At the annual WWDC in 2015, the 9th version of Apple’s mobile operating system was introduced. The software was well received and intrigued by many, including support for fairly old gadgets, including the iPad 2 generation and iPhone 4s. In this article, we will analyze what a new platform from California is and how iOS9 behaves on iPhone 4s, as well as consider reviews, real problems and expert opinions.
iOS 9
The system was announced in the summer of 2015 at WWDC. This iteration of Apple's software platform brought a lot of changes that affected mainly the internal components of the system with a minimum of visual changes. The Apple Music service was officially launched, some standard programs were updated, and new opportunities for developers appeared.
Many innovations have disappeared under the hood. They were met only by those involved in the development, but from this they did not become less important.
Features
One of the most important changes was the update of the search engine. Spotlight was trained in new chips, which included: the ability to convert currencies and other values, performing the functions of a calculator, searching for weather, news, music and the like. Unfortunately, many functions are geographically limited and do not work in Russia. Third-party developers received a specialized API that allows you to integrate the functions of their applications in Spotlight.
A new browser has got new features. Now developers can create an ad blocker. Unlike AdBlock and similar solutions, blocking ads in Safari does not just hide it, but prevents it from loading, which speeds up the Internet and reduces the level of tracking from contextual advertising.
The standard note taking program has been updated. If before it was just a weak text editor, now it is a powerful tool akin to Evernote. The user can add attachments to notes, such as web links, documents, images, audio files and much more. All attachments can be viewed in a special mode, and the notes themselves can now be scattered in folders.
A separate news program has appeared, which so far does not work in Russia. This is an aggregator of news from the Internet, designed to replace the disappeared “Kiosk”. Many serious publications and independent editions have the opportunity to post their news on the Apple system and at the same time receive money for advertising.
Apple’s mapping service has also been updated. In addition to closer integration with search and Siri, the service has the opportunity to build walking routes. Again, due to geographical restrictions, this function is unlikely to work in Russia. Even transport routes are still not adapted to Russian realities.
Many small changes were also introduced, for example, the standard dialer learned to search for numbers in the mail, and the calendar there also searches for invitations and flights. The long-awaited search function by settings and energy saving mode appeared.
Of the visual changes, it is worth noting only the new multitasking menu. It has lost useful features, has become less convenient, but more attractive and adapted for the new 3D Touch displays.
Bias in performance
During the presentation, the manufacturer several times focused on the fact that the new operating system was developed with special attention to the code, and its performance is much higher. Much has been said that the update will have a good effect on battery life. For the first time in such a long period, Apple has admitted that both options are suffering. And then the long-awaited changes appeared. As if to prove this fact, the company announces that there will be an iOS 9 update on the iPhone 4s. Reviews about the system rained down immediately after the release of the test version, and not bad.
Test period: OS 9 beta on iPhone 4s
This is the most amazing time for the new system, because almost immediately public access was opened for the test version, so a lot of people instantly had a hand in the new platform. Including the owners of the oldest gadgets, which included the iPhone 4s. It is worth noting that it was a rather successful experiment - iOS 9 on iPhone 4s. Reviews about this launch already in the second beta were very positive - the device "came to life" in front of our eyes. Autonomy grew, and everyone was happy. It is important to note that the same wave of positive feelings hurt those who installed iOS 9 on the iPhone 4s 8gb. The reviews said that the new installation system (with system cleaning and subsequent reloading) was the only thing that allowed them to install a newer program in automatic mode and without losing important data.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with Apple, everyone was happy just before the release. As soon as we managed to evaluate the release version, it became clear that the system was not at all suitable for older devices. Already at the time of the release of iOS 9 GM on the iPhone 4s, the reviews changed dramatically to negative ones. The owners of all the old devices seemed to be framed, and all those who did not have time to "roll back" were forced to endure the new "features" of the system.
iPhone 4s is morally obsolete but not broken
This model of apple smartphone was released back in 2011 (by the standards of technological progress). This was the first California phone with a dual-core processor, which caused the latest version of the operating system to be ported to it. The gadget is still a kind of unspoken symbol of the iPhone, and smartphones in general. This is the most recognizable phone in the world, but, unfortunately, hopelessly outdated. Updating it to the latest version of iOS is a bad decision, which for many turned into regret.
Availability
The most surprising in the latest release is the list of supported devices. IOS 9 on iPhone 4s and iPad Air 2 was updated at the same time, although with a lot of differences, but the fact itself was surprising. This is a fiery hello to all the "dinosaurs" and the lovers of the glass iPhone.
Another help in favor of installing a new program was, in fact, a new update system, which automatically freed up space for a new distribution, after which it pumped up losses. This made it possible for all owners of 8-gigabyte gadgets to jump to iOS 9.
Performance
This is the most controversial moment in the whole system. Throughout its history, Apple's platform has been called the most stable and fast, affordable and simple. iOS in the world of operating systems with its range of qualities received the title of AK machine. Running iOS 9 on the iPhone 4s is pretty tolerable, but it's not even close to the user experience that Apple fans are used to experiencing.
Slow frame rate and dangling became noticeable literally everywhere. Search opens slowly, information is also processed. Delays occur when making a call, modern applications open for a long time. The smoothness in the Music app drops wildly. You have to wait for the launch of even commonplace utilities, such as a calculator, clock, voice recorder and others. The descent of the camera will also not be as frisky as before.
Safari unloads tabs from memory literally at the very moment when you leave it, and hardly loads massive pages. Productivity has fallen, and this cannot be denied. Using the system is becoming more and more difficult.
Function support
In the case of Apple gadgets, users often face all sorts of restrictions. This is mainly due to geography. One need only recall how long the Russian-speaking population waited for the notorious Siri. Almost 5 years passed before she was taught Russian, and even then they didn’t finish it. The same can be said about maps, music, iTunes, and many other services.
There is another kind of limitations that are associated with the hardware of a particular device. And if sometimes they are not too large-scale and rigid, then this time they completely lose the sense of installing a new version of iOS.
For example, Siri's hint system is not supported on older phones, and you won’t even find this screen. You can also forget about the availability of support for browser add-ons (you won’t be able to block ads). Even there is no way to make sketches in the updated Notes application. Therefore, users have not received anything new. Almost all functions have been cut out. As a result, we have a minimum of updates and a heap of performance problems.
iOS 9 on iPhone 4s: reviews, opinions
The best mobile operating system in the world has gathered a lot of positive feedback, especially at the time of release. And with each new update, the user’s opinion declined. The number of bugs was growing, the performance was falling, and as a result, the constantly on Caps Lock finished off everyone. There are many users who will argue that the iPhone 4s is still in order, the system is in order, and you can work. These people are often in a hurry to leave a review about iOS 9 with a positive connotation, misleading many who are considering updating.
It's all about perception. Someone is used to the fact that programs should start for 5-10 seconds, and someone is not ready to wait a second, therefore always buys the most modern gadgets.
Therefore, it’s so hard to put together the overall impression regarding iOS 9 on the iPhone 4s. Reviews about the program due to different perceptions of users do not provide an opportunity to answer the question of whether to install a new system.
Time to change the device, or "conspiracy theory"
Upgrading to iOS 9 is the last stage in the life of the fourth generation of iPhones. It is worth recognizing that his life cycle has expired, and it is time to get rid of him. This is not surprising, because its hardware is rather weak, and the software is becoming more complex and heavy.
There is a popular belief that the slowdown of the operating system is not due to weak hardware, but because of Apple’s desire to cash in on its users. Allegedly, this is a violent impact on the owners of old iPhones, an attempt to survive them from old phones, forced to buy a new product. In favor of this theory is the fact that the hacker community has long learned how to speed up the device, implement features that Apple does not want to implement, and so on. Like it or not, no one can say for sure. One thing is clear that the time of the old “iPhone” is over, and it's time to change it.