There really hasn’t been that much to report about the upcoming iOS 9 which has led quite a lot of people to assume that it is going to be bland and not that spectacular. In fact, I don’t think we have mentioned anything about iOS 9 here on the blog before now. Well anyway, a new report has suggested that it might not be as bland as we thought. Apple is looking at introducing a new feature called “Proactive” which is similar to Google Now on Android devices.
According to 9to5Mac this new Proactive feature is an evolution of the old Spotlight feature that was recently updated so that it can now grab search results from Wikipedia as well as its other sources. It seems though that this was just a little step in the revamp process and Spotlight has now been transformed into the powerful Proactive feature that will also integrate with third-party apps.
Proactive is going to replace Spotlight and we may see it move back to the left of the home screen the way it used to be in iOS 6. There are however hints that Apple will also allow for calling up the feature by swiping down on the home screen as is right now. It’s said that the design of Proactive will be fairly similar to Spotlight and will retain the search bar at the top so existing users will find things familiar. Of course, users will be able to make standardized search here just like in Spotlight, but Proactive will include a greater emphasis on displaying news stories as search results and will more reliably display news results when you search for information including news on current topics and famous people.
We have also heard that Apple will be looking to give Proactive a much deeper integration into third-party apps while also giving Siri some leverage. Apple has a full Siri API which will allow the service access to third-party apps as well. There is also talk about a limited Siri API for developers being released codenamed Breadcrumbs and that will be interesting if it surfaces.
It is also being suggested that Maps will be integrated into Proactive which will mean that users will now be offered automated updates and data depending on their schedule and how they travel as was seen with Google Now. Meanwhile a bolder, augmented reality feature will show you points of interest through your camera, and a simpler “browse around me” feature will also be available for displaying local points of interest too.
This all sounds really interesting and we do hope that is not just a rumor and that we will see the Proactive feature when iOS 9 is released. As always, we will bring you any further information as we get it and if any more interesting iOS 9 reports fall on our desk, we will be sure to let you know abou them.
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