iOS 9.1 Beta Now Available To Apple Developers

Apple didn’t make a note of it during its event this afternoon in San Francisco, but the next generation of its mobile operating system, iOS 9.1, is already being seeded to developers as of today alongside the “gold master” – or final build – of iOS 9, previously announced.

Thanks to the public beta of  iOS 9, a number of users have already gotten their hands on pre-release iOS 9 features, including an improved Siri, smarter search, better transit maps, refreshed core apps like Notes and brand-new apps like News, and more.

But iOS 9.1 will be the next major upgrade to iOS, and will likely include support for the iPad Pro’s larger 12.9-inch display and other new items. Specifically, it’s been reported that the update will help to display optimized versions of features like split-screen apps and picture-in-picture video playback on the big-screened tablet.

Apple’s just-announced hardware devices, including the iPad Pro and the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, will introduce several new elements that could require a software update, including things like support for Apple Pencil input, Live Photos, 3D Touch and more.

However, iOS 9.1’s release notes are currently missing from Apple’s Developer site, so a detailed list of changes is not yet available.

The Next Web points out that 9.1 will include new emoji.

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iOS 9.1 was spotted in the wild this summer in sites’ visitor logs, but activity from tapered off as the Apple Fall event date neared.

Assuming that iOS 9.1 launches in conjunction with the iPad Pro, that would mean it’s arriving in November. iOS 9, however, will be available to all users on September 16 as free download.