No turning back as Apple stops signing iOS 12.1.3

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Stop the madness
It's all about iOS 12.1.4 these days!
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple has stopped signing iOS 12.1.3 after the release of iOS 12.1.4. That means that it’s no longer possible to downgrade again from the latest version of iOS if you’ve already upgraded.

To be fair, you’re not missing very much!

Released on February 7, iOS 12.1.4 squashed a bug that allowed users to eavesdrop on others in Group FaceTime conversations.

It was spotted by a 14-year-old kid, Grant Thompson. Thompson’s mom then spent 10 days trying (unsuccessfully) to contact Apple to warn them. In the end, Apple flew out an executive to meet with the family, rewarded Thompson as part of Apple’s “bug bounty,” and promised to make user reporting of bugs easier.

In the iOS 12.1.4 release, Apple formally credits Grant Thompson and friend Daven Morris in its release notes.

Coming soon: iOS 12.2

Along with stopping signing iOS 12.1.3, Apple also debuted a new beta of iOS 12.2 yesterday. Available to registered developers, it contains numerous small bug fixes and performance improvements.

More broadly, however, iOS 12.2. has introduced features such as Apple News for Canada, new Animoji characters, and more.

It’s likely that iOS 12.2 will ship to users everywhere following Apple’s March 25 event. It will most likely contain an upgraded TV app, reflecting Apple’s new streaming service, and the new Apple News subscription service.

Currently, upward of 80 percent of iOS devices are running some version of iOS 12. Apple released those figures in late February.

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