Apple iPhone users await the release of iOS 14.5 which includes the App Tracker Transparency feature. With this feature, users are by default not allowed to be tracked by third-party apps for the purpose of plying them with advertisements. While most iPhone users would most likely prefer not to be bombarded by ads, there are some who find it easier to allow themselves to be tracked so that they can receive ads and learn more about a product including pricing. Those users will have to opt-in to continue being tracked.
The iOS 14.5 update will also include a very useful feature that will automatically unlock an iPhone if the user is wearing a face mask that blocks Face ID from working. Instead of having to type in his or her passcode, if the iPhone user is sporting an unlocked Apple Watch, the handset will unlock automatically. In addition, the update adds 200 emoji to the iPhone, and a swipe gesture will add songs to an Apple Music subscriber’s queue once the update is released and installed
We’d love to tell you that the final stable version of iOS 14.5 has been released and that a plethora of new features can now be accessed. Yup, we’d love to tell you that but alas we can’t. What we can tell you is that Apple dropped iOS 14.4.1 today which contains security updates. The tech giant wrote, “This update provides important security updates and is recommended for all users.”
Apple releases iOS 14.41 to patch security issues with the iPhone browser
According to the company, the security patch in iOS 14.4.1 fixes a vulnerability in WebKit; the latter is the open source browser engine that powers Safari, Google Chrome, and many other mobile browsers. According to Apple, the patch was disseminated for the iPhone 6s and later, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and the seventh-generation iPod touch. The patch is designed to take care of a memory corruption issue. On the support.apple.com website, Apple posted the following:
Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation)
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation.
CVE-2021-1844: Clément Lecigne of Google’s Threat Analysis Group, Alison Huffman of Microsoft Browser Vulnerability Research.
You can install the update on your iPhone by going to Settings > Software Update. Similar updates to iPadOS 14.4.1 and watchOS 7.3.2 were also released today by Apple. The Apple Watch doesn’t have a native browser, but if someone sends you a link to a website, you can access the internet from your wrist.
