Apple

5 Things to Know About the iPadOS 13.3.1 Update

Published

4 years ago

03/18/2020

Apple’s released an iPadOS 13.3.1 update for iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini

iPadOS 13.3.1 is a maintenance upgrade (x.x) for iPadOS and it brings under-the-hood improvements to the the operating system.

If your iPad is running on iPadOS 13.3 you’ll see the smallest download size and the shortest list of changes. If your tablet is currently running iPadOS 13.2.3 or an older version of iPadOS, your iPadOS 13.3.1 update will be more substantial because the changes from the updates you skipped are baked into your upgrade.

With all of that in mind, we want to guide you through the most important things to know, right now, about the iPadOS 13.3.1 update.

This guide goes over the iPadOS 13.3.1 update’s performance, the current state of iPadOS 13.3.1 problems, places to look for feedback about iPadOS 13.3.1’s performance, the iPadOS 13 jailbreak, and more.

We’ll start with our quick impressions of iPadOS 13.3.1’s performance.

iPadOS 13.3.1 Reviews

If you’re currently running iPadOS 13.3, you’re looking at fairly large download, several hundred megabytes.

If you’re on iPadOS 13.3, the iPadOS 13.3.1 installation should take less than 10 minutes to complete. It took about seven minutes to install on one of our iPad Pros.

For more on the iPadOS 13.3.1 download and installation, take a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iPadOS 13.3.1 update on the iPad Pro for several weeks now and here’s what we’ve learned thus far:

Connectivity

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

Apps

Third-party apps like Netflix, Dark Sky, Twitter, Slack, Asana, Gmail, Chrome, and Spotify are working normally at the moment.
First party apps like Safari, Podcasts, and Calendar are stable.

Speed

iPadOS 13.3.1 feels as fast as iPadOS 13.3.

If you’re dealing with problems on iPadOS 13.3 or an older version of iPadOS 13, you might want to install iPadOS 13.3.1 update right now.

If you need help making a decision, take a look at our list of reasons to, and not to, install iPadOS 13.3.1.

iPadOS 13.3.1 Problems

The iPadOS 13.3.1 update fixes several bugs, but the update has some issues of its own.

The current list of iPadOS 13.3.1 problems includes installation issues, Exchange problems, weird battery drain, issues with first and third-party apps, issues with Face ID, UI lag, Wi-Fi issues, Bluetooth issues, and various other bugs and performance issues.

If you encounter a problem on your tablet, take a look at our list of fixes for the most common software issues. We’ve also released tips that will help you improve performance and tips that should help you improve battery life.

If you can’t handle the iPadOS 13.3.1 update’s performance on your iPad note that you can no longer downgrade back to iPadOS 13.3 in an attempt to improve its performance.

You can’t move back to anything older than iPadOS 13.3 either. So those of you jumping up from iPadOS 13.3 and below need to approach the iPadOS 13.3.1 update with caution.

Once you make the move, you’re stuck unless you move your iPad to beta software.

iPadOS 13.3.1 Update: What’s New

iPadOS 13.3.1 is a point release which means it carries a short list of changes.

iPadOS 13.3.1 brings fixes for the bugs that were impacting the new Screen Time features from iPadOS 13.3. It also has a fix for an issue with the Mail app. Here’s the full change log:

Fixes an issue in Communication Limits that could allow a contact to be added without entering the Screen Time passcode
Addresses an issue with Mail that could cause remote images to load even when the “Load Remote Images” setting is disabled
Fixes an issue that could cause multiple undo dialogs to appear in Mail
Resolves an issue where push notifications could fail to be delivered over Wi-Fi
Introduces support for Indian English Siri voices for HomePod

iPadOS 13.3.1 also includes 21 security patches. You can read more about them right here.

iPadOS 13 Jailbreak

If you still jailbreak your device, make sure you avoid the iPadOS 13.3.1 update for now.

Jailbreak developers have released an iOS 13 jailbreak tool, but it’s currently in beta for select devices.

We don’t know if it’s compatible with the latest version of iPadOS 13 yet so make sure you stay put on whatever you’re currently running for the time being.

What’s New

Apple’s confirmed a new version of iPadOS 13 and iPadOS 13.4 is in beta testing ahead of a release later this month.

iPadOS 13.4 is a milestone upgrade which means it will bring a mix of new features, fixes, enhancements, and security patches to the iPad.

Apple plans to push iPadOS 13.4 to the iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro, and iPad mini on Tuesday, March 24th. It should arrive around 10AM Pacific.

For more on iPadOS 13.4, take a look at our guide.

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

Install iPadOS 13.7 for Better Security

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If you value your security, you'll want to install iPadOS 13.7 in the near future.

iPadOS 13.7 doesn't have any known security patches on board. That said, if you skipped iPadOS 13.6 or an older version of iPadOS, you'll get security patches with your upgrade.

The iPadOS 13.6 update brought more than 20 security patches to the iPad line. That made it an important upgrade for most users. You'll get these patches if you skipped iPadOS 13.6.

If you skipped iPadOS 13.5.1, you get its security patch with your upgrade. It's baked in.

If you skipped iPadOS 13.5, iPadOS 13.7 includes iPadOS 13.5's 41 security patches which you can about on the company's security site.

The list includes patches for the company's Mail app, Wi-Fi, AirDrop, Bluetooth, FaceTime, Messages, and Notifications.

If you skipped Apple's iPadOS 13.4 release, you'll get the update's 28 security patches with your upgrade. You can read about all of them on Apple's website right here.

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 iPadOS 13.2, an update that arrived all the way back in October.

If you're currently running a much older version of iPadOS 13 on your tablet, you'll probably want to update your iPad right now.

If you skipped iPadOS 13.3.1 you'll get its patches with your upgrade. The iPadOS 13.3.1 had 21 new security patches on board. If you want to dig into the specifics, you can do so right here.

If you skipped a previous version of iPadOS 13, you'll get additional security patches with your upgrade to iPadOS 13.7.

If you skipped iPadOS 13.3, you get its 12 security patches with your upgrade. You can read about each one over on Apple's security page.

The iPadOS 13.3 update also added support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in the Safari browser.

If you missed iPadOS 13.2, it had 16 new security patches on board. You can read about them on Apple's security website.

If you missed iPadOS 13.1.1, you get a security patch for a third-party keyboard issue. If you're interested in the particulars, you can read about the patch on Apple's website.

If you passed on installing iPadOS 13.1, you get another patch with your iPadOS 13.7 update. You can learn more about it right here.

If you skipped iOS 12.4.1 or any older versions of iOS 12, you'll get their security patches with your iPadOS 13.7 update.

iOS 12.4.1 only had one patch on board, but Apple's iOS 12.4 brought 19 security patches to the iPad line. If you're interested in the specifics, you can read about them on right here.

In addition to those patches, iPadOS 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 have the ability to block apps from using Bluetooth and the ability to allow apps to access your location just once.

The operating system will also send you reminders about applications that track your data.