Apple releases iOS 9.3 update

Amidst the kerfuffle of the March 21st media event, Apple also dropped the long-awaited iOS 9.3 update.

The update, which weighs in around 310 megabytes, adds the following fixes and changes:

– A fix for the iMessage encryption bug discovered by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The exploit can lead to photos and videos sent via iMessage to be decrypted.

– Night Shift: Some apps like Tweetbot, Kindle, Waze, and Instapaper have a “night mode” so you don’t hurt your eyes trying to read a stark-white screen in a dark room. Apple’s all-new Night Shift feature works differently but has the benefit of being system-wide.

– New Quick Actions: iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users will get additional Quick Actions to take advantage of those devices’ 3D Touch feature. Deep-pressing the Settings icon, for example, will let you jump to the settings for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Battery, or new wallpaper. The Health app itself received a new Quick Action that can show your dashboard or medical ID info, which can present useful information such as which drugs you’re allergic to.

– Notes: Apple’s Notes app now features a security setting in iOS 9.3 that allows you to assign a password or Touch ID login to more sensitive Notes files.

– News: Apple’s News app now includes inline video you can play without leaving your feed, landscape support throughout the iPhone version of the app, and a supposedly better-tailored For You section.

Health: The updated version of the Health app in iOS 9.3 lets you find HealthKit apps to install, then categorizes them by Weight, Workouts and Sleep. The Health app will also show the move, exercise, and stand data collected by your Apple Watch, which right now is mostly locked into the Activity app. That’ll make it easier to share, say, the stand data with other HealthKit apps.

CarPlay: This has been boosted a bit. The Apple Music app will finally show the New and For You sections, instead of just your collection and playlists. The Maps app will finally support the Nearby feature that was added in iOS 9. Nearby helps you find businesses in your vicinity by category, like gas, parking, coffee shops, and restaurants.

Education: A new Apple School Manager can control assorted iOS devices and manage them. Teachers and admins will be able to create Managed Apple IDs and assign them to students. And a Shared iPad feature will let those students log in to any iPad in the school and pick up where they left off. Teachers also get a Classroom app that lets them peek at any student’s screen, launch specific apps and sites on every screen at once, and lock them in place as needed.

As always, if you’ve had a chance to download and install iOS 9.3 and tinker with it, please let us know what you make of it in the comments.

Via Macworld