iPad iOS 9.0.2 Review: Is It Worth Installing?

Last week, Apple released an iOS 9.0.2 update for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. We’re running the iOS 9.0.2 update on various versions of the iPad, and today we’d like to offer some additional feedback to iPad users. This is our iPad iOS 9.0.2 review.

September was a busy month for Apple and iPad. The company has confirmed a new 12-inch iPad Pro, a brand new iPad mini 4, and iPad iOS 9 release date. It has also released three iPad iOS 9 updates, four if you add the iOS 9.1 update in beta.

In mid-September, Apple released iOS 9.0 for iPad. The update brought new features and improvements to the iPad, including enhanced multitasking for certain models. The operating system has replaced iOS 8.

A week later, Apple released an iOS 9.0.1 update for the iPad. The iOS 9.0.1 update was a minor bug fix update that fixed some annoying iOS 9 issues. A week from now, the iOS 9.0.1 update was already old news.

Last week, Apple released iOS 9.0.2, a new bug fix update for iPads, iPhones and iPod touches. This is the current version of iOS 9 and an update I’ve used on my iPad Air 2, iPad Air and Apple’s iPad mini 2.

With a week of use, I’d like to take a look at how these three updates are performing. There are a number of iOS 9.0.2 issues swirling around, and this makes this type of feedback extremely important, especially if you’re coming from an older iOS update.

iOS 9.0.2 does not bring any new features to the iPad, so this review focuses on the performance of the software on this trio of iPads.

iPad iOS 9.0.2 Update Review

The purpose of this review is to help those of you dealing with iOS 9.0.2 issues and those of you who haven’t installed the iOS 9.0.2 update. Due to these iOS 9.0.2 issues or any other reason.

Before I talk about my experience, keep in mind that mileage changes all the time when it comes to iOS updates. My experience may be very different from yours. You’ll want to use this review as a general guide and I encourage you to look for other opinions on the software.

However, I will do my best to steer you in the right direction. And hopefully in the near future you will be able to decide whether you need iOS 9.0.2 right now.

Apps

While app performance was a bit shaky on the iPhone, I didn’t have much trouble with my apps on the iPad Air 2, iPad Air, and iPad mini 2.

My core apps are pretty much the same on all three devices. Includes Asana, Slack, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Gmail, Hangouts, Chrome, Dark Sky, Amazon, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Xbox One Smartglass.

None of this, including Chrome, is taking action in the week since I presented you with iOS 9.0.2. Chrome works fine for me on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, but is extremely stable on these three iPad models.

I haven’t encountered any major issues with the new multitasking features. Twitter, which is the application I use most with its Slide-Out feature, works smoothly with the built-in iOS 9.0.2.

I hope the performance will hold up, but with apps you can never tell. One day they work fine, the next day they crash every time you open them. If your apps start working, take a look at our fix list.

iOS 9.0.2 Battery Life on iPad

All three iPads show outstanding battery life with built-in iOS 9.0.2. This is not surprising. iOS 9.0 and iOS 9.0.1 also treated them well.

I’ve been using them as best I can over the past week to test for abnormal discharge when in use or standby. All three passed with flying colors. I can still get more than a full day out of them.

I keep a close eye on battery life in Settings. iOS 9 provides a nice in-depth battery usage tool that lets you monitor apps and their battery consumption. Apps are often the root cause of battery life issues, so I recommend familiarizing yourself with the tool if you haven’t already.

If your battery life is on the move with iOS 9.0.2 built in, take a look at our list of fixes. Sometimes all you have to do is make a simple change to one of your settings.

Wi-Fi, LTE and Bluetooth

The iPad Air 2 and iPad Air are Wi-Fi only, but I briefly tested AT&T’s LTE network on the iPad mini 2 and it was working fine. If you notice problems with cellular data, make sure there is no outage in your area and then check out these fixes.

As for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, I’ve seen complaints about both. iPad users are in trouble after the iOS 9.0.2 update. Unfortunately, this is not surprising because these are two of the most common iOS problems.

I haven’t encountered any problems so far. I was able to successfully pair my iPad Air and iPad Air 2 with various Bluetooth speakers and headphones. No problem there, at least not yet.

I’ve tested iPads on several different routers and haven’t noticed any issues. Speeds are good and I haven’t seen the dreaded gray Wi-Fi connection or any speed-related issues.

If you run into problems with any of these connections (LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi), you’ll want to take a look at our solutions.

User Interface Speed

iOS 9.0.2 is slow on my iPhone 5, but not on iPad. The UI feels fast, and the animations and transitions are fluid.

If you’re using an older iPad like iPad 2 or iPad 3, I would review the feedback before installing the iOS 9 update. I’ve heard mixed things about the software and its performance.

If you’re using a newer iPad, you can expect the iOS 9.0.2 update to be solid.

Should You Install the iOS 9.0.2 Update?

For me the iOS 9.0.2 update was worth it. The update provided important security patches and some bug fixes for potentially annoying issues. Performance is also excellent in key areas like Wi-Fi and battery life.

If you have a newer device such as an iPad Air 2, iPad Air, or iPad mini 2 and you already have iOS 9 built-in, you can upgrade to iOS 9.0.2.

If you have an older model or come from iOS 8.4.1 and below, you’ll want to do a little more research. I haven’t had any issues but there are definitely some iOS 9.0.2 issues going around right now.

With iOS 9.1 only a few weeks away, take your time with iOS 9.0.2, especially if you’re not having issues with iOS 9.0.1 or earlier.