Apple

5 Things to Know About the iPadOS 14.3 Update

Published

3 years ago

01/11/2021

Apple’s released its iPadOS 14.3 update and the firmware is available to download if you own a compatible iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini.

iPadOS 14.3 is a milestone upgrade for iPadOS 14 which means it brings a mix of new features and under-the-hood improvements to Apple’s iPad lineup.

With that in mind, we want to take you through everything there you need to know about the latest software update for the iPad and iPadOS 14.

In this walkthrough we’ll take you through the iPadOS 14.3 update’s performance, the current list of iPadOS 14 problems, the best places to find feedback about bugs and performance issues, the iPadOS 14.3 jailbreak status, and more.

We’ll start with our impressions of iPadOS 14.3 update’s performance on iPad.

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iPadOS 14.3 Review

If your iPad is currently running on iPadOS 14.2, you’ll be looking at a fairly large download.

If your tablet is running an older version of iPadOS, your update could be huge. That’s because the features and fixes from update(s) you skipped are baked into your upgrade.

If your device is running iPadOS 14.2, the installation should take around 10 minutes to complete. It took about nine minutes to install on one of our older iPad Pros.

For more on the iPadOS 14.3 download and installation, take a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iPadOS 14.3 update on an iPad Pro for awhile now and here’s what we’ve learned about its performance thus far:

Connectivity

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

Apps

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

Speed

iPadOS 14.3 feels as fast as iPadOS 14.2.

If you’re dealing with problems on iPadOS 14.2, iPadOS 14.1, iPadOS 14.0.1, iPadOS 14.0 or iPadOS 13, you might want to install the iPadOS 14.3 update on your iPad right now.

If you need help making a decision, take a look at our list of reasons to, and not to, install iPadOS 14.3.

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iPadOS 14.3 Problems

iPad users are running into problems on the latest version of iPadOS 14.

The current list of iPadOS 14 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, issues with Widgets, and Bluetooth issues.

We expect the list of problems to grow as more people download the firmware.

If you encounter a problem on your tablet, have 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 stand iPadOS 14.3 update’s performance on your iPad, note that you can no longer downgrade its software in an attempt to improve its performance. Apple recently stopped signing iPadOS 14.2.

Unfortunately, you can’t move back to anything older than iPadOS 14.2 either. That means those of you jumping up from iPadOS 14.2, iPadOS 14.1, iPadOS 14.0.1, iPadOS 14.0 and iPadOS 13 should approach iPadOS 14.3 with caution. Once you make the move, there’s no getting back.

iPadOS 14.3 Update: What’s New

Apple’s milestone (x.x) updates always bring a mix of features, security patches, and under-the-hood improvements and that’s what you get from iPadOS 14.3.

Here’s the full list of changes on board iPadOS 14.3:

New Features

Apple Fitness+

A new fitness experience powered by Apple Watch with studio-style workouts available on your iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV (Apple Watch Series 3 and later)
New Fitness app on iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV to browse Fitness+ workouts, trainers, and personalized recommendations
Video workouts added each week in ten popular workout types: High Intensity Interval Training, Indoor Cycling, Yoga, Core, Strength, Dance, Rowing, Treadmill Walking, Treadmill Running, and Mindful Cooldown
Playlists curated by Fitness+ trainers to complement your workout
Fitness+ subscription available in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States

AirPods Max

Support for AirPods Max, new over-ear headphones
High fidelity audio for rich sound
Adaptive EQ adapts sound in real time to the personal fit of ear cushions
Active Noise Cancellation to block out environmental noise
Transparency mode to hear the environment around you
Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking for a theater-like listening experience

Photos

Apple ProRAW photos can be edited in the Photos app
Option to record video at 25 fps
Mirror the front facing camera for still photos on iPad Pro (1st and 2nd Gen), iPad (5th Gen and later), iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2

Privacy

New privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices

TV app

An all-new Apple TV+ tab makes it easy to discover and watch Apple Original shows and movies
Enhanced search so you can browse by category such as genre, and see recent searches and suggestions as you type
Top search results shown with the most relevant matches across movies, TV shows, cast, channels, and sports

App Clips

Support for launching App Clips by scanning Apple-designed App Clip Codes via Camera or from Control Center

Air Quality

Available in Maps and Siri for locations in China mainland
Health recommendations are provided in Siri for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Mexico at certain air quality levels

Safari

Ecosia search engine option in Safari

Bug Fixes

Addresses an issue where Messages notifications may not be received
Addresses an issue where App folders may fail to open
Addresses an issue where Spotlight search results, and opening apps from Spotlight may not work
Addresses an issue where Contact groups failed to display members when composing a message
Addresses an issue where Bluetooth could be unavailable in Settings
Addresses an issue where wireless accessories and peripherals using the WAC protocol could fail to complete setup
Addresses an issue where the keyboard would dismiss when adding a list in Reminders while using VoiceOver

iPadOS 14.3 includes animated album art in Apple Music which you can see in action right here. It also brings a change to the iPad setup process in certain regions. Apple will suggest third-party apps to users when setting up new devices.

iPadOS 14.3 carries nine new security patches and you can read about those on its security site.

iPadOS 14.3 Jailbreak

If you still jailbreak, you can safely download the iPadOS 14.3 update if you own a compatible device. The only way you can jailbreak an iPad right now is if it’s an older model. Newer models aren’t compatible with the jailbreak tool.

What’s Next for iPadOS 14

A new version of iPadOS 14 is in the works.

Apple’s confirmed a new iPadOS 14.4 milestone upgrade for iPad. The software is currently in beta testing and we expect an official release in the near future now that Apple’s pushed the final beta to testers.

If you can’t/don’t want to wait for the official release, you can download the iPadOS 14.4 beta onto your iPad right now.

For more on iPadOS 14.4 and the beta, please check out our guide.

4 Reasons Not to Install iPadOS 14.8.1 & 11 Reasons You Should

Install iPadOS 14.8.1 for Better Security

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If security is important to you, and it should be, think about installing iPadOS 14.8.1 right now.

The iPadOS 14.8.1 update has 12 new security patches on board. They'll help protect you and your device from harm. You can read more about them on Apple's website.

If you missed iPadOS 14.8, you'll get its security patches with your iPadOS 14.8.1 update. You can read more about them on Apple's security site.

If you missed iPadOS 14.7.1, you'll get its security patch with your upgrade. If you want to learn more, head on over to Apple's website.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.7, you'll get its 30+ security patches with your upgrade. If you want to learn more, head to Apple's website.

If you skipped, iPadOS 14.6, you'll get its patches with your upgrade. iPadOS 14.6 brought 50+ security patches to the iPad, iPad Pro, iPad mini, and iPad Air. You can learn all about those changes right here.

If you missed iPadOS 14.5.1, you'll get its security patches with your update. Both of them are related to WebKit. If you want to learn more about them, check Apple's website for more details.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.5, you'll get its security patches with your upgrade. You can read more about the changes over on Apple's website.

iPadOS 14.5 also brought Apple's new App Tracking Transparency which lets you control which apps are allowed to track your activity across other companies' apps and websites for ads or sharing with data brokers.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.4.2 you get its security patch with your upgrade. You can read more about the change over on Apple's website.

If you missed iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2 and iPadOS 14.4.1, you'll get iPadOS 14.4.1's security patch with your update. You can read more about the patch on Apple's security site.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1 and iPadOS 14.4, you get iPadOS 14.4's patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about iPadOS 14.4's security patches right here.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1, iPadOS 14.4, and iPadOS 14.3, you'll get iPadOS 14.3's patches with your upgrade.

iPadOS 14.3 also included a new privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1, iPadOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.3, and iPadOS 14.2, you'll get iPadOS 14.2's 24 security patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about those patches on Apple's security website.

If you're still running iPadOS 13, iPadOS 14.8.1 includes iPadOS 14.0's security updates.

iPadOS 14.0 brought 11 new security patches to iPad models. If you're interested in the exact nature of these improvements, you can read about them over on Apple's website.

If you skipped iPadOS 13.7 or any older versions of iPadOS 13, you'll get the security patches from those updates with your upgrade. They're baked in.

In addition to those patches, iPadOS 14 comes with some security and privacy upgrades including improvements to Home/HomeKit and Safari.

For instance in Safari, you can now tap the Privacy Report button to better understand how websites handle your privacy.

With iPadOS 14 on board you can now get information on the App Store that will help you understand the privacy practices of apps before you download them.

There is also a new recording indicator that will appear at the top of your screen whenever an app is using your microphone or camera. You can see if an app has used them recently in Control Center.

Researchers also discovered that Apple brought a new "BlastDoor" sandbox security system to iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. The system is meant to prevent attacks from occurring via the Messages app.

You can read more about "BlastDoor" right here.