Apple Announces iOS 9.3 Beta For Developers

Apple gave developers the beta version of iOS 9.3, the next big software update for the iPhone and iPad.

The headlining feature in iOS 9.3 is called “Night Shift,” which uses your phone’s clock and GPS to figure out when it’s dark outside and “automatically shifts the colours in your display to the warmer end of the spectrum, making it easier on your eyes.”

When the sun comes back up, the colours shift to normal. It’s a lot like f.lux, an app for desktop Macs and PCs that many people find completely essential for reducing eyestrain when using their computers at night.

Apple is also using iOS 9.3 to show off an early version its new iOS in Education features, which make iPads easier to use in the classroom. Students will be able to log in to any iPad in the classroom with their own accounts, and teachers will be able to share student iPad screens among the whole class.

It’s a shot across the bow at Google’s massive success in the classroom with its cheap Chromebook laptops.

The Notes app is also getting an upgrade to let you place notes with sensitive information — bank passwords, for instance, or somebody’s social security number — behind a password, or even require an Apple Touch ID fingerprint.

Meanwhile, the News app gets better personalization features to better tailor the articles it finds to your interests, while the Health app will suggest third-party App Store apps with which it can integrate.

Apple’s CarPlay car operating system is getting an improvement, too, with a new feature called “Nearby” for Apple Maps that shows everything around you, alongside new music recommendation features in Apple Music.