MacRumors

iOS 9 focuses on intelligence and proactivity, giving iOS devices the tools to learn user habits and act on that information. In iOS 9, our iPhones and iPads can open up apps right when we need them, make recommendations on places we might like, and guide us through our daily lives through improvements to search and Siri.

Proactive Suggestions

Through a set of Proactive features, iOS 9 is able to offer up app suggestions and other information based on the way you use your iPhone or iPad. For example, if you often listen to music in the morning, iOS 9 will offer up the Music app on the lock screen when you plug in your headphones. If you always open the weather app to check what's going on outside, it might be presented as a suggestion each morning.

When heading home from work in the evening, iOS 9's Proactive features might bring up a map that includes traffic patterns, or tell you how long it will take to get home. When getting in the car, if you listen to a specific music app, it might open automatically when the car connects to Bluetooth.

Proactive suggestions are also available within apps. When creating an email or composing a message to a friend, iOS 9 will suggest people you typically include, making it easy to get things done fast. If you get an email with a flight reservation or restaurant confirmation, iOS 9 can suggest and then create a calendar event. With calendar events that include location, iOS 9 is able to assess traffic conditions and send a reminder when it thinks you should leave to make it on time.

Siri

Siri is also able to do a lot more in iOS 9 because the personal assistant has contextual awareness. For example, when asking Siri to "Remind me to do this" when looking at a request in the Messages app, Siri will understand what "This" refers to, providing the correct response. In the Reminders app, the Reminder created by Siri will link back to that original conversation, so the source is apparent.

Siri is also more aware of location, so specific location-based reminders like "Call mom when I get in the car" are available. For photos and videos, Siri is able to perform time-based searches. Ask Siri to "Show my photos from Utah from last August" and images that fit the criteria will appear. Siri is able to search based on dates, location, and album titles.

Siri Suggestions

Swiping right on the Home screen brings up a new Spotlight search interface that includes "Siri Suggestions." Siri Suggestions includes a list of people you speak with often, apps you might want to use depending on the time of day, nearby venues like restaurants and gas stations, and relevant news.

Suggestions offered through this interface will change based on the time of day and each user's iOS usage habits. If you open Yelp at lunchtime, it might display the Yelp app at noon. If you watch Netflix at night, it might display the Netflix app when you get home from work.

Search

Search in iOS 9 includes an expanded list of sources, which are available whenever a text-based search is made or a voice-based search through Siri. Sports scores and schedules, weather forecasts, and stock prices are all available, as are simple calculations and conversions. A search for 15% of $25, for example, will bring up the correct result.

Search extends to content within apps in iOS 9. When looking for a recipe, for example, you might search for "apple pie" to find apple pie recipes across several different cooking apps. Developers need to build support for search into their apps, so not all apps will show up. In the Search section of the Settings app, you can customize which apps will show up in search results.

With all of these new features, iOS 9 will learn more about usage habits over time to create a unique experience that's tailored towards the specific needs of each individual user. Proactive suggestions will improve as time goes on and the operating system gets used to the way you like to use your iPhone or iPad.

iOS 9 brings a long-awaited Split-Screen multitasking feature to the iPad for the first time, letting users operate two apps simultaneously and bolstering the productivity capabilities of Apple's tablet lineup. There are three different multitasking features that are available on various iPad models: Slide Over, Split View, and Picture in Picture.

Slide Over can be activated within any app by swiping left from the right side of the iPad to bring up a small side pane that displays a secondary app alongside the first app. Slide Over takes up 1/3 of the space, and any app that has built-in multitasking support will appear in the side pane. Swiping downwards on the Slide Over window from the top of the iPad screen will allow you to switch between apps.

Slide Over is not a full multitasking experience because both apps are not active at once. When the side pane is open, the app that's taking up most of the screen is paused and relegated to the background. Slide Over can be used in portrait or landscape mode and is useful for answering a quick message or looking something up in Safari while using another app.

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Apple News is an all-new app on iOS 9 that aggregates stories from several sources into one mobile-friendly format for reading on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The app is very similar to existing news apps such as Flipboard and Zine, displaying a list of news articles and personalized stories based on publications that interest you.

International readers should note that Apple News is currently available in the U.S. only.

Apple allows publishers of all sizes to sign up to be included on Apple News using News Publisher, ranging from traditional publications such as The New York Times, CNN, ESPN, The Atlantic, The Daily Mail and Slate to independent blogs such as MacRumors, TouchArcade and Daring Fireball.

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Alongside the launch of iOS 9, Apple today introduced a new "Move to iOS" app for Android devices. The app, which is now available for download, is designed to help Android users transfer their content from an Android device to an iOS device.

With Move to iOS installed on an Android smartphone or tablet, the Move to iOS service is able to transfer almost all important data from the Android device to the new iOS device, including contacts, message history, photos and videos, web bookmarks, mail account information, calendars, wallpapers, DRM-free songs, and books.

Using Move to iOS also helps users transfer over their apps to rebuild their app libraries. On the Android device, the app will compile a list of all the apps that have been downloaded from the Google Play Store or other sources. All free apps that have iOS counterparts will be suggested as immediate downloads, while apps that have paid iOS counterparts will be automatically added to a user's iTunes Wish List for purchase as needed.

Apple has created a support document that walks Android users through using the Move to iOS app. It requires Android 4.0 or later, a Wi-Fi connection, and enough available space on the iOS device receiving content.

First announced at WWDC, Move to iOS is Apple's most aggressive move towards encouraging Android users to switch to iPhone. By making it easy to transfer content, Apple is removing a lot of the headache associated with changing platforms. Apple has had a support document and a microsite designed to help Android users switch to iOS for quite some time, but this new app is a more comprehensive, streamlined solution.

Apple has made the Notes app a lot more useful on iOS 9 by integrating it with several other stock apps, including Photos, Mail, Maps and Safari. In addition to traditional note-taking, users can now create checklists, draw sketches and insert photos, videos, links, maps, Pages documents and other attachments into notes.

Checklists

You can now create a checklist in the Notes app by selecting lines of text and tapping on the checkmark button above the keyboard. Each list item will then have a circular bullet next to that can be marked as completed, which is convenient for grocery lists, wish lists, to-do lists and so forth.

Apple has also added formatting options in Notes for adjusting the size and weight of text, including Heading, Body, Checklist, Bulleted List and Dashed Line. Anyone that has ever used text formatting in Pages, Microsoft Word or virtually any other word processing program should be familiar with this feature.

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Apple Maps launched in September 2012 as the default mapping app on iPhone, but soon faced widespread criticism for having incomplete data, providing incorrect directions and lacking features over Google Maps. The controversial launch resulted in Apple CEO Tim Cook issuing a rare public apology, while former iOS chief Scott Forstall was ousted from Apple just one month later.

While there is still room for improvement, Apple Maps has gained several new features over the past three years. iOS 9 continues that trend, adding a long overdue Transit routing and new Nearby search mode alongside existing features such as turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic information, Flyover photo-realistic 3D views of select metro areas, Siri, local search and iCloud support.

Transit

Apple Maps is now a multi-modal mapping app with the addition of public transit routing via bus, subway, light rail, train and ferry. You can view entire stations or individual lines on a map to choose the best possible route.

Apple Maps transit directions are currently available in Baltimore, Berlin, Chicago, London, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington D.C. and several cities in China.

Some extended areas of Connecticut and New Jersey near New York City and Southern Ontario cities near Toronto such as York Region, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton and Waterloo Region also support transit.

Nearby

You can now search Apple Maps based on categories such as Food, Drinks, Shopping, Travel, Services, Fun, Health and Transport, and within each category you can search deeper for specific places.

If you tap on Food, for example, you can then filter your results based on Popular, Restaurants, Groceries, Fast Food, Cafés, Bakeries and Desserts. A list of locations is displayed with aggregated Yelp data.

Nearby categories such as Food, Fun, Shopping and Travel can also be accessed from the Spotlight Search menu on iOS 9.

iDevices today announced the launch date of its trio of HomeKit-enabled products that includes the iDevices Switch, Outdoor Switch, and Thermostat. The Switch and Thermostat will be available for purchase on iDevices' online storefront, or exclusively from Lowe's retail stores, starting on September 28, while the Outdoor Switch is slated for a release later in November.

Originally announced back in January at CES, the iDevices Switch allows HomeKit users to easily control, monitor, and program anything directly connected into the smart plug. Users will be able to set powering on and off schedules, and use Siri to control the status of the device connected to the Switch. The iDevices Switch will retail for $49 when it launches later this month.

The Outdoor Switch is largely similar to the traditional Switch model, but includes a rain-tight plug along with dual outlets so that users can control and program anything outdoors, like seasonal holiday lighting and spotlights. This model won't be available until an unspecified time in November, however, and as such doesn't have a specified retail price yet.

Lastly is the iDevices Thermostat, which the company states can control a home's AC and heat from anywhere using Siri or the connected app, so that they "can ensure their home temperature will always be exactly the way they like it." On September 28, the HomeKit-enabled Thermostat will launch for $149 alongside the Switch in Lowe's stores and on the iDevices website.

Along with the new products, iDevices is updating its Connected App [Direct Link] to version 2.0, with a new interface and the ability to connect and support other company's HomeKit products -- like the Schlage Sense Smart Deadbolt -- in addition to its own. Users interested can find out more information, and pre-order the iDevices Switch, Outdoor Switch, and Thermostat over at the company's official website. Lowe's is also accepting pre-orders on the Switch and Thermostat, with the ability to pick up the new HomeKit-enabled products at your local store on launch day.

watchOS is the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch, powering its fitness tracking capabilities, apps, communication features, time-keeping abilities, and more. Apple plans to push regular updates to fix watchOS bugs, refine performance, and introduce new features, and the release of watchOS 2 alongside iOS 9 later today is a major uprade for the platform. (Update: Apple has delayed the public release of watchOS 2.)

watchOS updates are installed in a unique way that differs from how we install iPhone and Mac updates, so we've crafted a quick tutorial to remind users how to get the latest version of watchOS on their Apple Watches so they're ready for watchOS 2.

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According to a few sources out of the Dutch telecommunications industry, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be launching in the Netherlands on October 2, with pre-orders for the release beginning a week earlier on September 25 (via iPhoned) [Google Translate].

The pricing for the new smartphones will be a bit different compared to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with the 16GB version of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus going for €749 and €849, respectively. That's €50 more expensive than last year's models, a statistic which keeps increasing with the addition of storage and choosing the Plus model over the normal version. As iPhoned points out, the most expensive 128GB iPhone 6s Plus model will now be €1,069.

Along with the Netherlands, a report out of India last week suggested that Apple is accelerating the launch of the new iPhones in the country, which will directly face Samsung's decision to launch the newly announced Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Note5 in the same time window (via The Economic Times). The rumor states that Apple will try to launch the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus by October 10-11, which is about a month ahead of its initial plans for a November launch in India.

If the Apple India team manages to convince its Cupertino headquarters, it will be the fastest ever launch of any Apple product in India since announcement.

"An October launch will give it a significant time to align its marketing campaign well ahead of Diwali unlike last year when it got just a week for the same and also leveraging upon its expanded distribution coverage now as compared to an year ago," said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at market tracker Counterpoint Research.

The new iPhones went up for pre-order over the weekend, and will launch next week on September 25 in the first-wave of launch countries including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK, and the United States. Apple previously announced that it has plans for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to be in over 130 countries by the end of 2015, but hasn't given any specific names to the locations included in the next launch wave.

Costco has launched a promotion allowing its U.S. Costco card members to receive $100 or $50 mail-in rebates when they pre-order an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus. The mail-in rebate amount is different for each carrier.

T-Mobile customers get a $100 mail-in rebate when they pre-order any iPhone 6s or 6s Plus in any color and / or storage option. Verizon and Sprint customers, however, only receive a $50 mail-in rebate on either a 16 GB gold iPhone 6s Plus, a 16 GB Space Gray iPhone 6s or a 64 GB Space Gray iPhone 6s. AT&T customers, unfortunately, are not eligible for any mail-in rebates.

While it's not rare for iPhones to get mail-in rebate forms or discounts, it is rare for a promotional price to be offered on an iPhone during its pre-order period. Costco card members must pre-order their iPhone 6s or 6s Plus online between September 12 and September 24 to be eligible for the mail-in rebate.