The Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are now available in India, and the shiny new devices pack in more powerful hardware and a lot of new features. Here are the most important ways in which you can make full use of the iOS 9 operating system and the extra processing power.
Pressing down with 3D Touch: This is one feature that makes everything so much more convenient. The new iPhones have a pressure-sensitive layer behind the screen which detects the pressure of the finger to open a series of peek previews or menu options which are known as Peek and Pop—tap and press slightly to peek, and press a little harder without lifting the finger to Pop open that piece of content. This currently works with Apple’s own apps (such as Mail, Messages, Photos, Music and Notes) and an increasing number of third-party apps are also adding support—Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Evernote and Whatsapp being some popular examples. Now, post something on Facebook, for example, by tapping and pressing down on the Facebook icon without having to open the app itself. It takes some getting used to, but is extremely addictive and does save a lot of time.
Fancy new back button: A new feature of iOS 9 is the new back button integrated into the top right corner when the user is switching from one app to the other. For example, if you click on a URL in an iMessage and open that link in Safari, you don’t have to minimize Safari and open Messages to return back to the conversation. Simply tap on the “return to Messages” option that shows up. This is true for all scenarios where you head from one app into another app, and a welcome time saver.
Photos app: Till now, selecting multiple photos in the Photos app meant you would have to painstakingly select every individual photo, whether it was to share or delete. Now, iOS 9 makes it easier, because you can simply run your finger over the photos you want to select, and they are immediately clubbed together with the blue tick mark. It is immensely convenient if you want to share more than one photo with your friends or post on social networks.
New Safari Reader mode: The Safari web browser in iPhones has always had the very useful Reader mode, which came in handy when trying to read an article on websites that were cluttered with advertisements and images. On the new iPhones, the Safari Reader mode allows the user to change the font size of the text, the font type for better readability (the default is San Francisco) and also the background colour of the page.
4K video recording: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus’s 12-megapixel cameras are capable of recording Ultra HD (4K) videos. However, that isn’t enabled by default. You’ll have to open the settings app and set the resolution to 4K. Settings -> Photos & Camera ->Record Video -> select ‘4K at 30 fps’ option. However, be careful, because if you record a lot of videos, this will fill up the storage rather quickly.
Live photos: These are aren’t exactly photos, but neither are they videos. This mode is a part of the cameras in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, and can record 1.5 seconds of audio and video around a photo that you have clicked, to make it a sort of a moving capture. Moving the camera before the “Live” icon has stopped blinking on the screen is a mistake all too easy to make—keep the hand steady after you have tapped the shutter button, to record the movement.
Wi-Fi Assist: This is something that will be quite useful for users who have inconsistent Wi-Fi connections at home or in office, which would suddenly drop connectivity to the world wide web (WWW) without you realizing it. The new Wi-Fi Assist feature will automatically detect any drop in the connection or low signal scenarios, and automatically switch to the 3G/4G connection till the time the Wi-Fi is back in pink of health. This option sits in Settings -> Cellular -> Wi-Fi Assist.
