Should you download it now or wait? That is always the question when Apple releases a new version of iOS, and once again, the point is raised as iOS 9 went live for download last night. Admittedly, in previous iterations, namely iOS 7 and iOS 8, it seemed like the wisest course of action was to wait and see what bugs emerged before taking the plunge. Nonetheless, I did so, and so far, it looks like the water is just fine.

The only hiccup I experienced to date was actually getting the over the air (OTA) download to start. Initially, I received a couple of error messages, no doubt due to beleaguered servers as millions of users tried to install Apple’s latest on their iPhone and iPads. That being said, waiting about half an hour and trying again yielded success, so if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Incidentally, it is a first version iPad Air that is being subjected to the new OS, so my experience doesn’t encompass iPhones.

Wait for it

At just over one gigabyte to download, it took about three hours over a 2 Mbps wireless network, and then about 25 minutes for the installation to complete once downloaded. My first recommendation therefore, is to charge your device while it gets underway, and secondly, set a little bit of time aside for when you don’t need to access your device urgently.

Nonetheless, once all that is done, iOS 9 appears to be running just fine. Even though the majority of my apps are still to receive the inevitable iOS 9 compatible update, so far I am having no problem running Facebook, Notability, Chrome, a variety of games and Skype.

What then, is the difference between this and iOS 8? The first apparent change is improved search and a more contextual calendar – appointments now show related information, such as maps and connected emails.

Yet another news aggregator

Additionally, the new news aggregation app from Apple, News, is also onboard, with it promising to learn the kinds of articles I tend to read and dishing up more personalized offerings. Admittedly, it’s a nice addition. Will it take the place of News360, Pulse or Flipboard? No, I don’t think it will. I still prefer the aforementioned apps approach to categories.

Unfortunately, one of the most attractive features, Split Screen, in which two apps are shown side by side, is not available on the original iPad Air, but only on the second one; a ridiculous move on Apple’s part in my opinion.    

Life of the party

Perhaps the biggest reason to upgrade may be the battery battery life management. On iOS 9, Apple have promised up to an additional hour of battery life, and I can definitely see my battery has lasted better since updating this morning that it ever did on iOS 8.

Starting from a 100% charged baseline this morning (8 am), eight hours later my battery is sitting at 42%; a far cry from some of the power leakages I saw on the previous OS, where it would reach that same point by 1 pm.

Of course, it’s early days, but so far I haven’t encountered any catastrophic reason to delay upgrading to Apple’s latest OS. Touch wood.