iOS 13 was released last week on September

19. It brought vast improvements to the OS and breathed new life into old

devices. Much like the previous version, iOS 13 brought performance

improvements such as a 30% increase in FaceID unlocking speeds. App downloads

are 50% smaller with 60% smaller app updates. The share sheet is new with

intelligent suggestions on based on who you share with most, and there’s a

newly redesigned Reminders app with new functionality.

All these updates are wonderful and push

the entire iOS ecosystem forward. However, iOS 13 is buggy, and Apple knows it.

Following hot on the heels of the big iOS 13 release is iOS 13.1, its first update, and it is needed. The update was originally planned for September 30, however, Apple pushed the update up by almost a week, to Tuesday, September 24. The patch promises fixes to the many bugs present in iOS 13 as well as a security issue that allows bypassing the lock screen. iPad users also got iPad OS, that unlocked new productivity functions exclusive to iPads.

The Bugs

iOS 13 seems a bit rushed. Sure, the

features are great but it seems Apple wanted to ship the OS version on its

iPhone 11 trio. Here are a few bugs we discovered.

[naviga:ul]

[naviga:li]UI Glitches – from time to

time, elements on screen seem to overlap and stick to each other. Memoji

stickers behave oddly, with shadows under the avatars.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Text Field vanishes –

Occasionally, the text field disappears altogether. While using iMessage,

scrolling sometimes causes the text field and keyboard to vanish.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Connectivity Issues – Bluetooth

and cellular often disconnects or have unreliable signals. Disconnections

aren’t frequent but annoying when it happens.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]App crashes – App crashes are

seldom on iOS but version 13 brought many. Apps just give up the ghost and shut

down altogether.[/naviga:li]

[/naviga:ul]

The iOS 13.1 patch includes a fix for a bug

that could potentially grant access to the contacts without unlocking the

device. While it requires that a potential attacker come in physical contact

with the device, the flaw still poses a threat to overall device security.

iOS 13 was so unstable that the US Department of Defense encouraged its employees and contractors in an email, to delay updating until Apple patched the known security issues in 13.1.

What’s to Come

Here are a few more things the 13.1 update brings:

[naviga:ul]

[naviga:li]Improved AirDrop functionality

with Ultra-Wideband technology for the new iPhone 11 trio. The feature will

enable the built-in U1 chip to send signals for more precise file sending and

location tracking.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Apple Maps will enable users to

share their estimated time of arrival (ETA) with other users.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]A fix to an issue that made the

camera app appear rotated when swiped from the lock screen.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Fixes a problem with facial tracking

not working well with Memoji.[/naviga:li]

[/naviga:ul]

The iOS 13.1 update seemed to have smoothed out most of the UI bugs in the previous version. Performance seems improved with app load speeds noticeably quicker. Let’s hope we don’t discover any new, annoying or risky bugs.

— Written by Renor C.