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This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference.
Screenshot taken by Lynn La/CNET
At Apple’s developers’ conference keynote in San Francisco, the company’s senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, highlighted a number of new tools coming to Apple’s iOS 9 update.
Some of these features include a native news aggregator (aptly called News ); a refreshed user interface for the more “proactive” digital voice assistant Siri, and split-screen capabilities for the iPad.
iOS 9: Here’s what Apple’s new mobile OS looks like (pictures)
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But Apple also quickly included a slide that listed 30 developer tools that will be available for iOS 9. While some of these features will appeal only to software professionals, others will have a direct impact on how consumers will experience their iOS devices after the update. Below are the features Apple briefly displayed during the keynote:
- OCR accessory setup
- Search extensibility
- Audio unit extension
- VPN plug-in extension
- Swift 2
- Map customization
- Direct document
- UI testing in Xcode
- Notification actions
- Third-party notifications
- Sensor profile
- App thinning
- Motorized windows profile
- Flyover and walk-through
- New Health data types
- Code coverage
- Gaming APIs
- Automated shades profile
- Layout guide
- Shortcut bar
- Object-oriented contacts
- New multitasking APIs
- New HomeKit profiles
- iCloud open in place
- Home security profile
- Storyboard references
- App transport security API
- Stack view
- Wireless CarPlay
- HomeKit iCloud remote access
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One notable item on the list is “app thinning,” which lets users download apps that are tailored to their iOS device. Because these apps are optimized, they should take up less memory and launch faster.
Another advancement to iOS 9 is the rollout of Swift 2, which is also listed above. According to CNET’s Tim Stevens, as Apple’s programming language for iOS and OS X, Swift 2 will have “more comprehensive error handling,” and most significantly, will be available as an open-source platform. That means there will be even more apps coming to users as new developers take advantage of the language’s support on multiple platforms.
For more on iOS 9, read our First Take here , and be sure to check out CNET’s complete coverage of WWDC 2015.
