Which devices support iOS 9. Speed ​​and battery life

If you're the proud owner of an iPhone 5s, iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, or newer model without jailbreak, there's no reason to stay on iOS 8.4.1. It's time to update your device to the new iOS 9. For owners of iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and iPad Mini, the update is contraindicated - Apple's new mobile operating system will most likely work on your device much slower and with errors than on earlier versions - iPhone 4s with iOS 8 is a direct confirmation of this.

Below the cut is information for those who want to update their iPhone, iPad or iPad Mini to iOS 9 correctly.

iOS 9 Compatible Devices

Apple's new mobile operating system can be installed on:

• iPhone 6 Plus
• iPhone 6
• iPhone 5s
• iPhone 5c
• iPhone 5
• iPhone 4s

• iPad Air 2
• iPad Air
• iPad 4
• iPad 3
• iPad 2
• iPad mini 3
• iPad mini 2
• iPad mini

• iPod touch 5th generation

Let me remind you once again that it is better not to update the iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and iPad Mini on iOS 9; the operating system requirements for the hardware of the devices have increased. Consequently, they will work much slower and the battery will drain faster. It is impossible to roll back the iPhone firmware from the current one to an earlier one - guaranteed.

Create a backup

To avoid losing personal information (photos, contacts, notes, reminders, calendars, email account settings) before updating.

Clear memory

When updating iPhone and iPad via iTunes, you do not need to delete their contents first; this is done automatically.

Create a 6-digit lock password

How to install iOS 9 on iPhone and iPad via iTunes

If you encounter errors during the update process in iTunes, you will find solutions to solve them.

How to install iOS 9 on iPhone and iPad over the air

Updating iOS over Wi-Fi is easier, but takes longer (iOS boots over Wi-Fi) and is not recommended when moving between generations of iOS, as it often subsequently causes problems with device performance.

If that doesn't stop you:

If you have any questions or difficulties during the update process, write to us in the comments. If you found this information helpful, please add a link to it on your social media pages so others can know about us.

At the annual WWDC exhibition in 2015, the 9th version of Apple’s mobile operating system was presented. The software was well received and intrigued many, including support for fairly old gadgets, including the 2nd generation iPad and iPhone 4s. In this material, we will look at what the new platform from California is, and how iOS9 behaves on the iPhone 4s, and also consider reviews, real problems and expert opinions.

iOS 9

The system was announced in the summer of 2015 at WWDC. This iteration of Apple's software platform brought a lot of changes that affected mainly the internal components of the system with a minimum of visual changes. The Apple Music service was officially launched, some standard programs were updated, and new opportunities for developers appeared.

Many innovations were hidden under the hood. Only those involved in development have encountered them, but this does not make them any less important.

Peculiarities

One of the most important changes was the update of the search engine. Spotlight was trained in new features, which included: the ability to convert currencies and other values, perform calculator functions, search for weather, news, music, and the like. Unfortunately, many functions are limited geographically and do not work in Russia. Third-party developers now have a dedicated API that allows them to integrate the functionality of their apps into Spotlight.

The standard browser has acquired new capabilities. Now developers can create an ad blocker. Unlike AdBlock and similar solutions, Safari doesn’t just hide it, but prevents it from loading, which speeds up the Internet and reduces the level of surveillance from contextual advertising.

The standard note-taking program has been updated. If before it was just a weak text editor, now it is a powerful tool akin to Evernote. The user can add attachments to notes such as web links, documents, images, audio files and more. All attachments can be viewed in a special mode, and the notes themselves can now be scattered into folders.

A separate program for news has appeared, which does not yet work in Russia. This is an aggregator of news from the Internet, designed to replace the disappeared “Kiosk”. Many serious publications and independent editors have the opportunity to post their news in the Apple system and at the same time receive money for advertising.

Apple's map service has also been updated. In addition to closer integration with search and Siri, the service now has the ability to build walking routes. Again, due to geographical restrictions, this function is unlikely to work in Russia. Even transport routes are still not adapted to Russian realities.

Many minor changes were also introduced, for example, the standard dialer learned to look for numbers in mail, and the calendar searches for invitations and flights there. The long-awaited search function by settings and energy saving mode have appeared.

The only visual change worth noting is the new multitasking menu. It lost useful features, became less convenient, but more attractive and adapted to the new 3D Touch displays.

Performance bias

During the presentation, the manufacturer emphasized several times that the new operating system was developed with special attention to the code, and its performance is much higher. A lot has been said that the update will have a good effect on battery life. For the first time in such a long period, Apple admitted that both parameters were suffering. And now the long-awaited changes have appeared. As if to prove this fact, the company announces that there will be an iOS 9 update on the iPhone 4s. Reviews about the system poured in immediately after the release of the test version, and not bad ones at that.

Test period: OS 9 beta on iPhone 4s

This is the most amazing time for the new system, because almost immediately public access to the test version was opened, so a lot of people immediately had a hand in the new platform. Including owners of the oldest gadgets, which included the iPhone 4s. It's worth noting that this was a pretty successful experiment - iOS 9 on iPhone 4s. Reviews regarding such a launch were already very positive by the second beta - the device “came to life” before our eyes. Autonomy grew, and everyone was happy. It is important to note that the same wave of positivity affected those who installed iOS 9 on the iPhone 4s 8gb. Reviews said that the new installation system (with system cleaning and subsequent reboot) was the only thing that allowed them to install a newer program automatically and without losing important data.

Unfortunately, as often happens with Apple, everyone was happy only until the release. As soon as we managed to evaluate the release version, it became clear that the system is not at all suitable for older devices. Already at the time of the release of iOS 9 GM on the iPhone 4s, reviews sharply changed to negative. The owners of all the old devices seemed to have been framed, and everyone who did not have time to “roll back” was forced to endure the new “features” of the system.

iPhone 4s - obsolete, but not broken

This model of Apple smartphone was released back in 2011 (by the standards of technological progress). It was the first phone from California with a dual-core processor, which was the reason for porting the latest version of the operating system to it. The gadget is still a kind of unspoken symbol of the iPhone, and smartphones in general. This is the most recognizable phone in the world, but, unfortunately, hopelessly outdated. Updating it to the latest version of iOS is a bad decision that has resulted in regret for many.

Availability

The most surprising thing about the latest release is the list of supported devices. iOS 9 on the iPhone 4s and iPad Air 2 was updated at the same time, albeit with a lot of differences, but the fact itself was surprising. This is a warm greeting to all “dinosaurs” and glass iPhone lovers.

Another help in favor of installing a new program was, in fact, the new update system, which made it possible to automatically free up space for a new distribution, after which the losses were restored. This made it possible for all owners of 8 GB gadgets to jump to iOS 9.

Performance

This is the most controversial point in the entire system. Throughout its history, Apple's platform has been called the most stable and fastest, accessible and simple. In the world of operating systems, iOS has received the title of AK assault rifle with its complex of qualities. iOS 9 runs reasonably well on the iPhone 4s, but it’s not even close to the user experience that Apple fans are used to experiencing.

Slow frame rates and stuttering became noticeable literally everywhere. The search opens slowly, and the information is processed in the same way. Delays occur when making a call; modern applications take a long time to open. The smoothness in the "Music" application drops wildly. You have to wait for even banal utilities to launch, such as a calculator, clock, voice recorder and others. The camera release will also not be as fast as before.

Safari unloads tabs from memory literally the moment you leave it, and has difficulty loading massive pages. Productivity has dropped, and there's no denying it. The system is becoming increasingly difficult to use.

Feature support

In the case of Apple gadgets, users often encounter various kinds of limitations. This is mainly due to geography. One has only to remember how long the Russian-speaking population waited for the notorious Siri. Almost 5 years passed before she was taught Russian, and even then she was not taught enough. The same can be said about maps, music, iTunes and many other services.

There is another type of limitation that is related to the hardware of a particular device. And if sometimes they are not too large-scale and tough, then this time because of them the point of installing a new version of iOS is completely lost.

For example, Siri is not supported on older phones, and you won't even find this screen. You can also forget about the presence of support for browser add-ons (you won’t be able to block ads). There's even no way to sketch in the updated Notes app. Therefore, users did not receive anything new. Almost all features have been cut. As a result, we have a minimum of updates and a bunch of performance-related problems.

iOS 9 on iPhone 4s: reviews, opinions

The best mobile operating system in the world received a lot of positive reviews, especially at the time of release. And with each new update, user opinion began to decline. The number of bugs grew, performance dropped, and in the end everyone was finished off by always-on Caps Lock. There will be many users who will claim that the iPhone 4s is still operational, the system is in order, and it can work. These people are often quick to review iOS 9 with positive connotations, misleading many who are considering the upgrade.

It's all about perception. Some people are used to the fact that programs should start in 5-10 seconds, while others are not ready to wait even a second, so they always buy the most modern gadgets.

That's why it's so hard to formulate an overall impression regarding iOS 9 on the iPhone 4s. Reviews about the program, due to different user perceptions, do not make it possible to answer the question of whether it is worth installing a new system.

Time to change the device, or "conspiracy theory"

Updating to iOS 9 is the last stage in the life of the fourth generation of iPhones. It is worth recognizing that its life cycle has expired, and it is time to get rid of it. This is not surprising, since its hardware is quite weak, and its software is becoming more complex and heavy.

There is a popular belief that the slowdown of the operating system is not due to weak hardware, but due to Apple's desire to profit from its users. Allegedly, this is a forceful influence on owners of old iPhones, an attempt to get them out of their old phones and force them to buy a new product. This theory is supported by the fact that the hacker community has long learned to speed up the device, introduce functions that Apple does not want to implement, and so on. Whether this is true or not, no one can say for sure. One thing is clear: the time of the old iPhone is up, and it’s time to change it.

If you currently have a device like the iPhone 4 in your hands, then you would probably like to know how you can update it to iOS 9.

It is quite normal that people always strive for the newest, because usually newer versions of the OS carry quite a lot of new useful functions.

Let's try to find out if this is possible today. There is an answer and it is very obvious, so I will be happy to share it and talk about my thoughts on this topic.

How to install iOS 9 on iPhone 4?

I'll start with a little statistics and history. Apple always tries to support devices up to the highest version of iOS, and the iPhone 4 and 4S served as excellent examples for us.

IPhone 4 came out back in 2010 and I don’t think you need to tell how old the phone is. At that time he was very, very cool.

Generally speaking, when you usually buy a new device from Apple, you should understand that you can get maximum comfortable use within four years.

Most often, iOS device updates occur in the following ways:

• by air (via Wi-Fi);
• via iTunes.

Unfortunately, if you try to update your iPhone 4, you can get the maximum update to version 7.1.2 and iOS 9 is out of the question.

As soon as this smartphone came out, it had a completely different type of iOS and you probably heard such an expression as Skeuomorphism. All operating systems before iOS 7 were built on this.

When iOS 7 appeared, quite a lot of new functions appeared and absolutely everything was completely redrawn. And as you understand, each subsequent version of the OS requires better characteristics.

This system appeared in 2013 and the time of this phone was already coming to an end. Just think, the phone has a single-core 1GHz Apple A4 processor and only 512MB of RAM.

The maximum that can be done is to install Jailbreak and install a bunch of tweaks that can change the appearance of your system and nothing more.

Results

Like this is the harsh truth about updating iPhone 4 to iOS 9. You need to understand that the smartphone is already part of Apple history and nothing more.

The solution to this situation may be as follows. Today the market has a very good selection of Android devices that are very affordable and run absolutely all the new software.

Or, if you are a true Apple fan, look at older models like the iPhone SE, 6S and others. In principle, six is ​​not so bad. Refurbished options are good for the price.

The new operating system became available for download on September 16, we decided not to rush into reviewing it, but to use the updated devices for at least a couple of days to get a general impression of the update.

First, let's take a look at the list of devices compatible with this update.

I must note that their number is pleasantly surprising; there are even old Apple iPhone 4s and iPad 2 with the first generation iPad mini. Eldar Murtazin already spoke about the popularity of the iPhone 4s, and he also noted the long life of tablets among users; these two arguments perfectly justify Apple’s decision to update even its old devices to the “nine”. Ordinary users can only rejoice. Now let's move on to innovations.

New font

It was a little selfish on my part to start a review of innovations with a new font, but it so happens, for me fonts have always been an important part of the perception of information, I’ll tell you more, good font smoothing in older versions of OS X was one of the important reasons for buying an iMac.

But since Yosemite, Apple somehow started changing fonts too often. Before users had time to get used to Helvetica Neue, which looked great on the current iPhone resolutions, the font was changed again in iOS 9, this time to San Francisco. And right after the update, this is the first thing you notice. Personally, I didn’t like the new font right away, and here’s the thing. Already in Helvetica, the font lines were already quite thin, and in SF they were made even thinner, and this would not have been any problem if not for the resolution of the iPhone displays. Personally, I began to notice very well pixelation in small fonts, for example, in the main menu with icons. If Apple increases the display resolution in the iPhone 7, this drawback will be leveled out.

Another problem is that this font is somewhat childish. It reminds me of the cartoon fonts available on Samsung a long time ago.

However, man is a creature of habit, and after a couple of days you begin to get used to SF. To be more objective, I asked several friends and colleagues who upgraded to iOS 9 whether they liked the new font. Opinions were different, some didn’t see much of a difference, some didn’t care, and some, like me, were annoyed by SF. However, on Twitter, some subscribers noted that they, on the contrary, liked SF, so this is largely a matter of taste. As one of our readers said: “you’ll still get used to where you go,” and he’s basically right. It is unlikely that anyone will change their smartphone because of the changed font (although I had such thoughts on the first day).

And lastly, you won’t be able to feel the difference between Helvetica and SF in the screenshots; you need to use the device live to notice it.

Multitasking

There are several improvements related to multitasking. Firstly, the way the latest applications are displayed has changed, now they look more like a half-open deck of cards, while kinetic scrolling is available, so if you need to return to an application that has been open for a long time, just swipe a little faster.

An interesting and nice feature in iOS 9 is returning to the previous application. When you switch between programs, a small window appears in the upper left corner asking you to return to the previous application. This is convenient when you need to quickly reply to a message and continue reading a book, for example. Interestingly, you can return to the previous application only if the transition was “end-to-end”, for example, you followed a link and a second program opened, etc. If you just switch through the application menu, then there will be no such option.

The iPad now has the ability to split screens into two parts, already familiar to us from Samsung tablets, Windows 10, and third-party applications for OS X. Apple called it Split View. You can not only install two programs on the screen, but also adjust the amount of space that each of them takes up. I regret to learn that this feature is only available for new tablets (iPad Pro, iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2).

I have an iPad mini 2, and only the Slide Over function is available for it. When the tablet is in landscape mode, you swipe left from the right edge and a quarter-screen column appears where you can open one of the suggested apps. This mode is perfect for quickly replying to an email, viewing your Twitter feed, etc.

Another innovation is the Picture-to-picture mode. With its help, while watching a movie or TV series, you can minimize it to a small window and open it in a browser, for example. The window size is also adjustable. A nice feature of picture-to-picture: its functionality will be available to third-party developers.

Keyboard

The keyboard has several important improvements. Firstly, a mode for predicting the next word has become available for the Russian language, the dictionary itself has also been slightly updated, according to my feelings, it worked better before, you can describe your impressions in the comments.

We finally solved the problem with displaying the Shift key, now you can always see whether it is pressed or not. There is also a small bug here - sometimes when you start writing a message, Caps Lock mode is automatically turned on, however, I think that this problem will be solved in one of the next updates.

For iPad, text navigation using two-finger swipes on the keyboard has become available. This is very convenient, it’s a pity that similar functionality was not added for the iPhone.

Another iPad-only innovation is the three-button top bar. The arrows are responsible for undoing/redoing the last action (as is done in Word), and the third key pastes copied text with one click. When you select a word or sentence, options for cutting/copying or pasting text automatically appear in this panel. Using the keyboard on iPad has become even more convenient.

Siri and Spotlight

Spotlight search has been updated with a lot of features and is now very reminiscent of Google Now on Android. For example, you can now search all the contents of your iPhone/iPad at once, including third-party applications. The same Dropbox has already added such functionality to its application (however, for now it only applies to files accessible offline).

Simple arithmetic operations can be dictated by voice, Spotlight perfectly recognizes and calculates everything you need.

Siri now monitors what actions you take at what time, and based on them, it compiles a list of contacts and applications that you access most often.

By the way, Spotlight can now be called up by swiping right from the first screen, this also reminds me very much of how Google Now works in Google Launcher.

Apple also says that Siri can play your favorite music based on the time of day and location (that is, put on headphones, and your favorite playlist immediately starts playing). I didn’t have time to test this functionality, so if you have already appreciated its capabilities, be sure to tell me in the comments.

Siri also analyzes your email, and if you receive a call from an unfamiliar number, but its details are in any of your emails, an assumption is made about the owner of the number during the call.

Settings

If earlier iOS could boast of the simplest settings and access to any item in one or two taps, then with the development of the operating system, the number of customizable functions has also increased. To somehow compensate for the ornateness of the settings, iOS 9 added a search for them, which is very convenient; with one word you can find even the jungle of the menu.

Mail

The application now has a more advanced search for letters, recipients, contacts, etc. In addition, you can now easily add attachments from your iCloud Drive storage up to 5 GB.

Notes

My favorite Notes app has gotten a major upgrade and can now compete with even the popular Evernote. Now in notes you can add photos, videos, draw with your finger directly on the screen, create collages, make to-do sheets. In general, they have turned from an ordinary notebook into a more serious instrument. Another question is how necessary all this is. The text capabilities of the previous version of Notes were fine for me, and the key advantage was synchronization with OS X and the overall ease of the application. I doubt I'll take advantage of all the new features, but time will tell.

iCloud Drive

iCloud cloud storage has now become a full-fledged analogue of Dropbox. You have the ability to move files between folders, add any content, etc. And, if I'm not mistaken, the tariffs have been slightly updated.

Safety

New features have appeared in terms of security, for example, the length of the PIN code has been increased to six digits, which significantly reduces the chances of it being picked up, and two-factor authorization has been added - when logging into your account from a new device, you will be asked for a password, which will be sent to your smartphone or other gadget for iOS/OS X.

Speed ​​and autonomy

In theory, iOS 9 was supposed to increase operating speed due to improvements at the system kernel level, but in fact I didn’t notice this, I’ll tell you more, according to my feelings, the system began to work slower, not faster. This is especially noticeable in the iPad mini 2.

Apple has reduced the size of the update, so the update to iOS 9 takes up 4 times less space than the previous update with iOS 8. It will be easier for users of 16 GB versions of the iPhone/iPad to update, plus they will get a little more free space.

The latest innovation is the appearance of an energy saving mode. Enabling it reduces the brightness level, disables automatic program updates and some animations in the system. In addition, the operating time itself has increased, Apple's statements about an additional hour of operation are close to the truth, in any case, my iPhone 6 began to work longer, this is noticeable.

Conclusion

A number of readers criticize iOS 9 for the fact that it contains many borrowings from Android, and they are not far from the truth. But let's not forget that usually these same people previously criticized Apple for its limited functionality, and in fact now the company is really just catching up with Android, I don't see anything wrong with that.

I definitely liked most of the innovations, but I was dissatisfied with only a couple of them. Firstly, the new font - everything I think about this change has already been written above. Secondly, performance - in my opinion, both the iPhone 6 and iPad mini 2 began to work slower, and this is definitely a minus of the update, given that speed has always been a significant advantage of iOS. However, I don’t think that the problem with speed will last long; most likely, it will be solved in one of the next updates.

P.S. If we missed any of the innovations, you can write about it in the comments or email me, we will promptly update the article.

On the eve of the release of the long-awaited update, it's time to prepare your iPhone and iPad for the transition to the new OS. Of course, if you plan to update the device at all. In this article we will tell you how to check a mobile device for compatibility with the “nine”, “clean” the device, make a backup and perform other necessary procedures.

1. Compatibility check

The list of supported iOS 9 devices was published along with the release of the first beta version of the OS in June. If your gadget can run iOS 8, you can upgrade to the new platform.

• iPhone 6 Plus
• iPhone 6
• iPhone 5s
• iPhone 5c
• iPhone 5
• iPhone 4s

• iPad Air 2
• iPad Air
• iPad 4
• iPad 3
• iPad 2
• iPad mini 3
• iPad mini 2
• iPad mini

• iPod touch 6G
• iPod touch 5G

In the list of compatible devices you may notice outdated iPhone 4s or iPad mini. Some users are wary of updating gadgets to iOS 9 due to possible performance issues. If you are the owner of one of these devices, then you should not worry about this. One of the tasks that iOS 9 solves is fixing bugs and improving the performance of not the newest models. In the new edition, Apple tried to solve all the problems with the performance of the OS.

It’s worth noting that not all iOS 9 features are available on supported devices. For example, split-screen and picture-in-picture features are only available on the latest iPad models.

2. Have you installed the iOS 9 beta? Update to iOS 9 GM or downgrade to iOS 8

Many iPhone and iPad users have already updated their devices to the beta version of iOS 9, but not everyone knows that any test firmware has an expiration date, after which the device will turn into a “brick.” As a result, you will have to update to the official version, or roll back the device to iOS 8. Therefore, do not wait until the last minute and, or do a downgrade while you have the opportunity.

It is worth understanding that you will not be able to install the GM assembly “over the air”. Formally, this firmware is intended for developers and can be installed on the gadget only through iTunes. The public version of iOS 9 will be available for installation directly from a mobile device.

3. Clean the device

First of all, it makes sense to part with unused applications. This measure is not mandatory, but it never hurts to get rid of unnecessary or unused programs before installing a major update. When you remove software, you do not lose anything - you can restore any game or application from the App Store.

In general, preparing for an update is a great opportunity to clean up your device. Unnecessary applications were mentioned above, but you can also delete temporary files, cache, web surfing history, cookies, logs and other garbage. You can find out more about this in the articles:

Using the proposed software, you can free up from 500 MB to 5 GB on your smartphone/tablet in a couple of minutes.

4. Create a 6-digit password

Starting with iOS 9, Apple offers instead of the traditional four-digit number. This change may seem minor, but in reality, a six-digit password makes the system much more resistant to brute force attacks. As stated on Apple's website, the security change in iOS 9 will not affect those users who select the Touch ID fingerprint scanner when logging in. Right now, you might be thinking about a six-character password to use on your iPhone or iPad.

5. Back up your data

Many people use iPhone and even iPad as their main gadget for taking photos and videos. And hardly anyone wants to lose important moments of their life, captured on digital images, by unsuccessfully updating the firmware. To securely save your photos or videos, it is recommended that you make a backup copy. This can be done through iTunes and iCloud. This will double your chances of successfully recovering information in the event of loss.

iTunes: Connect your mobile device to your computer, launch iTunes, select it in the top bar and click Create Backup.

iCloud: On your i-gadget, go to the Settings menu -> iCloud -> Storage and copies -> Create a copy.

Always create backups before updating the software on your devices. This applies to all major updates such as iOS 9.

6. Save SHSH Blobs

Digital certificates SHSH Blobs are not very useful yet. However, there is no harm in keeping them in case developers find a way to use the certificates for rollback and jailbreak. To save SHSH Blobs on your computer, you can use . If you don't plan to jailbreak, you can skip this step.

7. Wait for the release

After completing the above steps, all you have to do is wait and install the OS. To install iOS 9 on iPhone and iPad, just go to the operating system settings and in the General -> Software Update menu, confirm the firmware download.