Is Apple iOS 9 already on the Way?


It seems like we just got an update to Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS. When the iPhone 6 debuted this past fall, iOS 8 came along with it, bringing a whole host of improvements to Apple’s mobile fans. Now, TechCrunch reports that there’s evidence of iOS 9 already being tested.

According to the post, Fiksu, a mobile app marketing platform, says that it has received nearly 150 identifier for advertisers from devices running iOS 9, while AppleInsider has seen iOS9 traffic growing on its site since December. In short, it seems pretty clear that Apple is already on to the next version of its mobile operating system – perhaps in anticipation of releasing a newer, faster version of the iPhone 6?

As to what iOS 9 will bring to the table, well, that’s not entirely clear at the moment. The aforementioned AppleInsider speculates that the new mobile OS could include indoor navigation, possibly a result of Apple’s 2013 acquisition of WifiSLAM, which uses “Wi-Fi signals to extend location data to the insides of buildings and other structures.” There’s also talk of both Siri and the built-in (and underused) NFC chips in iPhone 6 handsets being opened up to third party developers for some new and interesting ideas.

I know we only just got into 2015, but it’s never too early to begin speculating about what we might see at WWDC this summer. Set for June, the annual Apple conference usually shows fans and tech followers what the company has in store on the software side of things, so if iOS 9 is already being tested, it stands to reason that we’ll get a bigger taste then. I guess my main question at this point is simple: what else can they throw in? I recently upgraded to Android 5, and I’m stumped as to what Google might bring to the table in the future. Apple has similarly been innovating its mobile OS, so I simply can’t imagine what other bells and whistles we might see by then. Your thoughts?

[Sources: TechCrunch, AppleInsider]