iOS 13 launched worldwide last week and brought a slew of new features to iPhone and iPod Touch owners, including a new system-wide Dark Mode, up to 2x faster performance, an overhauled Reminders app, to name just a few.
However, the roll-out has been far from smooth. While huge swathes of iPhone users took to social media to praise the appearance of Dark Mode, a number of others complained about Bluetooth connectivity issues, dropped cellular signal, apps crashing, as well as the camera app being slow to switch between different photography modes.
An exploit that enables nefarious types to access your Contacts app – even when the iPhone is locked – has been uncovered, too. It seems the issues and warnings are now so widespread that Apple has decided to bring forward iOS 13.1, which promises to bring solutions to a number of these problems.
Originally planned for September 30, Apple has bumped-up iOS 13.1 to today (Tuesday September 24, 2019). Apple has also brought forward its new iPadOS operating system launch.
As always with its major software releases, Apple started to roll-out its iOS 13.1 update from 6pm BST.
But it’s not all bug fixes and performance boosts, Apple has also included some new features in the operating system upgrade.
The biggest new addition in iOS 13.1 will be Shortcuts Automations, which allows your Siri Shortcuts to run automatically whenever certain conditions are met, instead of having to launch the app – or ask Siri – to trigger them all manually. For example, you can make your favourite running playlist kick-in automatically when you start a new Outdoor Run workout on your Apple Watch. You could also make the lights at home switch-off at the same time – and switch back on when you complete the Outdoor Run workout.
Another new feature is the ability to share your ETA within Apple Maps so that everyone knows how your journey is going and when to expect you.
Apple will also bring a number of new Dynamic Wallpapers to all devices, as well a new indicator above the volume slider to show which device is currently playing audio – so you’ll know whether you’re adjusting your AirPods, PowerBeats Pro, or HomePod.
If the iOS 13 roll-out is anything like iOS 13, we should start to see the upgrade appear around 6pm in the UK. To check whether the update is ready for you, head to Settings > General > Software Update to upgrade your iPhone to iOS 13.1.