Apple has confirmed that iOS 16.3 is ready, and the RC has already been released to developers and beta testers. Within a week, iOS 16.3 should be available for all users on their phone, and iPadOS (16.3), watchOS (9.3), macOS (13.2) and tvOS (16.3) will also be updated. The update also contains one or two new features, but it is worth installing just because of the bug fixes, as Apple claims that this eliminates the horizontal banding experienced by some users on the iPhone 14 Pro smartphones. iOS 16.3 also fixes a bug that caused some people to not see the set wallpaper on their iPhone. The error of the Home application widget, which could display data on connected devices incorrectly, will be corrected on the locked screen.
On iPhone 14 Pro phones, some users experienced that stripes appeared when waking up the display. (source: 9to5Mac) [+]
Among the novelties is that the new system will now support physical security keys for Apple ID and iCloud logins, two-factor authentication will be possible with a hardware key. The ones known so far and the company a 9to5Mac based on your reply to Apple will not start developing its own security key, instead it will accept hardware produced by third parties using the open standards of the FIDO association in its systems. If the user moves out of the iPhone and switches again, and if he uses direct data transfer between phones when setting up the new one, he does not have to start over with the security key, iOS will also transfer its data.
All data stored in iCloud gets end-to-end encryption in iOS 16.3, which was available to users in the US since iOS 16.2. Sensitive data (passwords, health data, messages) have been saved this way for everyone, with the new system, the user can store everything encrypted. A hardware security key can also be used to unlock the encryption, and the password is stored on the iPhone, not uploaded to iCloud. With this, Apple wants to ensure that in the event of an attack on its servers at night, the attackers will only have access to data that is useless to them.
Black Unity Wallpapers and New Watch Band. (source: Apple) [+]
The new HomePod and HomePod Mini features announced this week will also require iOS 16.3 to be installed. The update also adds a challenge for Black History Month (Black Unity) to the fitness app and a new wallpaper for iPhone and Watch devices. After the update, it will be necessary to hold down the power button and the volume button to initiate emergency SOS calls, according to Apple, this will reduce false alarms. In principle, Siri will also be smarter, it will better understand requests to play music, and its speech recognition is said to improve even in CarPlay mode.
