Unlike the traditional way, this year Apple will alter its annual iOS and OS X upgrade cycle, so that it could focus on quality, speed and security rather than adding new features. Like iOS 9 which was codenamed “Monarch”, OS X 10.11 (codenamed “Gala”) will have under the hood optimization. According to sources Apple directors have put a full stop on the new features and are pushing their teams to leech out all the bugs which have surfaced from launches of iOS and OS X. The initial repertoire will be stripped as confirmed by the statement from the sources:
[quote_box_center]“I wouldn’t say there’s nothing new for consumers, but the feature lists are more stripped down than the initial plans called for.”[/quote_box_center]
iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 – What’s New ?
iOS 9 is expected to embrace a new system wide font which we have seen as Apple Watch’s new San Francisco typeface. It will also include features of split-screen iPad app views and a new Home application for managing HomeKit devices. Apple is facing more challenges with Mac OS upgrade in comparison with iOS, so it is expected that the 10.11 upgrade repertoire will be much shorter than iOS 9’s.
The new OS will have tweaks all over the system interfaces which can be seen as an extension of work done in Yosemite. An additional Control centre is on cards for insertion in OS X 10.11 which has been seen in some beta seeds of OS X Yosemite but was not included then. From Menu Bar of Mac many of the controls will be moved to a pane that slides from left side of Mac Screen including the music controls and other iOS influenced features. There have been reports that there are still some bugs to be flushed out from Control Center, before it could be released in this version.
Rootless, Trusted WiFi and iCloud Drive – Hold the fortress
Apple has been working on the new tasks called “Trusted Wi-Fi” and “Rootless” which can be seen as the new architecture of Apple apps with iCloud Drive file encryption.
Rootless
It is a new kernel-level security feature for both OS X and iOS. This feature will even restrict admin level users to access certain protected files on Apple devices which will improve the safety and prevent malware from accessing sensitive data. However there are chances it may be disabled on OS X currently. Like in past, Finder-based file system will continue to adorn the OS X.
iCloud Drive
Currently an IMAP based backend is being used for syncing data across the devices for applications such as Notes, reminders and calculator, but Apple is planning to sync this process to iCloud Drive which provides better security and encryption. When users using new OS will open the content from IMAP server, they will be provided with a splash page which will allow them to transition over iCloud drive.
Trusted Wi-Fi
Like Control Centre, Trusted Wi-Fi may also see push back to next year’s iOS and OS X releases unless the testing is completed to check that there is no interference in connectivity over other wireless networks. This feature will allow Macs and iOS devices to connect to already authorized wireless routers without any additional security measures but will transfer the data over a highly encrypted connection.
Older devices will also join the bandwagon
In a pleasant surprise to users of old devices such as iPhone 4S, iPad Mini, they will also be able to run on iOS9 which is quite astonishing to see as the new systems were being thought of as a strategy to encourage new purchases. From the sources it has been revealed that there will be a core version of iOS 9 which can be used on older devices while the feature-rich version will be available for only new devices.
Swift 2.0 + Dwarfed App Sizes
A new version of Apples’ programming language, Swift will also be introduced for the benefit of developers and users both. Unlike the earlier trend, Apple will include swift programming “code libraries” within iOS, which will reduce the per app size by 8MB atleast. As earlier these code libraries have to be mandatorily embedded in each of the Apple’s apps. It is said that Swift has reached a stage of “Application Binary Interface (ABI) Stability”
Users who have less capacity in their iPhones or iPads will be able to download more apps now. While at WWDC 2015 Swift will reach at ABI stability version 2.0, however the swift versions of apps will be released by Apple only in 2016 via iOS 10 and OS X 10.12.