Apple iPad Air iOS 9.1

iPad Air on iOS 9: The Birth of True Multitasking

Released on September 16, 2015, iOS 9 was the update that finally allowed the original iPad Air to stretch its wings. While previous versions felt like "big iPhones," iOS 9 introduced features specifically designed to take advantage of the iPad's screen real estate, making it a genuine tool for productivity on Chasms.com.

Multitasking Reimagined

The headline for the iPad Air in iOS 9 was the ability to do two things at once.

• Slide Over: While using one app, you could swipe in from the right to open a second app in a slim sidebar. This was perfect for checking a quick text or a flight status without leaving your main task.

• Picture in Picture: For the first time, you could scale a video down to a small window that floated over your home screen or other apps. It allowed you to keep a FaceTime call or a movie going while you worked.

A Smarter, Proactive Siri

iOS 9 made the iPad Air more intuitive.

• Siri Suggestions: Swiping right from the home screen revealed a new "Proactive" dashboard, suggesting the people you talk to most and the apps you usually use at that time of day.

• Search Improvements: You could now search for sports scores, weather, and even content inside your apps directly from the search bar.

Productivity and Battery Life

• The Shortcut Bar: The on-screen keyboard gained a new shortcut bar for bold, italic, and underline, as well as a "trackpad" mode—by placing two fingers on the keyboard, you could move the cursor precisely like a mouse.

• Low Power Mode: One of the most essential additions, this allowed you to squeeze an extra hour of life out of your iPad Air when the battery hit that dreaded 20%.

• San Francisco Font: Apple replaced the "Helvetica" of the iOS 7/8 era with the new San Francisco font, specifically designed for better legibility on Retina displays.