iOS 9.3 brings multi-user mode to iPads, along with more features and fixes

Multi-user mode is targeted toward schools, first beta is out today.

Credit: Apple

Apple has just released the first beta of iOS 9.3 to its public beta testers and developers. The company regularly releases beta versions of its operating systems, but this update is unique because Apple has put together several pages extensively detailing its new features, something we normally don't get until we see the release notes posted with the final version of the update. Collectively, this list of new features will make 9.3 the biggest release since iOS 9.0.

The first and most significant is a multi-user mode for iPads, aimed primarily at schools where buying a single iPad for each student is too expensive or otherwise undesirable. From Apple's description, it sounds as though each student will have a roaming user profile that follows them from iPad to iPad so they can access the same apps and data no matter which iPad they use to log in. User content can be cached so that students who regularly use the same iPad won't have to wait for data to download each time they log in.

These new user profiles are just one part of a larger group of features meant to make the iPad more appealing for schools. The "classroom" app gives teachers a bird's-eye view of their students and what apps they're using. The app can be used for screen sharing to help students out when they need it or to lock students out of specific apps when they're not supposed to be using them. The Apple School Manager can be used by administrators to create Apple IDs, purchase apps, and manage devices. And a new type of Apple ID, the "Managed Apple ID," can be created and assigned by schools independently of students' normal Apple IDs.

All of these new education features are aimed squarely at Google's Chromebooks, which despite (or because of) their limitations have seen a lot of adoption in schools. Many of the things that iOS 9.3 will add to the iPad (easy account and device management, roaming profiles and content, and so on) are features that Google pushes hard in schools. As Chromebooks have risen in the educational market, the iPad has suffered several high-profile setbacks—it makes sense for Apple to follow Google's example here.

Unfortunately, all of Apple's promotional material makes it seem as though home users won't be able to take advantage of the iPad's multi-user mode, but that may not be the case in the final version of the software. It could also be trivially simple for home users to create "classrooms" for their own families and use the multi-user mode anyway—we'll test the feature extensively when the final version of iOS 9.3 is released. Update: Apple has clarified to us that the multi-user mode has been developed specifically for the education market and won't be available to normal users, at least not in iOS 9.3.

Of the other additions coming in iOS 9.3, Night Shift is the biggest. Based on your time zone and geographic location, your iPhone or iPad will subtly shift the white balance of its screen from the cool blue-end of the spectrum to the warm yellow-end of the spectrum when the sun sets. This functionality is more or less identical to that of f.lux, an app that normally requires you to jailbreak your iDevice before it will work.

Additionally, the Notes app will let you set a secondary password or a fingerprint to lock it, useful if you happen to share an iPhone or iPad with other people and you don't want them to read your stuff. The News app will do more to help you curate the kinds of stories you see. The Health app makes it easier to find HealthKit-compatible apps to track the things you want to track. It also integrates movement, calorie, and standing data from the Apple Watch when you have one connected. And CarPlay picks up some new Apple Music and Maps features to let you find music and destinations more easily.

iOS 9.3 will continue to run on anything that can run iOS 9, from the lowly iPhone 4S and iPad 2 all the way up to the shiny new iPhone 6S and iPad Pro. Users interested in the public beta can download it from Apple's beta software site—this is the first beta of a major new update, though, so do it at your own risk. We'll take a closer look at all of these new features when the final version of the software is released.