Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of iOS 8. I’m a fan. Its expansion of third party app interaction, third party keyboards, launch of
So now iOS 8.1.3 is here should you upgrade?
The Deal Breaker
Before even looking at the benefits of iOS 8.1.3, the first thing to point out is something that will be a deal breaker for many: jailbreaking.
As it has so often in the past, the latest version of iOS relocks all jailbroken iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. So if you want to keep using the custom apps, edits and settings jailbreaking provides then you would be wise to steer clear until the hacker communities catch up. And they always do.
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iOS 8.1.3
What Do You Get?
If you haven’t jailbroken your iDevice then we move onto the next stage and that is looking at what iOS 8.1.3 brings to the table. To quote Apple’s release notes, it:
- Reduces the amount of storage required to perform a software update
- Fixes an issue that prevents some users from entering their Apple ID password for Messages and FaceTime
- Addresses an issue that caused Spotlight to stop displaying app results
- Fixes an issue which prevented multitasking gestures from working on iPad
- Adds new configuration options for education standardised testing
The obvious point to make is if you are affected by any of these aspects then clearly iOS 8.1.3 is an update for you. Interestingly the first bullet point in particular will be of great benefit to many as previous iOS updates required a huge amount of space (often a number of gigabytes) to install.
As it happens iOS 8.1.3 isn’t one of the larger updates (roughly 250MB depending on your device), but it will make things easier for those who regularly keep their iPhones and iPads full when bigger updates come along. Apple hasn’t specifically spelt out what the new free space to update size proportions are, but any improvement is welcome.
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Unfortunately the flip side of iOS 8.1.3 is that it hasn’t addressed some very severe bugs predominantly experienced by owners of older iPhones that have been widely reported ever since iOS 8 was launched back on September 17.
The largest is an ongoing WiFi issue where iPhones and iPads won’t connect or stay connected to a network and it has a dedicated thread on the Apple Support Communities forum which has now racked up over 500,000 views across more than 100 pages of anguished discussion.
Close behind it is the increasingly infamous ‘GMT bug’ which incorrectly synchronises calendar events across iOS devices placing them in Greenwich Mean Time and causes organisational chaos for those affected. Again despite its Apple Support Communities thread being around since 20 September, iOS 8.1.3 hasn’t addressed it.
Other nagging long term bugs remain as well, including the jumbled camera photos issue (thread active since September 17 and approaching 60,000 views).
But there is also good news…
No New Problems
Taking a glass half full approach, however, while iOS 8.1.3 has invoked an angry response for what it hasn’t fixed, my extensive digging through the Apple Support Community threads also show it hasn’t introduced any widely reported new bugs.
Consequently both affected and unaffected iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users have nothing to lose by installing iOS 8.1.3. Which (if you haven’t already been prompted automatically) can be triggered by tapping Settings > General > Software Update.
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Verdict: Install
Given Apple has now made six rapid fire updates to iOS 8 it is understandably frustrating that users hit with major bugs continue to see them passed over time and time again.
As such iOS 8.1.3 isn’t the saviour they were hoping for, even if it does bring some useful fixes without causing new issues itself. iOS 8.1.3 is therefore a somewhat tepid release, but it is one you can safely install.
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