Apple releases iPhone Software 3.1.3

Yesterday, Apple released iPhone Software 3.1.3, the first update for the iPhone since October 8, 2009.  It is pretty rare for Apple to go almost four months between iPhone updates.  The last time we had a really long gap was the time between 2.2.1 (released January 27, 2009) and 3.0 (released June 17, 2009). That delay of almost five months resulted in a ton of new features, many of which were major improvements to the iPhone, and even that delay didn't really seem like five months because Apple actually previewed iPhone Software 3.0 on March 17, 2009. 

The changes in 3.1.3 are:

1. Improve the accuracy of the reported battery level on the iPhone 3GS.  (I never considered it inaccurate, and I'm curious whether I will notice any changes.)
2. Fixed an issue where third party apps would not launch in some instances.  (I don't remember ever seeing this bug.)
3. Fixed a bug that could cause an app to crash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard.  (Um, okay.)
4. Fixed a security flaw in CoreAudio whereby a bad guy could create an MP4 audio file that would crash an app or possibly even run arbitrary code.
5. Fixed a security flaw in ImageIO whereby a bad guy could create a TIFF image that would crash an app or possibly even run arbitrary code.
6. Fixed a security flaw in Recovery Mode whereby a bad guy with physical access to a locked iPhone might have been able to bypass the lock and access a user's data.
7. Fixed a security flaw in WebKit whereby a bad guy could set up an FTP server that, when accessed on the iPhone in Safari, could crash an app, obtain certain information from the iPhone, or even run arbitrary code.
8. Fixed a security flaw in WebKit whereby a bad guy could send you an e-mail and when you read the e-mail on the iPhone, another server could send audio or video to the iPhone

So in other words, Apple fixed three bugs that I have never myself encountered, or for that matter even heard of, and fixed five security flaws that I don't believe have ever been exploited by a bad guy in the real world, but I suppose I can sleep a little easier knowing that they are fixed.

As for the new features in iPhone Software 3.1.3?  There are none. But there is strong evidence that new features are coming this year.  First, we know that Apple typically releases a major software update in the summer.  Software 2.0, which brought us the App Store and a bunch more, was released on July 11, 2008.  As noted above, Software 3.0, which brought us copy and paste and a bunch more, was released June 17, 2009.  This would lead one to believe that iPhone Software 4.0 will be released in June or July of 2010.

Second, we know that the iPad previewed last week was running iPhone Software 3.2.  Since Apple calls the iPad software "iPhone Software," that leads one to believe that at least some of the new features that we saw in the preview of the iPad will also work on the iPhone.  I talked about this last week, and perhaps when the iPad is released at the end of March, we'll also see another an update for the iPhone — unless Apple just decides to wait a little longer and put all of the new features for the iPhone in a 4.0 update this summer.

Should you update to iPhone Software 3.1.3?  Yes.  You won't notice much of a difference, but now that Apple has confirmed to the world that there were five security flaws in the prior iPhone Software, I suppose it is possible that someone will now try to exploit those.  Just to be safe, I recommend that you update your iPhone by connecting it to your computer running iTunes.  And while you are at it, let iTunes update as well; iTunes was updated to version 9.0.3 the other day.

Comments

[Sean the Developer]

"Since Apple calls the iPad software "iPhone Software," that leads one to believe that at least some of the new features that we saw in the preview of the iPad will also work on the iPhone."
Very good point Jeff, thank you.

[James]

The development documentation for iPhone OS 3.2 includes the following statement:

Note: iPhone OS 3.2 does not support iPhone and iPod touch devices. It runs only on iPad.

[Jeff responds: True enough, but that doesn't mean that they cannot add support in the future. Having said that, Apple would probably designate it 3.2.1 if the support was added, so it is true that "3.2.0" will surely never work on the iPhone.]

[Larry Roberts]

I'm disappointed that Contacts in the list view still appear Last Name, Middle Initial, First Name. E.g. John H. Smith appears as "Smith, H. John" instead of "Smith, John H." If they can fix problems with the Japanese Kana keyboard, surely they could have fixed this.