Introduced in the fall of 2015 alongside the iPhone 6s and the original iPad Pro, Apple iOS 9 was widely marketed as an underlying "foundation" update. Following the massive visual overhaul of iOS 7 and the feature-heavy drops of iOS 8, Apple used iOS 9 to refine the core user experience, drastically improve battery life, and most importantly, finally treat the iPad as a genuine productivity machine rather than just a scaled-up phone.
From the lifesaver that is Low Power Mode to the introduction of true tablet multitasking, iOS 9 laid down the structural architecture that still powers the sophisticated Apple ecosystem we use in 2026. Here is a historical look back at the operating system that matured the modern iPhone.
1. iPad Split View & True Multitasking
For years, power users criticized the iPad for its restrictive single-app workflow. iOS 9 changed the narrative completely by introducing Split View and Slide Over. For the first time, users with a compatible iPad (initially the iPad Air 2) could run two applications side-by-side simultaneously.
You could drag a Safari webpage to fill half the screen while keeping a Pages document open on the other half. It also introduced Picture-in-Picture (PiP) video, allowing users to float a FaceTime call or a movie over their active workspace. This marked the absolute turning point where the iPad transitioned from a simple content consumption device into a viable laptop alternative for students and mobile professionals.
2. Low Power Mode: The Battery Lifesaver
Battery anxiety was a very real struggle for smartphone users in 2015. Apple addressed this directly with the introduction of Low Power Mode. When an iPhone hit 20% battery, a prompt would appear asking the user to activate this new feature, instantly turning the battery icon a distinctive yellow.
Under the hood, Low Power Mode aggressively throttled the CPU, disabled background app refresh, stopped automatic email fetching, and reduced screen brightness and visual effects. It easily became one of the most beloved features in iOS history, providing crucial extra hours of standby time when a charger was nowhere in sight. If battery life remains a concern for you today, check out our latest mobile phone reviews featuring devices with massive all-day battery capacities.
3. Proactive Siri & Spotlight Search
Before iOS 9, Siri was largely a reactive voice assistant—you had to ask her a question to get an answer. iOS 9 introduced a new layer of "Proactive" intelligence. By swiping left from the home screen, users were greeted with a revamped Spotlight Search page populated by Siri Suggestions.
This proactive engine learned your daily routines. If you always called your spouse at 5:00 PM, their contact icon would appear at 4:55 PM. If you plugged in your headphones at the gym every morning, it would automatically suggest your heavy lifting playlist. This on-device machine learning paved the way for the incredibly advanced AI integration we see in modern devices today. You can learn more about how to manage these smart features in our Tech Guides section.
4. The Replacement of Newsstand with Apple News
Remember the wooden skeuomorphic shelves of the old iOS Newsstand? iOS 9 finally laid that design to rest, replacing it with the sleek, aggregated Apple News application.
Apple News functioned like a highly curated RSS reader, pulling beautifully formatted articles from major publishers like The New York Times, CNN, and Wired directly into a unified infinite-scroll feed. It allowed users to follow specific topics or publications, drastically modernizing how millions of iPhone users consumed daily journalism without having to jump between individual publisher apps.
Conclusion
While it may not have possessed the flashy, polarizing redesign of iOS 7, Apple iOS 9 was arguably one of the most important stabilizing updates the company ever shipped. By drastically improving battery management with Low Power Mode, laying the AI groundwork with Proactive Siri, and finally unlocking the true potential of the iPad screen real estate, iOS 9 cemented the foundation of the modern mobile computing experience we enjoy today.