Tech

The 5 best features of iOS 9

Tim Stenovec

2015-09-19T17:16:49Z

I've been using iOS 9, the new operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, for a couple of days now.

iOS 9 isn't a drastic redesign of the operating system, like the introduction of iOS 7 was two years ago.

But I've still found that some of the new features are meaningful improvements over last year's iOS 8, and they help me get stuff done on my phone more quickly.

I haven't yet had a chance to try out all of the new features — there are a lot! — but these are some of my favorite so far.

Now you can see notifications grouped by time rather than by app.

Notifications used to be grouped according to app. So you wouldn't always see the most recent messages when when you swiped down from your home screen.

This may not sound like a big deal, but I tend not to delete these messages, so my Notifications Center was usually a mess. I'd have to scroll for awhile to see the latest news alert or email.

Now, since they're grouped by time, I see the latest notifications when I swipe down on my home screen.

It's so much easier to delete photos.

You no longer have to tap-tap-tap to select photos to delete. With iOS 9, you can select a series of photos just by swiping your finger across the screen.

You can swipe both left and right across the screen to select or deselect a large number of photos.

This is game-changing if you need to make space on your phone, or delete those hundreds of pictures you snapped that day this summer you took your dog to the beach.

The new app switcher looks a lot better and it's easier to use.

The new app switcher — what comes up when you double press the home button on your device — got a pretty big makeover in iOS 9.

The apps that you recently used appear bigger and are stacked atop one another. It may not seem like much, but it actually makes switching between apps smoother and faster.

Siri's app suggestions predicts what app you're going to use. It saves time from searching through your home screen.

When you swipe down on your screen or swipe right from the main home screen, Siri will suggest apps that it thinks you'll want to use. This is based on apps you use regularly as well as apps you've recently used.

It works really well!

When you search for a contact, you can call that person right from the search screen.

When you're searching for a contact, you can call, message, or FaceTime that person without going into the contacts apps. Again, a small step that makes it quicker to do certain things on your phone.

Apple