The IT Nerd

Last night I wrote that Apple had released iOS 13 despite the fact that a security flaw was present and unpatched that allowed someone with physical access to the phone to bypass the lock screen and get access to contact info on an iPhone. What’s worse was that this was reported in July but Apple didn’t bother fixing it in iOS 13 before it shipped yesterday. But the only good news is that it is fixed in iOS 13.1 which is due for release next Tuesday. Which every user of iOS should immediately update to the second that it becomes available.

So, how do you pull this off? Here’s a video that shows the process:

In short, what this guy did is start a FaceTime call and then accessed the voiceover feature from Siri to enable access to the contact list. You can then obtain email addresses, phone numbers, address information, and more from the list of contacts. I have replicated this on an iPhone running iOS 13 and it is very easy to do.

It’s also very easy to protect yourself. You just need to go to Face ID & Passcode settings -> Allow access when locked and toggle off the Reply with Message option. If you’ve already updated to iOS 13, you should go do that now to protect yourself. As in right now.

I’ll get to the point. iOS 13 which was released yesterday is a hot mess. While it is typical for new software releases to have issues, the scale and breadth of issues found in iOS 13 is above and beyond anything that iOS users are used to. And then there’s that security issue that Apple never bothered to fix in iOS 13 despite knowing about it in July.

The major issues that are being reported are:

• In Mail the name of whoever sent a message is replaced by the words “No Sender.” That can usually be fixed by restarting your iOS device.
• Apps crashing on launch
• AirDrop working sporadically
• Cell signal problems

But there are others. This is one that I discovered:

And that is on top of the fact that Apple pulled promised features from iOS 13 such as automation functionality and the Maps ETA functionality.  I could go on, but I think you get the point. Apple clearly rushed iOS 13 out the door. Likely so that they can make the ship date for the iPhone 11 which goes on sale today.

That would never have happened under Steve Jobs.

Thus my advice is that unless you really need to upgrade to iOS 13, wait until next Tuesday for iOS 13.1. That according to those I know who run the public betas as well as the developer betas is far more stable than iOS 13 which one developer that I know described it at “lacking the polish of typical Apple betas.” That tells you all you need to know.

Mark your calendars for next Tuesday at 1PM EST/10AM PST.

iOS 13 was released today. And before the release I put up a post that said this:

One other thing before I go, Apple has announced that iOS 13.1 will be released two weeks from today. Early reports from beta testers say that it has additional features and significant bug fixes and stability improvements versus what is in iOS 13. Thus you may want to consider not upgrading to iOS 13 and instead wait for iOS 13.1 to hit the streets before you upgrade.

Well, it seems that iOS 13.1 will be out next Tuesday, and here’s why

A flaw in iOS 13, the new iPhone operating system Apple released Thursday, exposes contact details stored in iPhones without requiring a passcode or biometric identification. And Apple (AAPL) has known about the flaw since July, a person who reported the bug to Apple told CNN Business.

A hacker would need physical access to a target’s phone to complete the hack — but once it is in their possession they could bypass Apple’s standard security features like facial I.D. Once they have done so, they can access the phone’s address book and see information for contacts stored on the phone, as well as indications of the most recent contacts with whom the phone’s owner had been communicating.

This flaw, which is pretty bad, is on top of the fact that iOS 13 is as expected, buggy. And Apple didn’t fix this so the guy who found this went public.

#EpicFail

But the good news is that iOS 13.1 which is far more stable and doesn’t have this flaw is being released on Tuesday. But Apple should have fixed it in iOS 13 given that they had two months to do it. You have to wonder if Apple really takes software quality and security seriously because it seems that they don’t and haven’t taken it seriously for a while.

So besides iOS 13 hitting the streets today, Apple is releasing watchOS 6 to the public today. It is a major release that includes new watch faces, more health apps, and a calculator which is something that has been missing in watchOS. You can get a full list of features here.

watchOS 6 will run on the following devices…. But there’s a catch which I will get to in a moment:

• Apple Watch Series 1
• Apple Watch Series 2
• Apple Watch Series 3
• Apple Watch Series 4
• Apple Watch Series 5

Here’s the catch: watchOS 6 is being released today for the Series 3 and 4 Apple Watches. For Series 2 or 1 Apple Watch owners, they’ll have to wait until “later this fall” to get watchOS 6 as per the tiny text at the bottom of this Apple press release. Original Apple Watch owners need not apply and the Apple Watch Series 5 will come with watchOS 6 out of the box. 

So what do you need to do to prepare for watchOS 6? Well, there’s not a whole lot that you need to do. For example when it comes to backing up which is what I normally suggest that you do before doing an operating system upgrade, this is largely taken care of for you according to this Apple Support article which states that every time your iPhone is backed up to iCloud or iTunes, the Apple Watch data gets backed up too. So since I recommended in my previous article that you back up your iPhone before iOS 13, and you absolutely need iOS 13 to be installed before watchOS 6 shows up in the Apple Watch app, then you are covered for the most part. The only other thing I would suggest is that you should ensure that the apps on the iOS 13 iDevice are up to date as that will update the associated Apple Watch app. That way you can ensure that everything works fine post upgrade. Finally, as for the upgrade itself, it is important that you closely follow these directions from Apple as updating an Apple Watch is currently not a trivial process which if done wrong has the potential of bricking your Apple Watch. The good news is that as part of watchOS 6, the ability to update independently of your iPhone is going to be available which should reduce the risk level significantly going forward.