How to Download iOS 9 on Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

iOS 9 is now available as a free upgrade for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. If you’ve been wondering whether your device is eligible for the update, how to download iOS 9 on your Apple device, or how to take a backup of all data on your device before you install iOS, you’ve come to the right place.

(Also see: 15 iOS 9 Features That Make Your iPhone and iPad Better Than Ever)

Will my iOS device get iOS 9?
If your device is running iOS 8, then it is eligible for the iOS 9 upgrade. This year Apple hasn’t discontinued OS upgrade support for any devices, but some features such as split-screen multitasking for iPad will only work on the newest devices. The following iOS devices will get the iOS 9 update. The iPad Pro, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPad mini 4 will ship with iOS 9 pre-installed, and hence don’t appear in this list.

(Also see: How You Can Get the iOS 9 Apple News App Outside the US)

iPhone 4s
iPhone 5
iPhone 5c
iPhone 5s
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
iPod touch 5th generation
iPod touch 6th generation
iPad 2
iPad 3rd generation
iPad 4th generation
iPad Air
iPad Air 2
iPad mini
iPad mini 2
iPad mini 3

Backup
While the iOS update process is usually very smooth, it’s still recommended that you take a backup to ensure that your data is safe. Here’s how.

(Also see: How to Take a Complete Backup of Your Old iPhone)

You can do this via iCloud or iTunes, but we recommend that you do it via iTunes, because it doesn’t require an Internet connection. Here are the steps to take a backup of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

1) Connect your iOS device to a PC or Mac.

2) Open iTunes.

3) On the top-left (to the left of My Music), click the icon that represents your iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod touch icon).

4) Under Backups, you will see the sub-head Manually Back Up and Restore.

5) Click Back Up Now to start backing up your iOS device.

Once essential data from the default apps has been backed up, iTunes will ask you if you want to transfer purchases. This backs up all apps installed on your phone, along with data downloaded within those apps. To do this, you will have to sign in with your Apple ID.

If you don’t have access to a computer, then you can use iCloud Backup. Only 5GB is free and you’ll have to pay Rs. 60 per month for additional storage on iCloud.

1) To start backing up, on your iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud > Backup.

2) Turn on the switch marked iCloud Backup. You’ll get a warning telling you that your iPhone will not back up to your computer automatically. Tap Ok.

3) Once iCloud Backup is on, tap Back Up Now. This will start backing up your data to iCloud.

Wait for the backup to finish before proceeding further. You should see the Last Backup time (which should appear right below Back Up Now) correspond to something recent once the backup is completed.

Download and install iOS 9
With the backup complete, you can quickly install iOS 9 on your Apple device. Once again, you can do this directly via your iOS device or iTunes. In this case we recommend doing this via the device itself. The iOS 9 update is big download, but the amount of free space required on your device is lesser than iOS 8, so there are unlikely to be troubles like last year when you are installing iOS 9. Here’s how to get the iOS 9 update over-the-air (OYA)

1) On your iOS device, make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi (you can’t download updates over mobile data) and plug it in to a power source – the second step is not mandatory, but recommended to make sure you don’t run out of battery midway through the process.

2) Go to Settings > General > Software Update.

3) On this screen, you’ll see a message telling you that iOS 9 is available. Tap Download and Install. Now the device will begin downloading the update.

4) Once the download is complete, you’ll see a pop-up asking if you’d like to install the update. Tap Install. That’s it. When the update is installed, your iPhone will restart.

Here’s how to download iOS 9 via iTunes
In case you get an error that there enough free space to install the update on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, or if you want to install the update on multiple devices of the same kind (e.g. the three iPhone 6 models in your family), then you are better off installing iOS 9 via iTunes by following these steps:

1) Open iTunes on your PC or Mac.

2) Connect the iOS device to your computer. In iTunes, select your device icon on the bar at the top.

3) Now click on the Summary tab and click Check for Update.

4) To download and install iOS 9, click Download and Update.

Once the install is completed, follow instructions on-screen and you can start using iOS 9. For more tutorials, visit our How To section.