iOS 14.5 reportedly arrives today. 2 reasons you should wait to update your iPhone or iPad - CNET

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Should you update the moment iOS 14.5 is available for your iPhone? It depends.

Patrick Holland/CNET

This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.

After a lengthy beta, Apple has launched iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5. The updates went live Monday and include several additional features -- such as new Siri voices and a fancy new Face ID feature that makes it possible to use your iPhone while wearing a face mask.

While it's tempting to update your iPhone or iPad to the latest software Apple has to offer, being an early adopter of anything, even official OS updates, can cause more issues and headaches than it's worth. Instead of jumping on the iOS 14.5 bandwagon right away, you might find it better to wait a few days before updating. 

Below are the two main reasons you should wait before mashing the update button on your iPhone or iPad. If you're feeling brave and don't want to wait, just make sure you have a current backup of your Apple device before updating to iOS 14.5 or iPadOS 14.5.

Every once in a while, there's a disastrous bug

It hasn't happened often, but there have been a few iOS updates that have all but ruined iPhones and iPads for those who installed them the second the update was available. For example, an update in 2016 bricked Apple's iPad Pro for some owners. Another update that same year stopped some repaired iPhones from working at all. Once you update to iOS 14.5, the process of rolling back isn't easy.

My advice? Wait a few days, maybe even a week, after the update is available before installing it. That way there will have been time for any first or second-day issues to crop up, prompting Apple to either remove the update and replace it with a fixed version or issue a second update with bug fixes. 

Being the first to go for software updates isn't always the best idea. 

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Not every developer will be ready on launch day

The issue you're most likely to run into with any new software update is apps that aren't optimized for the update. Apple makes changes to the iPhone or iPad's underlying code that developers have to adapt to, and if the developer takes some extra time to make sure all its changes work, most of the time there aren't any problems. 

But that's just a general rule. There are times when OS updates break an app entirely and unless the developer has its iOS 14.5 optimized app ready to go, you could be stuck waiting. 

By giving developers (and for that matter, the App Store review process) a few days to push out their respective updates, you're reducing the chances that you'll run into any problems. 

After you decide to install iOS 14.5 or iPadOS 14.5, we'll walk you through the process. Once you've installed iOS 14.5, check out how to use the new Face ID unlock feature with your Apple Watch. Then check out how to change Siri's voice.

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5:18

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April 26, 2021 at 09:28PM
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iOS 14.5 reportedly arrives today. 2 reasons you should wait to update your iPhone or iPad - CNET

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iOS 14.6: Apple's beta adds a significant tool for developers - CNET

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Even before iOS 14.5 was out the door, Apple already moved on to the next update.

Patrick Holland/CNET

After months of beta testing, Apple released iOS 14.5 on Monday. The updated iPhone software includes a slew of new features like a setting to turn off ad tracking within apps, the ability to unlock your phone even if you're wearing a face mask, support for AirTags, new emoji and new Siri voices. But even before iOS 14.5 was released, Apple started testing iOS 14.6 with developers and in public beta.

iOS 14.6 includes a tool that lets app developers and public beta testers upgrade to an iOS release candidate without removing their developer or beta profile. For example, before iOS 14.5 went live to the public, developers could choose between upgrading their device to the iOS 14.5 release candidate or to the beta version of iOS 14.6. Under the Software Update menu in Settings, there's a new "Also Available" section that presents the option.

At the bottom of the Software Update screen in a new section called Also Available that lets developers choose to upgrade to a release candidate version of iOS or a beta version.

Patrick Holland/CNET

The first beta of iOS 14.6 came out April 23 and is focused on bug fixes and improvements. Aside from the convenient new software update tool, there weren't any other features announced. Apple could add new features to iOS 14.6 in future beta versions or keep the update focused on improving iOS 14 under the hood.

The release of the iOS 14.6 beta comes less than two months before Apple's annual developer conference, WWDC, which will be held virtually in June. Apple is expected to announce new versions of its operating systems, including MacOS, WatchOS and iPadOS. It is likely that iOS 15 will be announced and that it could be available to download as a public beta later in this summer (it was in early July for iOS 14).

For more about iOS 14.6, here's everything we know about Apple's upcoming operating system.

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April 28, 2021 at 09:14PM
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iOS 14.5 issues: Users are already reporting a bug - CNET

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iOS 14.5 already has at least one bug that Apple needs to fix.

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iOS 14.5 was released on Monday, bringing new features that let you do things like unlock your iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask, stop apps from tracking you and choose from four different Siri voices (here's how to download iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 now). However, iPhone users who have downloaded the update have already found a problem in the new operating system. 

This isn't a huge surprise: Most new updates will have a few bugs to work out at first, which is why some people choose to wait a few days to download. Plus, not every app is likely to be optimized for the new version just yet. 

Here are the iOS 14.5 issues we've seen reported so far. 

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App Tracking Transparency problems

One of iOS 14.5's most anticipated (and, for some, controversial) features is App Tracking Transparency -- the ability for users to turn off ad tracking within the apps they use (here's how to set it up). Unless you give explicit permission to an app, it can't use your data for targeted ads. 

To turn off app tracking, you can typically go to Settings, select an app and then tap to turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track. While this toggle is supposed to be enabled by default in iOS 14.5, multiple people have reported on social media that the option was disabled, with no way to change it, according to 9To5Mac. 

Some people reported that signing out and back into iCloud fixed the problem. A Reddit user reported that Apple confirmed that it was a known issue and that the company was working on it. CNET asked Apple for comment, and we'll update when we hear back. 

If you aren't happy with iOS 14.5, you can roll it back to iOS 14.4, but that's not easy or safe. Otherwise, you can check out every new feature in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5. 

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April 29, 2021 at 02:34AM
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Epic Apple documents show PS4, not iPhone, is Fortnite’s cash cow - The Verge

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Earlier this month, we learned that the iOS version of Fortnite was a huge revenue driver for Epic Games — the game earned more than $700 million from iOS customers over the two years before it was pulled by Apple, according to court documents (PDF) released ahead of Epic’s trial against the iPhone maker. But even though iOS Fortnite players brought in a staggering amount of money for Epic, iOS isn’t the biggest platform in terms of revenue for the game — apparently, it might even be among the smallest.

Court documents reveal that PlayStation 4 generated 46.8 percent of Fortnite’s total revenues from March 2018 through July 2020, while Xbox One, the second-highest platform, generated 27.5 percent. iOS ranked fifth, with just 7 percent of total revenue. The remaining 18.7 percent would have been split between Android, Nintendo Switch, and PCs.

iPhone and iPad accounted for just 5 to 7 percent of Epic’s Fortnite revenue

In 2020, iOS revenues were projected to be an even smaller piece of the pie: just 5.8 percent, compared to 24 percent for Xbox One and “almost 40 percent” for PlayStation 4, according to a new deposition (PDF) of Epic Games’ David Nikdel, a senior programmer who works on the backend services for Fortnite.

“iOS was always the lowest or second lowest if Android was listed, correct?” lawyers asked Joe Babcock, Epic’s CFO until March 2020, in a separate deposition. The answer was yes.

Babcock explicitly confirmed that the iOS version of Fortnite earned less revenue, month to month, than:

• PlayStation 4
• Xbox (presumably Xbox One)
• Nintendo Switch
• PCs

iOS’s low revenues compared to other platforms may not be entirely surprising, based on past comments from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. He said in a declaration that Fortnite on iOS represented 10 percent of the game’s total average daily players in the two years from when the game launched to when it was pulled from the App Store in August. And Fortnite is considered to be a billion-dollar business all on its own: in 2019, it reportedly brought in $1.8 billion in revenue all by itself. (Epic projected company-wide revenue of $3.85 billion in 2020, to give you some idea of how big Fortnite is compared to, well, everything else Epic does.)

Thanks to these court documents being released ahead of the trial, we now have a better idea of where Fortnite makes most of its money — and despite the huge amount of dollars flying around mobile games right now, PlayStation and Xbox seem to account for the bulk of Fortnite’s earnings. They could make Epic’s choice to fight Apple and Google make a bit more sense — even if they alienate the app store companies, Epic can bank on Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles continuing to rake in cash.

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April 29, 2021 at 01:55AM
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Apple iOS 14.5 Warning Issued For iPhone Users - Forbes

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04/28 Update below. This post was originally published on April 27

Apple iOS 14.5 / iPadOS 14.5 is here and it is one of the most exciting upgrades iPhone and iPad owners will experience outside of a next-generation release (it’s feature-packed). But now an upgrade warning has been issued about one of its biggest changes.

Apple iOS 14.5 has app tracking problems which are affecting iPhone users

Apple

MORE FROM FORBESAirDrop Security Flaw Puts Every iPad, iPhone And Mac At RiskBy Gordon Kelly

iOS 14.5 marks the official launch of Apple's much-hyped ‘App Tracking Transparency’ (ATT) feature, which gives users increased control over how their behaviour is tracked by third-party apps. Unfortunately, it appears to be severely broken for a significant number of iPhone and iPad owners and Apple Support has confirmed a fix will take several days:

“Active issue confirmed by Apple Support, engineers are working on it now. We'll have to hodl [sic] for 72 hours at least” - source

MORE FOR YOU

04/28 Update: Apple has published a new support document detailing its App Tracking Transparency feature and it touches upon three reasons why it may be disabled for some users:

• For users with child accounts or under age 18 by birth year, signed in with their Apple ID*
• If your Apple ID is managed by an educational institution or uses a configuration profile that limits tracking
• If your Apple ID was created in the last 3 days

This adds useful context but it does correlate with wide number of user complaints being reported on social media. A more plausible explanation appears to be a connection with Personalized Ads which was spotted by iOS developer Dave Verwer and has also been championed by others. With this in mind, I expect an iOS 14.5.1 bug fix release to be released sooner rather than later.

Affected iPad and iPhone users are facing multiple issues with the new service. The majority find that ATT either fails to identify a single app that tracks user behaviour (and we already know some of the world’s biggest apps are major offenders) or the feature is disabled completely and cannot be enabled. Understandably, users are frustrated: 

“Dear @Apple, App Tracking toggle and Personalized Ads toggle are grayed out on my iPhone!! Please release an update like iOS 14.5.1, please!!!” - source

“Well, updated to IOS 14.5, Removed the Facebook app, reinstalled it ….  but no app tracking questions are asked!” - source

“Hey @AppleSupport I just updated to iOS 14.5 and have not gotten any prompts about allowing apps to track. I went to Settings > Privacy > Tracking and "Allow Apps to Request to Track" is toggled off but it won't let me turn it on. How do I fix this?” - source

The topic has also taken over several Reddit threads. 

Apple's new App Tracking privacy feature was introduced with iOS 14.5 but it is broken or disabled ... [+] (grayed out) for many users.

Oktay Evin

9to5Mac reports that according to their own “sources with knowledge of the situation, the tracking option should come grayed out by default for Apple IDs of which the owner is under the age of 18 or for devices with an MDM profile that restricts the ‘Allow Apps to Request to Track’ settings. However, in most cases, users are not being able to access the new option even when the two situations mentioned by our sources do not apply to them.”

As such, the site concludes: “Unfortunately, if you’ve already updated to iOS 14.5 and are seeing the grayed-out tracking toggle, there’s not much you can do at the moment”. 

Frustratingly, the problems with ATT are far from the only issues affecting iOS 14.5. Users are also reporting bugs that turn Apple Podcasts into a “mess” as well as isolated incidents of high battery drain, connectivity issues, unlocking delays and app crashes. You can read more in my iOS 14.5 upgrade guide. 

While I would expect Apple to prioritize an urgent iOS 14.5.1 update to address these problems. I have contacted Apple and will update this post if I receive a response. 

___

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Apple iOS 14.5 Warning Issued For iPhone Users - Forbes

ios.indah.link

Apple iOS 14.5 is here and it is one of the most exciting upgrades iPhone users will experience outside of a next-generation release (it’s feature-packed). But now an upgrade warning has been issued to iPhone users about one of its biggest features. 

Apple iOS 14.5 has app tracking problems which are affecting iPhone users

Apple

MORE FROM FORBESAirDrop Security Flaw Puts Every iPad, iPhone And Mac At RiskBy Gordon Kelly

iOS 14.5 marks the official launch of Apple's much-hyped ‘App Tracking Transparency’ (ATT) feature, which gives users increased control over how their behaviour is tracked by third-party apps. Unfortunately, it appears to be severely broken for a significant number of iPhone and iPad owners and Apple Support has confirmed a fix will take several days:

“Active issue confirmed by Apple Support, engineers are working on it now. We'll have to hodl [sic] for 72 hours at least” - source

Affected iPad and iPhone users are facing multiple issues with the new service. The majority find that ATT either fails to identify a single app that tracks user behaviour (and we already know some of the world’s biggest apps are major offenders) or the feature is disabled completely and cannot be enabled. Understandably, users are frustrated: 

MORE FOR YOU

“Dear @Apple, App Tracking toggle and Personalized Ads toggle are grayed out on my iPhone!! Please release an update like iOS 14.5.1, please!!!” - source

“Well, updated to IOS 14.5, Removed the Facebook app, reinstalled it ….  but no app tracking questions are asked!” - source

“Hey @AppleSupport I just updated to iOS 14.5 and have not gotten any prompts about allowing apps to track. I went to Settings > Privacy > Tracking and "Allow Apps to Request to Track" is toggled off but it won't let me turn it on. How do I fix this?” - source

The topic has also taken over several Reddit threads. 

Apple's new App Tracking privacy feature was introduced with iOS 14.5 but it is broken or disabled ... [+] (grayed out) for many users.

Oktay Evin

9to5Mac reports that according to their own “sources with knowledge of the situation, the tracking option should come grayed out by default for Apple IDs of which the owner is under the age of 18 or for devices with an MDM profile that restricts the ‘Allow Apps to Request to Track’ settings. However, in most cases, users are not being able to access the new option even when the two situations mentioned by our sources do not apply to them.”

As such, the site concludes: “Unfortunately, if you’ve already updated to iOS 14.5 and are seeing the grayed-out tracking toggle, there’s not much you can do at the moment”. 

Frustratingly, the problems with ATT are far from the only issues affecting iOS 14.5. Users are also reporting bugs that turn Apple Podcasts into a “mess” as well as isolated incidents of high battery drain, connectivity issues, unlocking delays and app crashes. You can read more in my iOS 14.5 upgrade guide. 

While I would expect Apple to prioritize an urgent iOS 14.5.1 update to address these problems. I have contacted Apple and will update this post if I receive a response. 

___

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iOS 14.5: How to Automatically Download New Podcast Episodes and Follow Shows - MacRumors

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In iOS 14.5, Apple has made some notable changes to its native Podcasts app. Some of these changes reflect the fact that Apple announced an optional paid podcast subscription service (beginning May 2021), while others are interface improvements to make it easier to find, follow, and listen to new episodes.

One example of these changes is the new Smart play button, which is designed to help you automatically start episodic shows from the latest episode and serialized shows from the beginning of each series. The Smart play button also display Resume if you've already listened to some of an episode but have yet to finish it.

Another notable change is in the Search tab, which now offers quick access to Top Charts and categories below the search input field, much like Apple Music search. Other tweaks include larger podcast artwork and a rejigged show page that has a more logical arrangement and is more aesthetically appealing.

Perhaps most importantly, the way you "subscribe" to shows and download episodes has changed. Keep reading to learn how.

How to Follow Shows

In previous versions of iOS, you could "subscribe" to shows in Apple's Podcasts app. But now that Apple offers a paid podcast subscription mode, it has removed the "subscribe" language from the app entirely and replaced it with Follow options, which should make things less confusing.

Despite the new terminology, following a podcast offers the same functionality as subscribing had before it. Namely, it means that you'll stay up-to-date with new show episodes as they're published and you'll be able to download them individually.

To follow a show, select one by browsing the Podcasts section, or search for one using the Search tab, then tap the plus (+) icon in the top-right corner of the Show's page.

To stop following a show, tap the tick icon and select Unfollow Show. You can also follow or unfollow shows by using the dropdown options that appear when you tap the More icon (three dots in a circle).

How to Automatically Download New Episodes

In previous versions of the Podcasts app, you had to add a show to your library before you could download new episodes. In iOS 14.5 and later, that's no longer the case, and you can download individual episodes right from a show's page.

To download an episode, tap the ellipsis icon (three dots) to the right of its card and select Download Episode from the pop-up menu.

Alternately, you can long press on an episode and the same pop-up menu will appear with the Download Episode option at the bottom. If the episode is already downloaded, the option appears as Remove Download instead.

If you're already following a show, you can turn off automatic downloads: Tap the tick icon at the top of a show page and select Turn Off Automatic Downloads. To turn them back on again, tap the down arrow icon that replaced the tick icon, and select Turn On Automatic Downloads.

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April 28, 2021 at 07:21AM
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