Apple to Focus on Stability Rather Than New Features in iOS 9: Report

After introducing several new iOS features year-on-year, Apple's next version of iOS is reportedly focused heavily on overall system stability and optimisation rather than introducing more new features.

Codenamed Monarch, iOS 9 will reportedly include several improvements under-the-hood that will fix bugs, ensure stability and also boost the overall performance. The report also tips that the introduction of new features in the OS, as seen in each annual iOS release, will not be in limelight this year, making iOS 9 somewhat akin to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and its numerous stability improvements.

As per 9to5Mac, besides concentrating on bug fixes, Apple might also be working on keeping the size of the OS update as minimal as it can, especially for those iOS users who use 16GB storage models. This is especially relevant seeing the problems several users faced when updating to iOS 8 last year.

9to5Mac reports that it is still unclear whether Apple may in part achieve stability by limiting the release of iOS 9 to recent iOS devices that run on 64-bit processors, from the Apple A7 onwards.

Apple will reportedly not limit improvements to iOS 9 to under-the-hood ones, but is expected to introduce some new features as well. The report adds that Apple is working on new iOS features, which includes transit directions and indoor modes in mapping service. The feature was previously said to arrive with iOS 8 but was later reported to have failed due to time constraints. However, Apple as usual is not commenting on the matter and would like its fans to wait until it finally launches the next iOS version.

On a related note, Apple last week released the latest App Store Distribution figures, revealing that iOS 8 now powers 72 percent of active iOS devices including iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users. The official App Store Distribution page reveals that the majority (72 percent) of active iOS devices are running iOS 8, followed by 25 percent still running iOS 7, and 3 percent still running earlier versions.