iPhone and iPad owners anticipating a barrage of new features with iOS 9 are set for a disappointment. Apple will use the next major release of its mobile operating system to fix bugs and improve stability, rather than unleash a raft of new features, according to a report from the normally reliable 9to5Mac.com.
After major revamps to the design and features of iOS in the past two releases, Apple is planning a much more low key release for iOS 9, the website reports. Instead, Apple will focus on the many bugs and performance issues that have blighted the operating system over the past couple of years, damaging the company's reputation for high quality software.
The release is being compared to the 2009 launch of OS X Snow Leopard, where Apple took the opportunity to clean up the codebase rather than deliver many standout new features. Snow Leopard is still the third most used version of OS X, according to Net Applications, despite the fact that four further versions of the operating system have been released since it came out.
Aside from bug squishing, Apple will also focus on minimising the size of the operating system, with iOS increasingly causing problems for owners of devices with only 16GB of storage. iPhone and iPad owners were required to clear around 6GB of space on their devices to install iOS 8 as an over-the-air update, and the operating system consumes around 4GB of space once installed.
The company is currently facing a lawsuit in the US because the upgrade to iOS 8 left Apple device owners with less free storage space than advertised, with the OS now swallowing around a quarter of the available storage on 16GB devices. It could be argued that Apple has become a victim of its own parsimony with device storage, leaving 16GB as its entry-level base storage for several years despite the falling price of memory. Apple's continued refusal to allow customers to supplement built-in storage with memory cards further exacerbates the problem.
iOS 9, which is codenamed Monarch, will likely be released in the autumn. In the meantime, Apple is busy working on iOS 8.4, which will be released shortly after the launch of the Apple Watch, according to reports. It is rumoured to include a new music streaming service, which will be based on the Beats brand that Apple acquired for $3 billion last year.