Apple

5 Things to Know About the iOS 13.5 Update

Published

4 years ago

05/27/2020

Apple’s released its long-awaited iOS 13.5 update and the milestone upgrade brings a number of improvements to the iPhone.

The iOS 13.5 update is a huge upgrade for the iPhone and 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 all milestone upgrades, iOS 13.5 is a large release with a fairly lengthy change log. It includes a mix of new features, security patches, and under-the-hood improvements.

With 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 13.5 we’ll take you through the update’s performance, the current list of iOS 13.5 problems, the best places to find feedback about bugs and performance issues, the iOS 13.5 jailbreak status, and more.

We’ll start with our impressions of iOS 13.5 update’s performance on iPhone.

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iOS 13.5 Reviews

If your iPhone is running iOS 13.4.1 right now you’ll see a large download when you go to install iOS 13.5. The iOS 13.5 update is a 355 MB download for the iPhone X. It’s around 420 MB for iPhone 11 users. The exact size will vary.

If you’re running an older version of iOS 13 on your phone you’ll likely see a larger download size because your iOS 13.5 update includes the changes from iOS updates you skipped.

If your phone is on iOS 13.4.1, the iOS 13.5 installation shouldn’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes to complete. It took about seven minutes to install on the iPhone X.

For more on the iOS 13.5 download and installation, take a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iOS 13.5 update for a few days and here’s what we’ve discovered about its performance:

Connectivity

Battery life is stable right now.
Wi-Fi connectivity is currently 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 at the moment.

Speed

iOS 13.5 currently feels as fast as iOS 13.4.1.

If your iPhone is struggling on iOS 13.4.1 or an older version of iOS 13, you might want to install the iOS 13.5 update on your iPhone right now.

If you need help making a decision, please check out our reasons to, and not to, install the iOS 13.5 update. It’ll help you make a decision.

We’ve released our mini iOS 13.5 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.

iOS 13.5 Problems

iOS 13.5 is causing problems for some iPhone users. Some problems are brand new while others have carried over from older versions of iOS 13.

The current list of iOS 13.5 problems includes some of the usual suspects: 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.

No products found.

If you run into an issue on iOS 13.5, take 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 13.5 update’s performance, you can no longer downgrade to the previous version of iOS 13 in an effort to improve your device’s performance. Apple has stopped signing on iOS 13.4.1 and below.

This means that once you move your phone to iOS 13.5, there’s no going back.

iOS 13.5 Update: What’s New

iOS 13.5 is much bigger than iOS 13.4.1 and it brings a mix of features, patches, and fixes. Here’s the full iOS 13.5 change log:

Face ID and Passcode

Simplified unlock process for devices with Face ID when you are wearing a face mask
Passcode field automatically presented after swiping up from the bottom of the Lock screen when you are wearing a face mask
Also works when authenticating with the App Store, Apple Books, Apple Pay, iTunes, and other apps that support signing in with Face ID

Exposure Notification

Exposure Notification API to support COVID-19 contact tracing apps from public health authorities

FaceTime

Option to control automatic prominence on Group FaceTime calls so video tiles do not change size when a participant speaks

Emergency Services

Option to automatically share health and other essential information from your Medical ID with emergency services when you place an emergency call (US only)

Bug Fixes

Fixes an issue where users may see a black screen when trying to play streaming video from some websites
Addresses an issue in the share sheet where suggestions and actions may not load

iOS 13.5 also includes a whopping 41 security patches that will help protect your device from harm and you can read about those in detail over on Apple’s website.

The update patches up two security vulnerabilities impacting Apple’s Mail application. The issues, according to Motherboard, let attackers modify and delete email messages.

iOS 13 Jailbreak

The current jailbreak tool supports iOS 13.5.

The developers behind the “unc0ver” jailbreaking tool for iOS have released a new version, 5.0.0, that’s compatible with the latest version of iOS 13 and most versions of iOS going all the way down to iOS 11.0. iOS 12.3-12.3.2 and iOS 12.4.2-12.4.5 are excluded.

Even better, the jailbreak tool is compatible with all iOS 13-powered devices including newer iPhone models.

What’s Next

iOS 13.5 was the last known upgrade in Apple’s iOS 13 pipeline so it’s unclear when, or if, Apple will roll out a new version of iOS 13.

With iOS 14 still months away from its official release, don’t be surprised if the company rolls out a few more point upgrades. Keep an eye out as we push through May and June.

WWDC 2020 will feature an online format.

Apple’s 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.