BBC iPlayer
Free; iPad Mini 2 and Mini 3, Air and Air 2
Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 9, has dozens of new features. Here are some of the first apps to take advantage of them. Update iPlayer on one of the most recent iPads and you’ll get the option of picture-in-picture; while a programme is playing, press the Home button and the video will shrink to the bottom-right corner of the screen, enabling you to open another app and, say, dash off an email — all as the show continues to run.
Twitter
Free; iPad 2
Another boon to multitaskers will be split-screen, implemented on the iOS 9 versions of many Apple own-brand apps and on a few early adopters such as Twitter. Using the latest big-screen iPad and Twitter’s official app, swipe in from the right to bring up a selection of other apps — for the moment, all Apple’s own. Choose one — Safari, say — and it opens in a tall, thin window at the right-hand edge, so that you’re running two apps on one screen.
Advertisement
Duet Game
£2.29; iPhone, iPad
A new feature called ReplayKit lets you save a short video of whatever is happening on screen. See it in action in Duet, a minimalist but gripping game where you steer a pair of linked orbs through an obstacle course. Share your wipe-outs by tapping the Record button and then emailing friends the footage or uploading it.
The Night Sky
79p; iPhone, iPad
Advertisement
IOS 9’s Spotlight search allows your device to look not just for the names of apps held on it but to riffle through their content — as long as it’s been optimised, such as this astronomy app. Type in the term Canopus, for instance, and Spotlight will find any apps or media containing the word, as before, plus the entry for the star within The Night Sky. Tap and the app will open at the correct entry.