Apple's iOS 9 is a major revamp from the eighth iteration of the Cupertino-based tech giant's famous operating system. With its new features, fans of the company will be overjoyed when it officially gets released on Sept. 9. Ahead of its release date, however, here are multitasking features that consumers (and even developers) should understand before they lay their hands on the iOS 9.
1. Slide Over
The first thing that Apple noted in its preliminary document about iOS 9 is the Slide Over feature. This basically provides users a quick overlay view of secondary apps consumers can view and interact with. The feature is similar to Samsung's dock-like launcher and Amazon's quick launch feature as well. The Slide Over is good for picking a secondary app the user wants to quickly launch and use without the need of looking for it on the app list. However, for now, the Slide Over feature only supports Apple's built-in apps like Mail, Safari, Messages, Notes and Maps. The company is encouraging developers to come up with third-party apps that make use of this feature, according to MacWorld.
2. Split View
Apple's iOS 9 may have been inspired by how Android and Windows have enhanced their user experience with a split-screen feature that allows the active use of two apps simultaneously. The Windows OS has since flaunted this feature with the launch of Microsoft's Surface tablet-laptop hybrid, while Android also offered this features to its users in a number of mid-range to high-end smartphones. Now, its Apple's turn to flaunt a split-view display that displays apps side-by-sde.
Much like the improved Split View feature of the Android OS and Windows OS, iOS 9's own version allows users to resize the two windows according to their own preference without affecting the functionality and activity of the two running apps, as noted in a prerelease document on Apple's Developer's Library.
3. Picture in Picture
Picture in Picture is something that is very familiar to Android users. It lets users play videos and gives them the ability to resize the window and move it around the screen without affecting the functionality of the video player. The resizable window just floats over running apps, so it basically gives users the chance to do more. The multitasking iOS 9 feature also lets users do FaceTime calls with a resizable window. By tapping the home button, the FaceTime window is automatically sent to a corner, so users can continue the conversation while other apps are being used, as per MacRumors.
