Apple releases iOS 7.1 with CarPlay support, Siri and Touch ID improvements
Apple on Monday released iOS 7.1, the most significant update to its mobile platform in six months, featuring tweaks to the user interface introduced in iOS 7, fixes for lingering bugs, and new features such as support for the new CarPlay infotainment center.
The newly released iOS 7.1 is identified as build 11D167. As first revealed by AppleInsider last month, the update is said to improve Touch ID fingerprint recognition for iPhone 5s users.
iOS 7.1 also includes a new manual setting for Siri, allowing users to hold the home button on their device to have the system listen, and let go when they are done speaking, as opposed to having Siri automatically detect when a user has finished speaking. The update also allows users to subscribe to iTunes Match directly from their device, allowing for ad-free listening to iTunes Radio.
Owners of the iPhone 4 should also see improved performance with iOS 7.1, while those who buy a compatible vehicle will be able to take advantage of CarPlay. Events can also be displayed in month view, iPhone 5s users can have the camera automatically enable HDR photos, and FaceTime call notifications are now synced across devices through iCloud.
Pre-release versions of iOS 7 have been supplied to developers for testing since last November, making it a particularly lengthy beta period. A mid-March release for iOS 7.1 has been expected for some time.
Release notes accompanying the update state that it includes "improvements and bug fixes." According to Apple, those are:
The newly released iOS 7.1 is identified as build 11D167. As first revealed by AppleInsider last month, the update is said to improve Touch ID fingerprint recognition for iPhone 5s users.
iOS 7.1 also includes a new manual setting for Siri, allowing users to hold the home button on their device to have the system listen, and let go when they are done speaking, as opposed to having Siri automatically detect when a user has finished speaking. The update also allows users to subscribe to iTunes Match directly from their device, allowing for ad-free listening to iTunes Radio.
Owners of the iPhone 4 should also see improved performance with iOS 7.1, while those who buy a compatible vehicle will be able to take advantage of CarPlay. Events can also be displayed in month view, iPhone 5s users can have the camera automatically enable HDR photos, and FaceTime call notifications are now synced across devices through iCloud.
Pre-release versions of iOS 7 have been supplied to developers for testing since last November, making it a particularly lengthy beta period. A mid-March release for iOS 7.1 has been expected for some time.
Release notes accompanying the update state that it includes "improvements and bug fixes." According to Apple, those are:
- CarPlay
- iOS experience designed for the car
- Simply connect your iPhone to a CarPlay enabled vehicle
- Supports Phone, Music, Maps, Messages, and 3rd-party audio apps
- Control with Siri and the car's touchscreen, knobs, and buttons
- iOS experience designed for the car
- Siri
- Manually control when Siri listens by holding down the home button while you speak and releasing it when you're done as an alternative to letting Siri automatically notice when you stop talking
- New, more natural sounding male and female voices for Mandarin Chinese, UK English, Australian English, and Japanese
- Manually control when Siri listens by holding down the home button while you speak and releasing it when you're done as an alternative to letting Siri automatically notice when you stop talking
- iTunes Radio
- Search field above Featured Stations to easily create stations based on your favorite artist or song
- Buy albums with the tap of a button from Now Playing
- Subscribe to iTunes Match on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to enjoy iTunes Radio ad-free
- Search field above Featured Stations to easily create stations based on your favorite artist or song
- Calendar
- Option to display events in month view
Country specific holidays automatically added for many countries
- Option to display events in month view
- Accessibility
- Bold font option now includes the keyboard, calculator, and many icon glyphs
- Reduce Motion option now includes Weather, Messages, and multitasking UI animations
- New options to display button shapes, darken app colors, and reduce white point
- Bold font option now includes the keyboard, calculator, and many icon glyphs
- New Camera setting to automatically enable HDR for iPhone 5s
- iCloud Keychain support in additional countries
- FaceTime call notifications are automatically cleared when you answer a call on another device
- Fixes a bug that could occasionally cause a home screen crash
- Improves Touch ID fingerprint recognition
- Improved performance for iPhone 4
- Fixes display of Mail unread badge for numbers greater than 10,000
- Continued user interface refinements
Comments
Nice. What are the new Siri voices like?
Right now it's about a quarter inch high by one inch wide.
Way too small to focus on when you're waking up.
I'd have liked SIRI to note when I stopped touching the home button via TouchID rather than having to keep it physically pressed in.
Just starting the download. I'm hoping some of these phone resets/springboard crashes are fixed. Has been the bane of my life in the past number of months.
Yeah, the constant crashing (5S here) is literally the only thing I really care about getting fixed. It's basically 90% backboardd, a little bit of SpringBoard, a little bit of mediaserverd, and the rest being specific apps (often Safari, but there's quite a variety).
Samsung, with its lack of filters for the plethora of features it blindly slaps onto and into its phones, proves much more compelling for consumers who are easily delighted by senseless options, which they forget about by the time they arrive home from their local Android bazaar.
Stayed the same size. But Safari hasn't crashed while posting this, so there.
Snappier?
Apparently so for the 4, which, if true, is pretty amazing considering it is a very old phone by now. If Apple has managed to breathe a little life into the old 4 it will be very welcome to the millions of people who still use one, or everyone who has one or more collecting dust in a drawer somewhere. I have been vey hesitant even giving mine away as the experience is not great.
I am downloading the update. I have a weird question. My iphone5 the update is 1.27gb. I call my friend that has a iphone 5, and he told me that his update was only 214mb as the article show!! has someone has see these???? Note: i am making the update from my macbook pro! Is downloading all the IOS instead of making the update?
install was quick too. Hopefully they've fixed the bluetooth keyboard crashing bug.
As a bonus: all of my iTunes Match music seems to finally have the correct artwork!
Yeah. Every model has a separate file that only works on that model.
Snappier?
The snappiest.
Ever.
When updating through iTunes while connected over USB I believe it downloads the full 7.1 update. A stand alone update, over WiFi in my case, downloaded the delta, which indeed is a mere 214MB. My iPad downloaded the delta as well: 207MB in my case.
I wonder how this experience will be on Android. Is it something, like, BOOM¿
The picture shows the wireless incremental update. If you update via iTunes, you will be downloading the full 1.20 Gb IPSW container.
I am downloading the update. I have a weird question. My iphone5 the update is 1.27gb. I call my friend that has a iphone 5, and he told me that his update was only 214mb as the article show!! has someone has see these???? Note: i am making the update from my macbook pro! Is downloading all the IOS instead of making the update?
Correct. If you download and install the update via iTunes, you will download the entire image file. The 214 MB update is the "over the air" update you run via WiFi directly on your iOS device (Settings app -> General -> Software Update)
Nice update! I just hope the constant Safari crash is fixed. It happens at least 10 times a day for me on my iPhone 5s. Same with my iPad.