iOS 9: 5 Important Things I Learned in 24 Hours 

Apple’s iOS 9 update is finally here and it’s ready to download for select devices including the iPhone 6, iPhone 5 and iPhone 4s. We’ve been digging into the iOS 9 update and its performance and today we want to highlight five important things we’ve learned in the past day.

In June, Apple announced the iOS 9 update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. At the time, the company confirmed the devices that would be getting it (a lot of them), key iOS 9 features (Notes, News, etc), and a vague iOS 9 release date (fall).

Last week, Apple finally decided it was ready to start talking about the public iOS 9 release. It talked about a few features and it also confirmed an iOS 9 release date for September 16th. September 16th was yesterday.

Yesterday, Apple released its iOS 9 update for select devices and I, like many others, downloaded it across my various iPhones (iPhone 6, iPhone 5) and iPads (iPad Air, iPad mini 2).

The iOS 9 update looks a lot like iOS 8 but don’t let that fool you. It comes loaded with new features big and small and it also delivers several enhancements to key ingredients like the iOS installation process and iPhone battery life.

We’ve been offering our impressions of the iOS 9 update in an effort to supply iPhone and iPad users with feedback on the update’s performance.

My iOS 9 impressions were focused on the update’s performance but today I want to go a step further and tell you about some important things I’ve learned about the iOS 9 update for iPhone and iPad in the last 24 hours.

iPhone Battery Life is Outstanding

> 1 / 5

One of the most important things I've learned in the past 24 hours is that iOS 9 battery life on the iPhone is outstanding. Apple promised up to an hour boost of battery life for iPhone users. I've certainly felt that boost on my iPhone 6, a device that's by my side from sunup to sundown. I can't say that I'm getting a full hour of extra time but there's noticeable improvement. The new Low Power Mode works as advertised too. If you reach 20% battery, your phone will prompt you to use this new Low Power Mode to conserve battery. I used it while I was out yesterday and it was a life saver. I use a similar feature on my Samsung Galaxy S6 and I think it's going to be one of my most used iOS 9 features. Check it out if you haven't already. My iPhone 5 battery is holding up nicely as well, especially standby time. I use my iPhone 5 every day but I use it in spurts so standby is extremely important. It used to drain quite quickly but it has been sitting in the 90% range, without charging, since yesterday. I obviously can't speak for everyone (though I have yet to see widespread complaints about battery issues) but iOS 9 has already been working some wonders and I hope that the magic continues as we push away from the iOS 9 release date.

> 1 / 5