The next version of Apple’s mobile operating system will be more focused on improving stability of the user experience on the iPhone and iPad, according to a new report from Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac.
Engineers at Apple are reportedly putting a “huge” focus on fixing bugs and improving the overall performance of the OS for iOS 9, which is expected later this year. In that way, it would be similar to OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard,” a version of the Mac OS that also featured stability improvements as a focus over releasing a ton of features.
Focusing on stability would mark a departure from the past couple years, which have been big ones for new iOS features. iOS 7 ushered in a new look and feel for the OS that powers iPhones, iPads and iPod touches around the world, while iOS 8 brought fresh power and a smorgasbord of new tools.
But all of that has come at a cost. There has been plenty of talk among Apple commentators over the past several months about how buggy iOS 8 is, months after its launch. Developer Marco Arment wrote a widely-shared post to his blog where he lamented the quality of Apple’s current software releases, and said that Apple should be more focused on putting out a stable product.
Apple is expected to offer the first glimpse into iOS 9 at its Worldwide Developers Conference later this year. (The company hasn’t announced the date or place, but it usually happens in San Francisco in early June.) Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see.
