5 Things to Know About the iOS 13.1 Update

Apple’s released its highly anticipated iOS 13.1 update for iPhone and the new firmware brings new features, fixes, enhancements, and patches to iPhone users.

iOS 13.1 serves as the first milestone upgrade for the company’s new operating system. As such, it brings a fairly long list of changes to iPhone users including Share ETA and design updates to emoji characters.

If your phone is currently running iOS 13.0, you get the shortest change log and the smallest download. If you’re moving up from iOS 12.4.1 or another version of iOS 12, your iOS 13.1 update is far more substantial because iOS 13.0’s changes are baked into your upgrade.

With that in mind, we want to guide you through the most important things to know, right now, about Apple’s iOS 13.1 update for the iPhone.

Our guide goes over the iOS 13.1 update’s performance, iOS 13.1 problems, places to look for feedback about iOS 13.1’s performance, the iOS 13.1 jailbreak, and more.

We’ll start with our quick impressions of iOS 13.1’s performance.

iOS 13.1 Reviews

iOS 13.1 isn’t as big as iOS 13.0, but it still requires a pretty sizable download if you’ve already moved your iPhone to iOS 13.0.

If you’re moving your iPhone up from iOS 13.0, you’re looking at a sizable download. The iOS 13.1 update is a 500MB download for the iPhone 11 Pro Max and it’s around the same size for other iPhone models.

If you’re currently running iOS 12, you’ll see a larger download size because, again, your iOS 13.1 update brings the features and fixes from the updates you missed.

If you’re on iOS 13,0, the iOS 13.1 installation could take less than 10 minutes to complete. It took about seven minutes to install on the iPhone X and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

For more on the iOS 13.1 download and installation, take a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iOS 13.1 update on the iPhone for a short time and here’s what we’ve found:

Connectivity

• Battery life is stable.
• Wi-Fi connectivity is fast and reliable.
• Bluetooth is working normally.
• GPS and cellular data are both stable.

Apps

• Third-party apps including Netflix, Dark Sky, Twitter, Slack, Asana, Gmail, Chrome, and Spotify are all working normally.
• First party apps like Safari, Podcasts, and Calendar are also working fine.

Speed

• iOS 13.1 feels as fast as iOS 13.0 and iOS 12.

If you’re dealing with bugs or performance issues on 13.0 or another version of iOS, you might want to install iOS 13.1 right now. It could stabilize your device’s performance.

If you need help making a decision, check out our reasons to, and not to, install the iOS 13.1 update on your iPhone.

We’ve also published our iOS 13.1 reviews for the iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, and iPhone SE so check those for additional feedback if you need it.

iOS 13.1 Problems

iOS 13.1 fixes a number of bugs, but it’s also causing problems for some users. Some issues are brand new, others have carried over from iOS 13.0 and iOS 12.

The current list of iOS 13 problems includes the usual suspects: installation issues, abnormal battery drain, issues with Touch ID and Face ID, issues with first and third-party apps, lag, random reboots, and more.

If you run into an issue on iOS 13.1 have a look at our list of fixes for the most common iOS problems. We’ve also released tips to help improve iOS 13 performance and tips to help improve battery life.

If you can’t handle iOS 13.1’s performance on your device, you can try downgrading.

Apple is currently signing on iOS 13.0 and iOS 12.4.1 which means you can use a loophole to downgrade your phone. These options will only be open for a short time so if you want to move you’ll need to move quickly.

Unfortunately, you can’t downgrade to anything older than iOS 12.4.1. Apple’s closed up the downgrade path to older versions of iOS 12.

iOS 13.1 Update: What’s New

Apple’s x.x updates always feature a mix of new features, bug fixes, and security patches and iOS 13.1 isn’t any different.

iOS 13.1 brings back some features that were removed during the iOS 13 beta testing process over the summer. These include the Automations feature in Shortcuts and Share ETA.

The update also includes tweaks to Dynamic Wallpapers, HEVC improvements, tweaks to several emoji characters, an AirPods Volume Indicator, Mouse Support improvements, new HomeKit icons, and more.

Here’s the full iOS 13.1 change log:

AirDrop

• Ability to select who you want to AirDrop to by pointing from one iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, or iPhone 11 Pro Max to another using the new U1 chip with Ultra Wideband technology for spatial awareness.

Shortcuts

• Suggested automations in the Gallery personalized to your daily routine.
• Personal and home automations for automatically running shortcuts based on triggers.
• Home app support for shortcuts as advanced actions in the Automation tab.

Maps

• Share ETA to send your estimated time of arrival while your route is in progress.

Battery Health

• Optimized battery charging to slow the rate of battery aging by reducing the time your iPhone spends fully charged.
• Performance management feature for iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down, including the option to disable this feature if an unexpected shutdown occurs.
• Notifications for when Battery Health is unable to verify if a new, genuine Apple battery is in iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and later.

The iOS 13.1 update also includes bug fixes and other improvements:

• Adds a link to the Me tab in Find My to allow a guest to sign in and locate a missing device.
• Includes notifications for when the display on your iPhone is unable to be verified as a new, genuine Apple display in iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
• Addresses issues in Mail that could cause incorrect download counts, missing senders and subjects, difficulty selecting or flagging threads, duplicate notifications or overlapping fields.
• Fixes an issue in Mail that may prevent background downloading of email messages.
• Addresses an issue that could prevent Memoji from correctly tracking facial expressions in Messages.
• Fixes an issue where photos might not display in the Messages details view.
• Fixes an issue in Reminders that prevented some users from sharing iCloud lists.
• Resolves an issue in Notes where Exchange notes may not show up in search results.
• Addresses an issue in Calendar where birthday events could appear multiple times.
• Addresses an issue that could prevent third-party sign in screens from appearing in the Files app.
• Fixes an issue that could cause Camera orientation to appear rotated when swiping to it from the Lock screen.
• Addresses an issue that could cause the display to sleep while interacting with the Lock screen.
• Resolves issues where app icons could appear as blank or as a different app on the Home screen.
• Resolves an issue that could prevent supported wallpapers from switching appearances when changing between Light and Dark modes.
• Addresses stability issues when signing out of iCloud from Passwords & Accounts in Settings.
• Fixes an issue where signing in to update Apple ID settings could fail repeatedly.
• Fixes an issue that could prevent the device from vibrating when connecting to a charger.
• Addresses an issue that could cause people and groups in the Share Sheet to appear blurred.
• Fixes an issue that could prevent alternate words from displaying when tapping on a misspelled word.
• Resolves an issue where multilingual typing could stop working.
• Addresses an issue that could prevent switching back to the QuickType keyboard after using a third-party keyboard.
• Fixes an issue that could prevent the edit menu from appearing when selecting text.
• Fixes an issue where Siri may not read Messages in CarPlay.
• Addresses an issue that could prevent sending a message using third party messaging apps in CarPlay.

iOS 13.1 also brings important security patches to the iPhone though Apple still hasn’t revealed the particulars.

iOS 13 Jailbreak

If you still jailbreak, make sure you avoid iOS 13 and the iOS 13.1. The only way you can jailbreak a device right now is if it’s running iOS 12.

Jailbreak developers have teased iOS 13 jailbreak tools, but don’t expect them to release a tool that’s compatible with iOS 13.1 in the near future.

For now, you must remain on iOS 12 if you want to jailbreak your iPhone.

What’s Next

Apple hasn’t confirmed the next version of iOS 13, but we expect the company to roll out at least one new version of iOS 13 in 2019.

To celebrate World Emoji Day, Apple previewed the emoji characters coming to compatible iPhone models in the fall.

The Unicode 12 update includes a new smiley face for yawning, a one-piece swimsuit, waffle, falafel, butter and garlic, and new animals like the sloth, flamingo, orangutan and skunk.

We expect Apple to bring them to the iPhone inside of a x.x milestone software update, probably iOS 13.2, sometime before the end of the year.

Apple’s also warned iOS 13 users about a third-party keyboard issue in the operating system. The company says it will fix the problem in an upcoming software update, but it hasn’t confirmed a version or release date.

Keep an eye out for the iOS 13.2 beta, and an iOS 13.1.1 update, as we push away from the iOS 13.1 release.

Install iOS 13.7 for Better Security

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If security is important to you, think about installing the iOS 13.7 update. iOS 13.7 doesn't have any known security patches on board. That said, if you skipped iOS 13.6 or an older version of iOS, you'll get security patches with your upgrade.  iOS 13.6 had more than 20 patches for security issues on board which made it an extremely important update. If you skipped iOS 13.6, you get the patches with iOS 13.7.  If you want to learn more about iOS 13.6's security patches, head on over to Apple's security site for more information. If you skipped iOS 13.5.1, you get its security patch with your upgrade to iOS 13.7. You can read more about it on Apple's website. The patch is for an exploit used by jailbreak developers.  If you skipped iOS 13.5, iOS 13.7 brings iOS 13.5's 41 new security patches with it. Apple's posted the details on its website and you can dig into the particulars if you're interested.  Among them, patches for the company's Mail app, Wi-Fi, AirDrop, Bluetooth, FaceTime, Messages, and Notifications.   If you skipped the iOS 13.4 update, you'll get iOS 13.4's 28 security patches with your upgrade. You can read about all of them on Apple's website right here.  iOS 13.4 also brought several improvements to Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Apple's John Wilander outlined them in a blog post and it's worth checking out.  Reports have outlined a vulnerability in Wi-Fi chips made by Broadcom and Cypress Semiconductor that left billions of devices susceptible to attack. Dubbed Kr00k, the vulnerability allows nearby attackers to decrypt sensitive information that's relayed over-the-air.  Fortunately, it looks like the issue was patched up with the release of iOS 13.2, an update that arrived all the way back in October.  So if you're running a really old version of iOS 13, you'll really want to move your device up to the newest version of iOS 13.  If you skipped iOS 13.3.1, you get its patches with iOS 13.7. The iOS 13.3.1 update included 21 new security patches that will help protect your device from harm. The company's outlined those patches in detail if you want to dig in.  If you skipped iOS 13.3, you get its patches with iOS 13.7. iOS 13.3 brought 12 new security patches to the iPhone and you can read about each one over on Apple's security page.  The iOS 13.3 update also added support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in the Safari browser.  If you missed iOS 13.2, it had 16 new security patches on board. You can read about all of them on Apple's website right here.  iOS 13.1.1 brought a security patch for a third-party keyboard issue to your iPhone. If you're interested in the particulars, you can read about them over on Apple's website. If you passed on installing iOS 13.1, you get an additional patch with your iOS 13.7 update. You can learn more right here.  If you're moving up from iOS 12, you'll get iOS 13.0's nine security patches with your upgrade to iOS 13.7. Read about those here.   If you skipped iOS 12.4.1 or any older versions of iOS 12, you'll get their security patches with your iOS 13.7 update.  iOS 12.4.1 only had one patch on board, but Apple's iOS 12.4 update brought 19 security patches to the iPhone. If you're interested in the specifics, you can read about them on right here. In addition to those patches, iOS 13 itself comes with some security and privacy upgrades including improved anti-tracking features in Safari and the ability to get rid of location metadata in your photos. You also now have the ability to block apps from using Bluetooth and the ability to allow apps to access your location just once. iOS 13 will also send you reminders about applications that track your data.

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