Introducing the iOS 13.3.1 Update
Ever since the release of Apple’s latest and, by far, the most powerful smartphone, it was revealed that Apple’s U1 chip tracks users’ location even when manually switched off. The funny thing here is this chip is not even legal in some countries, so owning the latest iPhone was against some legal terms in countries like Russia or Indonesia.
Fortunately, Apple has come up with a fix and it’s not that complicated, just a software update anyone can install. So, let’s take a clear insight into what this update has to offer.
The U1 disaster
Of course, the main star of this show is the GPS tracking fix, but why is it such a big deal?
U1 is a chip developed by Apple and it allows phone to detect its exact location. But this is not the only Apple-exclusive chip around. W1 or the newer H1 are some of the examples, which exist so that the device can handle operations more efficiently and they also integrate well one with another.
Its use cases are countless though. You may think that it is there just so it could track us, but in reality, it is used to enhance connections such as Bluetooth. Another way it can be utilized is to enhance Airdrop and make it smarter. Still, we think Apple may be collecting some data about its users, but they claim the opposite, so we’ll let you decide for yourselves.
But in case you live in one of the countries that strictly ban use of this technology, you are in luck as Apple has a new system update rolling. In just a few clicks, you can disable the U1 chip completely and be sure it isn’t tracking you.
Tracking is not the only improvement
The biggest improvement of them all is, without the doubt, the U1 disabling feature. But that doesn’t mean it is the only one.
For those of the image lovers, Apple did bring a fix which removes the small, yet noticeable delay when editing Deep Fusion photos. Creating an extra contact without a passcode is not possible after this fix either!
Some minor fixes include solutions to the issue where Mail app downloaded remote images even when option was disabled, a bug where FaceTime used ultra-wide rear camera, and an issue where push notifications failed to deliver over Wi-Fi. Indian Siri voices for HomePod are another innovation!
But iOS is not the only affected system here. Since iPadOS is based on iOS too, this means most of the previous fixes apply to it as well.
It also seems like Apple made sure their users respect them for the right reasons. It may not be the latest or the quickest phone of today, but iPhone 5s seems to age pretty well. Sure, it doesn’t support the latest iOS 13, but Apple did release an update to the 12th version of the popular OS keeping the phones secure in today’s malicious world.
Apple Watch’s get upgraded too!
Apple really wanted to make updates as universal as possible and it seems as if they are pretty close to achieving it. With the WatchOS 6.2 being just around the corner, Apple showed some appreciation to the gadget users.
The next version is supposed to feature In-app purchases and this is a huge deal. Apple introduced a store dedicated to the watch users a while ago and now we are seeing the rise of this platform. What this means for developers is they will be able to create premium features for their apps and show them to the public.
We did not get any of this in the latest update though. Company decided not to give us any information on this one, except that it features ‘important security updates’, but we are yet to see if anything changed.
