The woes of iOS 8 and how Apple plans to fix them

If you are one of the people who stand annoyed at iOS 8, with consistent bugs, app crashes and performance issues, even the latest shiny Apple hardware, then your frustration could soon come to an end with iOS 9 – or at least that is what Apple is telling us.

Mark Gurman of 9 to 5 Mac reports that the latest version of Apple’s mobile software will primarily focus on stability and usability, especially on older devices. Apple’s tendencies are to display their newest OS versions at WWDC in June every year, and this year is no exception. What stands out is that this will be the first year that there are very little, if any, new standout features reported that will continue to give iPhone and iPad users satisfaction with their devices.

iOS 9 is aimed to be giving current iPhone and iPad users, a far better user experience than they are already getting, and this surprisingly includes older devices as well. Optimisations under the hood of older iPhones and iPads might give users less of a reason to either switch to another competitor, or upgrade entirely. The iPhone 4S & original iPad Mini struggle sufficiently on iOS 8 that is made for it, and users report less satisfaction with the phone than on previous versions of iOS. What does this mean for Apple however? Well if you are a customer who has been burnt upgrading to the latest software or completely fed up with the glitches of iOS 8, you might be reluctant to purely upgrade because Apple tells you to. On the other hand, if you are a religious Apple fan boy/girl, you might find comfort in what Apple is offering in iOS 9. However, no word is confirmed whether iOS 9 will fix the problems we face at the minute.. For a while now Apple users have been tired of not receiving split-screen Multitasking on the iPad (similar to what is offered on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab line of late, and what Windows 8.1 can achieve with simultaneous apps and programs on the desktop). For Apple to continue to disregard this feature within iOS would prove frustrating for power users. People who rely on the iPad as their primary portable for emails, web browsing, productivity app consumption and editing; would prove to benefit from a split-screen function on the iPad. However for the main focus of iOS 9 seem to be tiered towards usability and stability, not adding more features as stated.

Smaller application sizes have also been leaked from the same source as another feature to come to iOS 9. Apple currently offers 16GB, 64GB and 128GB flash storage versions of its iPads and iPhones. With no clear plans to refresh the line and remove the 16GB option for a base storage option of 32GB, apps can quickly take up enormous amounts of space, especially if users are frequent podcast listeners or download large music files. The cheaper 16GB models can fill up quickly with heavy users, and with no MicroSD expandable storage there is little options in terms of physical expandable storage for users. iCloud Drive is an attractive short term solution to solve storage woes, however large amounts of storage can get pricey.

All in all, WWDC should be interesting to watch and see what Apple has planned for a to be released iOS 9 and even a new version of OS X even seems to be on the horizon. Stay tuned to TechDependent for the latest WWDC updates as they become announced when the conference goes live in June! Source: 9to5mac.com

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