Apple has made a habit since the release of the iPhone 11 of updating iOS every couple of weeks. That had been because of an unprecedented number of bugs in the system, but iOS 13.3 just released and brings a raft of new helpful features, rather than just fixes.
Of these, the most notable is Communication Limits, a child-focussed feature for Screen Time that lets parents limit who their kids can contact all the time or during Downtime. The latter is an existing feature that schedules screen off time daily.
Additionally, parents can now manage their children’s contact lists so that only select contacts appear on their devices in the first place.
Communication Limits is rather like App Limits in exiting to encourage younger iPhone and iPad owners to not spend every waking hour texting and in apps. You can make exceptions to the rule, meaning parents and other selected contacts will still be able to contact their children.
Much less interesting updates to iOS 13.3 include a new layout for the Washington Post within the Apple News app and the ability to create a new video clip when editing one in Photos.
Apple then did in fact go ahead and issue a lot of bug and issue fixes, as listed below:
- Adds support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in Safari
- Fixes issues in Mail that may prevent downloading new messages
- Addresses an issue that prevented deleting messages in Gmail accounts
- Resolves issues that could cause incorrect characters to display in messages and duplication of sent messages in Exchange accounts
- Fixes an issue where the cursor may not move after long pressing on the space bar
- Addresses an issue that may cause screenshots to appear blurry when sent via Messages
- Resolves an issue where cropping or using Markup on screenshots may not save to Photos
- Fixes an issue where Voice Memos recordings may not be able to be shared with other audio apps
- Addresses an issue where the missed call badge on the Phone app may not clear
- Resolves an issue where the Cellular Data setting may incorrectly show as off
- Fixes an issue that prevented turning off Dark Mode when Smart Invert was enabled
- Addresses an issue where some wireless chargers may charge more slowly than expected
Author: Henry Burrell, Phones Editor
Henry is Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, ensuring he and the team covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about for readers and viewers all over the world. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.