For anyone with an iPhone or iPad in their hands, Apple just released a statement that you absolutely must read. Indeed, the company released iOS 15.3.1 and iPadOS 15.3.1.
Apple says these two new versions provide “important security updates for your iPhone (and iPad) ». They also fix an issue that could have caused braille displays to stop working. To download and install the update, go to Settings > General > Software Update. The weight of the update is 862.7 MB.
You may recall that iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 both included a fix for a flaw in Safari that allowed malicious people to track users’ visits to the Internet. This big “allows any website to track your internet activity and even reveal your identity”, according to the security company FingerprintJS. Today’s update further improves the patch against this flaw.
Apple discussed the security aspect of today’s update in more detail, which is part of the aforementioned Safari issue. The fix is in the WebKit topic and says: “Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation). Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited ».
In other words, if you have an iPhone or iPad, it is your responsibility to install iOS 15.3.1 and iPadOS 15.3.1. This might not be the iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 update you were expecting, but it will fix an issue that has apparently been exploited.
We are still waiting for iOS 15.4
When it comes to the upcoming iOS 15.4 update, the most anticipated feature is the one that gives you allows you to unlock your iPhone using Face ID while wearing a mask. While iOS 14.5 allowed people wearing a mask to access their iPhone through an unlocked Apple Watch, with iOS 15.4 people wearing a mask but no Apple Watch will be able to unlock their device with Face ID.
What sort of magic does Apple use to make this work? In fact, Apple willuse the unique features around the eye area to authenticateinstead of using full facial recognition. There is also a setting that will allow Face ID to recognize the user’s facial features even if the user is wearing glasses. Apple also notes that Face ID is more accurate when the new setting is disabled.
Everyone loves the release of new emojis, and iOS 15.4 and iPad 15.4 will add Emoji version 14 from the Unicode Consortium. An Apple Cards widget will show you your most recent balance on your home page, and Universal iPad Orders, originally slated for release last fall, will finally see the light of day.
Apple also released the second public beta for iOS 15.4 and iPad 15.4 today. To be able to install it, you will need to enroll in Apple’s beta software program. However, keep in mind that if you join the beta program, you must back up your data; If you want to leave the beta program, you can wait for the next public non-beta update to be released and install the OTA update using the usual method: (Settings > General > Software update).
But if you can’t wait for the next public update, you can restore iOS or iPadOS, but your data will be erased.
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