to developers on June 8.

iOS 9 beta 2 includes several minor design tweaks and feature updates that have been introduced as Apple works to refine the software ahead of its public release this fall. With the changes, the beta is already feeling faster and more polished, with a much improved search function. We've gathered up a full list of the minor changes we've found in iOS 9 beta 2 below.

Podcasts - The Podcasts has a newly updated icon that's bolder. The layout of the app has also been updated slightly, changing the position of some of the download buttons.

podcastsicon
Handoff - Handoff is again being displayed in the App Switcher screen. Handoff was not available in the App Switcher in the first iOS 9 beta.

handoffappswitcher
Search - Search appears to be much improved in iOS 9 beta 2, bringing up both more results and a wider range of results for each search query.

Apple Watch app - The Apple Watch app has a new, simpler name, having been renamed to "Watch."

applewatchiphoneicon
News setting - There's now a "News" toggle under iCloud in the Settings app, but toggling it on does not do anything as the News app is not yet available.

Search settings - In the Settings app under General --> Search, there's now a list of all installed apps with the option to toggle them on or off in search results. Previously, this menu showed only Apple search results and options like Bing Web Results, Documents, Found in Mail, Safari Suggestions, and more.

iPad keyboard tweaks - The edit functions on the iPad keyboard have been tweaked slightly. There's now an undo/redo option that shows up as the default edit function in place of the cut/paste tool. The cutting and pasting edit tools continue to be available, showing up when text is selected.

ipadkeyboardtweaks
Auto app delete/reinstall - This is actually a beta 1 feature, but it was discovered as users installed beta 2. When attempting to install iOS 9 on a device with insufficient space, there's an option to temporarily delete apps to make room, with the OS automatically reinstalling deleted content after the update is completed.

Safari - In beta 2, the option for "Content Blockers" in the Settings app under Safari is hidden until a Content Blocker is installed. There are also new options to toggle on the Tab Bar and Favorites Bar.

safarisettings
Additional feature updates in iOS 9 beta 2 will be added here as they are discovered. Apple should continue to release regular updates to iOS 9 at two to three week intervals throughout the beta testing period to bring minor performance boosts and changes ahead of the operating system's official launch. iOS 9 is expected to be released to the public in the fall, but a public beta test will come first, in July.
[ 149 comments ]


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jdillings
41 months ago

And those people don't understand how the web works. They may want no ads but they'd be crying when Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Mac Rumors and the majority of the web simply went away from lack of revenue.


So we would go back to a time when people's privacy was respected and people weren't treated like a product. How is this bad?
Rating: 9 Votes
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JoJack82
41 months ago

Nope. It doesn't. It works just like a "Restore from iCloud" backup... redownloads all your apps but you have to log in again fresh, no saved games, etc.


That seems silly. You would think they could save the app data.
Rating: 8 Votes
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QCassidy352
41 months ago

There would be no[...] Facebook, no Twitter, no Reddit


So you're saying it's a win/win?

:D
Rating: 6 Votes
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The Doctor11
41 months ago
OMG they used my Hand Off screen shot! That actually made my day a bit :D!

I am really happy they brought the hand off in multitasking back.
Rating: 5 Votes
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KALLT
41 months ago

Blocking them isn't the answer.


Yes, it is. Content blocking gives power back to the users and brings forth change. Website owners should think more carefully about the rubbish they load from external sources and be more considerate of their users' privacy. MacRumors already loads at least 6 trackers, among which several from Google. Screw Google and others, I don't want to be tracked along all the websites I visit. I don't care about seeing ads, but my privacy is not up for sale and not theirs to take. It used to be different when these extensive tracking schemes were not mainstream. Websites survived that too.
Rating: 5 Votes
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WilliamLondon
41 months ago

We don't want no ads


I'm fairly certain lots of people want no ads, of any sort, ever.
Rating: 4 Votes
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macduke
41 months ago

Nope. It doesn't. It works just like a "Restore from iCloud" backup... redownloads all your apps but you have to log in again fresh, no saved games, etc.

Ummmm…my iCloud backup has always stored all my save games?

Downloading the update now to my iPad Air 2. Hoping it improves the battery life (mainly it seems to drain faster while sleeping) and the stability during multitasking. Mine hasn't been too crash prone but was really glitchy during the restore from iCloud backup when lots of things were happening at once. Overall this was one of the most solid Beta 1's I've ever used for iOS. Would beta again.
Rating: 4 Votes
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The Doctor11
41 months ago

Wow, remaning a app has become noteworthy. :eek:

Everything and anything is noteworthy when it comes to software updates!
Rating: 4 Votes
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ericpwb
41 months ago
Looks like the health app now groups data points by day when looking at the "show all data" panel for a metric, instead of showing each entry from the motion chip.
Rating: 3 Votes
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oneMadRssn
41 months ago

Lots will cry if their dreams of ad-blocking on mobile go away.

Remember, ads make the web work. That's why places like Mac Rumors, Reddit, Google, Facebook, and all of your favorite sites exist. We don't want no ads, we just want the to not be right in our faces. Google is doing a lot to help with this (since they exist because of ads). They're dropping sites in their own rankings when they're placing ads in crummy places and ruining the user experience. Google only allows a max of 3 ads per page and limits them in other ways too. The sites you see that are stuffed full are generally not using the Google ad network which is the most common on the web.


It's my computer and my internet connection. I should have the power to decide which packets from a website are accepted and which are rejected when I request the website.

Ads are a nuisance that ruin good content and wast valuable bandwidth resources on both ends of the connection. Just because today most websites rely on ad revenue doesn't mean it should forever be this way and the consumer shouldn't have any way to mitigate those negatives immediately.
Rating: 3 Votes

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