Upgrading to iOS 9

iOS 9 has been officially released for just hours now and already I am reading about people having trouble upgrading.  I think many of these people had devices that were not working well under the hood before the upgrade (unknown to them) and the upgrade was problematic.  I have been using iOS 9 on my iPad since July (in a prototype "Beta" form) and it has been very reliable.  This blog will help you upgrade reliably, properly and safely.

There are two methods to update your device:

  • Directly on your iPad or iPhone
  • Plug into your computer and use iTunes

Updating directly on your iPad or iPhone is easiest and only requires 1.5GB of free space. 

Remember, iOS 9 is only available for iPhone 4S or newer and iPad 2 or newer.

Like making sure a patient is healthy before undergoing surgery, I recommend you ensure your device is backed up and healthy before updating by doing the following:

  1. Go to the Home page, then double tap the Home button.
  2. Swipe up on the miniature picture of each running app to “quit” them all.
  3. Restart your device by holding the Sleep/Power button until you see "slide to power off".  Slide it to power off.
  4. Wait for the phone to completely shut down, then power it up again by holding the Sleep/Power button.
  5. Next, go to Settings > iCloud > Backup.  Make sure iCloud Backup is ON.
  6. On that same page tap Backup Now (make sure your device is on wifi or this will not work).
  7. Let the backup completely finish.

You are now ready to update.

To update your device first check your free space at Settings > General > Usage.  Under Storage, make sure the Available is at least 1.5GB.  If it is not, you can delete pictures, videos, music or apps to get it to 1.5GB.  Or, you can plug your device into your computer and update via iTunes (which uses the free space on your computer).

On your device go to Settings > General > Software Update and select the button to update to iOS 9.

This process may take well over an hour if you have slow internet service.  With fast internet service (like Comcast) the whole process should be under an hour.  You should not do this over your cellular connection, only wifi.  Speed the process along by being in the same room as your wireless router.

Once updated, the iPad or iPhone will restart a couple of times.  It will finally welcome you and ask for some information about your Apple ID and a couple of other easy questions.  Enter as much as you know (you can always enter/change this information later in Settings).

My experience with updating two devices so far is that everything went smoothly and works well.

iOS 9 is very similar to iOS 8, so you will not have any trouble navigating around.  There are a few buttons that changed position, but nothing radical.  If you want to learn more about what http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/

If you want to thoroughly learn how to operate your iPad or iPhone, I recommend you take my upcoming Intro to iPad and iPhone class at Clark College.  Read more about that here: http://www.inhometechservices.com/ipadiphone/