Just because we’re a few weeks away from Christmas, Apple isn’t letting up on its relentless flurry of iOS updates.
The Cupertino-based company has pushed out a bevy of changes since the launch of its iOS 13 upgrade on September 19, 2019. Since its debut, iOS 13 has been plagued by a series of problems. iPhone owners have reported issues with apps crashing randomly, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity problems, background activity forcefully shut down by the mobile operating system, as well as a slew of other issues. In fact, the teething problems in iOS 13 were so widespread that Apple brought forward its iOS 13.1 forward more than a week to address some of the complaints.
And that pattern continues today, with a brand-new iOS version released in the last few weeks before Christmas. Apple engineers have seemingly prepared one final update for iPhone owners around the world before the festivities begin. iOS 13.3 contains a truckload of different bug fixes, including an issue that prevented Qi wireless chargers, which work on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, XS Max, iPhone Xr, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, from topping-up your battery at full speed.
“Addresses an issue where some wireless chargers may charge more slowly than expected,” Apple lists in the release notes, which also promises fixes for a bug in Apple Mail that may prevent downloading new messages, an issue where the cursor may not move after long pressing on the space bar, an bug that may cause screenshots to appear blurry when sent via Messages, a problem where cropping or using Markup on screenshots may not save to Photos, an issue where Voice Memos recordings may not be able to be shared with other audio apps, and finally, a bug that prevented the missed call badge on the Phone app appearing.
iOS 13.3 was also accompanied by watchOS 6.1.1 too, as well as updates for the Apple TV, iPad and HomePod.
iOS 13.3 could be a very welcome Christmas present to parents since it contains stricter parental controls. Following the update, parents will be able to limit access to certain contacts – stopping your children making FaceTime calls to their friends late into the evening from their rooms. As well as FaceTime calls, the restrictions will also apply to Apple’s Messages app, as well as voice calls.
Unfortunately, there’s currently no way to enforce a ban on third-party messaging apps, so if your children are staying up all night chatting in WhatsApp groups then the iOS 13.3 won’t help you. Still, it could be a good way of curbing some late nights over the Christmas and New Year period.
Other improvements in iOS 13.3 are more focused on grown-ups. The iPhone upgrade adds support for FIDO2 security keys if you prefer not to use passwords to sign-in to your online accounts. And Apple has added the option to remove your most frequently—used MeMoji stickers from the left hand-side of the default Emoji keyboard.
This can be enabled and disabled in the Settings app, so depending on your MeMoji usage you can choose to either have the personalised stickers available at a tap or not. Apple introduced MeMoji stickers – which put the customisable Pixar-like character in a number of pre-set expressive poses, which can then be sent to friends and family in all messaging apps including Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp – in the first iOS 13 upgrade. The new option can be found in Settings > General > Keyboard > Emoji.
While iOS 13.3 isn’t quite as dramatic as iOS 13.2, which introduced the new photography-boosting Deep Fusion mode for iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max owners, there are enough useful tweaks that make it worth a download.