Apple has officially released iOS 13.5 & iPadOS 13.5 and iOS 12.4.7 to the public. It’s been more than a month since Apple publicly released an update. The last update they released was iOS and iPadOS 13.4.1.
The build number for iOS 13.5 & iPadOS 13.5 is 17F75 and it packs in a ton of features and changes in it.
What’s new with iOS 13.5
1. COVID-19 Exposure Notifications: Apple has added a toggle to Settings>Privacy>Health>COVID-19 Exposure Notifications, which enables you to opt out of this feature. In Settings>Privacy>Health>COVID-19 Exposure Notifications, Apple mentions,
“iPhone is using Bluetooth to securely share your random IDs with nearby devices and collect their IDs. This enables an app to notify you if you may have been exposed to COVID-19. Random IDs are deleted after 14 days.
Apps you authorize can notify you if you’re exposed to COVID-19. You can also choose to anonymously share your COVID-19 diagnosis.”
This is the result of the partnership between Apple & Google to create a contact tracing technology for COVID-19. Note that this is only currently available in the USA, with countries such as the UK, implementing their own health tracing systems, per government request.
Read more about Apple’s Privacy-Preserving Contact Tracing Technology here.
2. Face ID: iOS 13.5 Developer Beta 3 helps you unlock your iPhone easier & faster. When Face ID detects that you are wearing a mask, it takes you directly to the passcode input screen upon swiping up which saves time for unlocking the iPhone. In earlier versions of iOS, the iPhone tried with Face ID every time you swiped up and prompted the passcode input screen upon several tries.
3. Automatic Face Zooming on FaceTime: When people speak on a group FaceTime call, their face is zoomed on the FaceTime interface as they speak. Users now have the option disable Automatic Face Zooming on Group FaceTime calls. Go to Settings>FaceTime>Automatic Prominence>Speaking and turn it off.
4. iOS 13.5 fixes two security vulnerabilities which could remotely infect an iPhone through the Mail app upon the attacker sending a specific email which would take up a lot of RAM on the iPhone and another vulnerable allowed remote code executions.
5. Connectivity: iOS 13.5 will fix a vulnerability present from iOS 13.3.1 which prevented VPNs from encrypting traffic. This update will also fix an issue with Personal Hotspots, which was not working for some users.
Additionally, Apple has also released iOS 12.4.7 for older devices such as the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 2, iPad Air (1st Generation) and the iPod Touch (6th Generation) The build number for this update is 16G192. It’s simply amazing that Apple is still supporting these devices with security updates. The iPhone 5s released in 2013 is the oldest iPhone supported with iOS 12.4.7.
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