Apple constantly highlights that iPhone and iPad devices always receive
system updates for a long period of time. While this is true, the company
sometimes fails to deliver bug fixes and security improvements as quickly as
possible to its users because it needs to update the entire system to fix
those things. Its past time for Apple to offer standalone updates for
native iOS apps.
Since the very first iPhone, Apple has relied on system updates to fix bugs
or add new features to its own apps. In other words, every patch or new
feature needs a new version of iOS to be distributed. This has never been a
huge problem before, but times have changed.
Sometimes these bugs are silly and users can wait a few days to receive a
fix, but in some cases we are talking about serious security flaws that need
to be fixed as soon as possible. FingerprintJS revealed a
<https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/16/safari-bug-leak-browsing-history-info/>
serious bug in Apples Safari web browser that lets anyone extract a users
browsing history and even Google User IDs.
On January 18 it was reported that
<https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/18/apple-working-on-a-fix-for-safari-bug-that-l
eaks-browsing-history-and-google-id/> Apple engineers were able to fix the
exploit, but they had to wait for the next iOS update in order to make the
patch available to everyone. As I write this article on January 21, theres
a build of iOS 15.3 available for developers
<https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/20/ios-15-3-rc-fixes-safari-bug-that-gives-webs
ites-access-to-browsing-history-and-google-id-data/> that includes a fix for
the Safari bug. However, it will still be a few days before this update is
released to the public.
If there were a way to update the native iOS apps separately, iPhone and
iPad users could already download the latest version of Safari that is not
vulnerable to the bug.
New features shouldnt rely on iOS updates.
Of course, security is the biggest reason why Apple should rethink the iOS
update process, but having separate updates for native apps would also make
it easier to receive new
features. Every year, we have to wait until WWDC to see whats new for iOS.
However, there are some apps that should be constantly updated such as the
Music and TV apps.
The thing is, perhaps Apple has no interest in providing separate updates
for its own apps since this might end up reducing the number of users
running the latest version of its operating system. As we saw this month,
the company has reversed its decision and is
<https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/13/apple-steps-back-and-is-no-longer-letting-us
ers-stay-on-ios-14-with-security-updates/> no longer offering security
updates for iOS 14 as a way to force users to upgrade to iOS 15.
When Apple keeps new things exclusive to an update, it certainly motivates
more users to install it and the company knows this. Unfortunately for us,
that means we have to wait longer to get even a small change in a specific
app.
By <https://9to5mac.com/author/filipeesposito/> Filipe Espósito.
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