iOS 16.3 is available for all iPhones 8 and above with a few interesting features, including support for physical security keys for Apple IDs. More importantly, it also includes several bug fixes and security updates that iPhone users have been waiting for.
According to Apple’s release notes, the iOS 16.3 update “fixes an issue where horizontal lines may temporarily appear while waking up the iPhone 14 Pro Max.” In recent weeks, some iPhone 14 users have been complaining about horizontal lines flashing across their screens. According to social media posts and discussion forums, the lines appear when the iPhone wakes up or reboots. Additionally, the release fixes some nagging bugs with the lock screen, Siri, and CarPlay:
- Resolves an issue where the background appears black on the lock screen
- Resolves an issue where the Home Lock Screen widget does not accurately reflect the status of the Home app
- Fixes an issue where Siri may not respond correctly to music requests
- Resolves issues where Siri requests in CarPlay may not be understood correctly
There are also several security updates that can cause major problems for your device if not patched. The most concerning involved Screen Time, Apple’s parental control and screen management app. According to the post, iOS 16.3 addresses an issue where an app “may be able to access information about a user’s contacts.” The update also contains a handful of fixes that could lead to arbitrary code execution.
The update will also likely bring back the new Home architecture that was previously introduced in iOS 16.2. Just before the holidays, Apple pulled the feature, which improves reliability and efficiency, due to a sharing issue, but without providing an update on when it would be reinstated. The Home architecture upgrade reappeared in the second iOS 16.3 beta, suggesting that Apple has fixed the issue. There’s no mention of it in the release notes, though, so it could appear sometime before the launch of iOS 16.4.
