Apple

5 Things to Know About the iOS 13.4.1 Update

Published

4 years ago

05/19/2020

Apple’s released an iOS 13.4.1 update and the point upgrade brings a couple of bug fixes including an important fix for a FaceTime issue.

The iOS 13.4.1 update is another maintenance upgrade for the company’s iPhone. It’s compatible with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and the company’s new iPhone SE 2.

Like most maintenance upgrades, iOS 13.4.1 is a small release with a very short change log. It doesn’t have any new features on board.

With all of that in mind, we want to take you through everything there is to know about the latest update for the iPhone and iOS 13.

In this guide to iOS 13.4.1 we’ll take you through iOS 13.4.1’s performance, the current list of iOS 13.4.1 problems, the best places to find feedback about bugs and performance issues, the iOS 13.4.1 jailbreak status, and more.

We’ll start with our impressions of iOS 13.4.1 update’s performance on iPhone.

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iOS 13.4.1 Reviews

If your iPhone is running iOS 13.4 right now you’ll see a rather small download. The iOS 13.4.1 update is a 109.9 MB download for the iPhone X and it’s around the same for other versions of the iPhone.

If you’re running an older version of iOS 13 on your phone you’ll more than likely see a larger download size because your iOS 13.4.1 update includes the changes from any iOS updates you skipped.

If your phone is on iOS 13.4, the iOS 13.4.1 installation shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to complete. It took about seven minutes to install on the iPhone X.

For more on the iOS 13.4.1 download and installation, take a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iOS 13.4.1 update on the iPhone for several weeks now and here’s what we’ve discovered about its performance:

Connectivity

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

Apps

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

Speed

iOS 13.4.1 still feels as fast as iOS 13.4.

If your iPhone is struggling on iOS 13.4 or an older version of iOS 13, you might want to go ahead and install the iOS 13.4.1 update right now.

If you need help making a decision, please check out our reasons to, and not to, install the iOS 13.4.1 update. It’ll help you make a decision.

We’ve also published our mini iOS 13.4.1 reviews for the iPhone 11, iPhone SE 2, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, and iPhone SE so make sure you check those for additional feedback if you need it.

iOS 13.4.1 Problems

iOS 13.4.1 is causing problems for some iPhone users. Some of the problems are brand new while others have carried over from older versions of iOS.

The current list of iOS 13.4.1 problems includes installation problems, lag, Exchange issues, problems with first and third-party apps, hotspot problems, weird battery drain, and issues with Touch ID and Face ID. There’s also an issue that keeps VPN’s from encrypting traffic.

On top of that there are two security vulnerabilities impacting the company’s Mail application. The issues, outlined by Motherboard, let attackers modify and delete email messages.

The zero-day hack is reportedly present in all versions of iOS between iOS 6 and iOS 13.4.1. Fortunately, it looks like fixes are on the way inside Apple’s upcoming iOS 13.5 update.

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If you run into an issue on iOS 13.4.1, have a look at our list of fixes for the most common iOS 13 problems. We’ve also released some tips that could help you improve your phone’s performance and some tips to help fix bad iOS 13 battery life.

If you can’t handle the iOS 13.4.1 update’s performance, note that you can no longer downgrade.

Apple has stopped signing on iOS 13.4 and below which means you can’t move your phone back to an older version of iOS in an effort to improve its performance. Keep that in mind before you install iOS 13.4.1 on your phone.

If your phone is really struggling, you can try moving it to the iOS 13.5 beta.

iOS 13.4.1 Update: What’s New

iOS 13.4.1 is much smaller than iOS 13.4 and it brings two bug fixes to the iPhone. One is for the Settings app, another is for a FaceTime bug that was discovered a few days ago.

Apple’s iOS 13.4 and macOS 10.15.4 updates prevented FaceTime calls from working with devices running older versions of iOS (iOS 9.3.5 and iOS 9.3.6).

Here’s the full iOS 13.4.1 change log:

Fixes an issue where devices running iOS 13.4 could not participate in FaceTime calls with devices running iOS 9.3.6 and earlier or OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and earlier
Addresses a bug with the Settings app where choosing Bluetooth from the quick actions menu on the Home screen would fail

If you failed to download iOS 13.4, iOS 13.4.1 also includes iOS 13.4’s 28 security patches. You can read more about them right here.

iOS 13 Jailbreak

The current jailbreak tool supports iOS 13.4 and iOS 13.4.1 though it’s only available for select iPhone models.

What’s Next

iOS 13.4.1 will be followed by iOS 13.5 which was originally known as iOS 13.4.5.

Apple’s pushed iOS 13.5, a milestone upgrade, into beta testing. The update will carry new features, bug fixes and security patches.

We don’t have a specific release date to look forward to right now, but we do expect a release as soon as tomorrow. If you don’t want to wait, you can download the iOS 13.5 beta onto your iPhone right now.

For more on iOS 13.5, take a look at our guide.

WWDC 2020 will feature an online format.

Apple’s also hard at work on iOS 14 and we expect the company to push the software into beta in June shortly after the conclusion of its WWDC 2020 keynote.

For more on iOS 14 and its release, take a look at our guide.

4 Reasons Not to Install iOS 13.7 & 11 Reasons You Should

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.