After the release of iOS 13.1 beta 2, iOS 13 is probably good enough for you to install and use. I’ve been running the new iPadOS on an old test iPad since the very first version, and it has been glitchy all the way. But as of the latest developer beta, almost all of the problems have been ironed out.
So, is the iOS 13 beta really stable enough to install?
One of the biggest buyers of iOS zero-day exploits says the market is flooded with new iPhone bugs due to weakened security components in Safari and iMessage.
Zerodium, which pays $2 million for iOS exploits, recently announced it’s increasing its payout for Android exploits to $2.5 million. iOS used to be the most locked-down mobile operating system, but the company says Android’s security has improved with every new OS release while iOS has been slacking, leading to a glut of new exploits.
The beta process for iOS 13.1 continues, with the second developer-only beta just going out now.
But there hasn’t been a new iOS 13 beta in two weeks. Apple really seems to have finished work on it, even though it hasn’t been released and isn’t even expected until later this month.
How much space do duplicate files take up on your iPad? In theory, they use no extra storage. Thanks to the design of the Apple File System (APFS) used on iOS and macOS, duplicating a file doesn’t actually create a copy. It just creates a reference that points to the original file on the disk.
But what about File Providers, and iCloud, and all that stuff? I decided to take a deep dive and find out if you can really make a zillion copies of a file with no penalty. The results were, to say the least, confusing.
Apple has slowly been turning up the dial on what iOS can do, trying to make it more and more “computer” like. With iOS 13, one of the points of frustration with computing on iOS – and especially on iPad – is finally being addressed thanks to changes in the Files app.
With iOS 13, the Files app is taking a huge leap toward the Mac model of file management. There’s a whole bunch of smaller changes, as well as some big upgrades that make it really compelling.
One of the handiest features in iOS 13 appears to have been pushed back to at least iOS 13.2. iCloud Folder Sharing, which would have let many people ditch Dropbox entirely, has disappeared from the current iOS 13 betas. And that’s not all. Also gone is the ability to pin a file to save it offline. What’s going on?
For some of you, one of the main reasons to jump on iOS 13 right away is mouse support. You can connect any Bluetooth or USB mouse to your iPad, and use it pretty much like you’d use a mouse on the Mac.
You can even use a multi-button mouse. And guess what? You can assign all of those buttons to mouse functions. I’ve been using a mouse with my iPad on and off throughout the beta period. During that time, I’ve come up with a shortlist of the most useful mouse button features in iPadOS 13.
Apple has no intention of scrapping iMessage games — despite some of the rumors you might be reading online this week.
Stories surrounding the supposed move started trending on Twitter, causing some fans to freak about the feature’s removal. But at no point has Apple stated that it will close the iMessage App Store.
Apple is still developing its own augmented reality headset, according to code discovered in iOS 13.
Internal builds of the software include a “STARTester” app for switching in and out of a headset mode, according to a new report. It offers two modes, including “worn” and “held.”
Researchers also uncovered a text file that describes a “StarBoard” system for stereo AR apps.
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s September 10th has just been announced—don’t miss our hardware and software predictions! Plus: comparing Disney’s new streaming service to Apple TV Plus; Steve Jobs is spotted in Egypt; and one of Earth’s greatest Steve Jobs artifacts hits the auction block.
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Anyone who wants to get a jump on iOS 13.1 can do so: the first public beta of this version was just released.
This includes features that apparently won‘t be in iOS 13 when it debuted in a few weeks.
Microsoft just brought Dark Mode to Outlook for iOS. And this is just the start of giving many more applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite this feature, which puts white text on a black background.
Surprisingly, iOS 13.1 is already in beta. It looks like Apple’s release strategy this year is to freeze the current beta version of iOS 13.0 in order to get it ready for the new iPhones expected on September 10. Meanwhile, Apple continues to test the next version, adding back some features removed during the beta period — Shortcuts automations, for example.
So, what other new (or revived) features will you find in iOS 13.1 beta 1?
The slow slog toward the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 took an unexpected twist today: Apple just introduced the first betas of the followup versions.
The debut of prerelease versions of iOS 13.1 and iPadOS 13.1 would seem to indicate that Apple has already finished development of the versions that’ll debut next month.
Apple added full transcript search to its podcast directory in iOS 13. Even though you can’t actually read the podcast transcripts, this is still huge. You can search across the content of podcast episodes the way you can search websites with DuckDuckGo (or other search engines) today.
As we draw nearer to the official release of iOS 13, things are starting to take their final form – as rocky as that may seem at times. One of the more stable, and more useful updates is to the Reminders app on iPhone and iPad.
Reminders was introduced back in iOS 5, and aside from losing some texture in iOS 7,the app has mostly been unchanged. In iOS 13, Apple is finally modernizing and improving on their task and to-do app to make it more functional and more competitive against many third party task managers.
We’re up to the eighth beta of iOS 13, but that’s not nearly the record for iOS betas. That honor goes to iOS 11. It might seem like we’ve had a lot of betas this time around, but two years ago, Apple seeded 13 betas before hitting the Gold Master stage.
With just a few weeks left until the expected iPhone 11 launch, it seems unlikely that record will fall. In terms of sheer number of betas, iOS 13 is not even close. But what about total time spent in beta? Or the fewest betas? Let’s look at the chart.
Apple is picking up the pace on its iOS 13 development by seeding the eighth beta build of the upcoming software release to developers today.
iOS 13 beta 8 and iPadOS 13 beta 8 arrive less than one week after Apple released the last beta build to developers. It’s a clear sign that the last of the bugs are getting squashed in order to ready the big update for the public launch next month.
iOS 13 makes it possible to use a keyboard and mouse to control your iPad. But one enterprising YouTuber has shown that it’s equally possible to rig up an old-school Macintosh keyboard and mouse to control an iPhone.
Sure, it’s a bit fiddly, but it’s undeniably fun in a geeky kind of way. You can check out the oddball demonstration in the video below.
Little tweaks can be a big deal. When Apple showcased the top-level changes coming soon to iPad and iPhone, these secret iOS 13 features flew below the radar. Find out why we like them — and see them in action in our video walkthrough.
Get in on the iOS 13 goodness in this week’s totally free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Elsewhere in our iOS mag, you’ll find an Apple Card review and plenty of Apple-oriented how-tos. (If you prefer to read in your browser, you’ll find the stories linked below.)
Apple just seeded the seventh Developer beta of the next iOS and iPadOS version. This is the latest stage of a debugging process expected to end in September.
UPDATE: iOS 13 Public beta 6 just launched as well, so anyone who wants to try this new version can. The same goes for iPadOS Public beta 6.
After spending time playing with the iPadOS 13 developer beta and iOS 13 beta , it’s clear there are tons of nice changes coming to Apple’s mobile platforms this fall.
Cupertino highlighted the biggest ones at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. However, there’s a bunch of smaller stuff they didn’t tell us about. While there are hundreds of “under the hood” changes, these are the best iOS 13 features Apple didn’t announce.
Apple might be ready to agree to a truce with Spotify that would allow iOS users to control the rival music streaming service with Siri.
iPhone users have been unable to use Siri and Spotify together even though you can do it with Apple Music. Reports of the negotiations come as Apple is facing more intense scrutiny for anti-trust practices, with Spotify being one of the loudest dissenting voices.
iOS 13 is cracking down on potty mouths. Apple’s built-in Notes app automatically censors handwritten curse words. However, it seems words considered to be less offensive are ignored.
The iPadOS beta Apple introduced this week offers something none of its predecessors did: reliability. Stability, even. After days of testing on an iPad Pro, I found it close enough to the final version that an average person can access a mouse or thumbdrive with their iPad nearly hassle-free. That hasn’t been true of earlier betas.
Less rigorous testing of iOS 13 on an iPhone XS Max indicates it’s also relatively stable.
