iOS 15.3 now available to iPhone users, here’s what’s new

Apple’s latest round of software updates is now rolling out to the public. iOS 15.3 is now available to iPhone users with performance improvements, bug fixes, and security enhancements. Furthermore, iPadOS 15.3 is now available to iPad users, while watchOS 8.4 is rolling out for Apple Watch.

iOS 15.3 foregoes new features in favor of under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements. One of the most notable changes here is a fix for a Safari vulnerability that may have been leaking your browsing history and Google ID data to the websites you visited.

The bug was first discovered by FingerprintJS, which detailed how websites could use an exploit found in IndexedDB (a Javascript API used for storing data) to access URLs recently visited by a user and even obtain the user’s Google ID and related personal data. This vulnerability has now been patched in iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3, as we first reported would happen last week.

• iOS 15.3 RC fixes Safari bug that gives websites access to browsing history and Google ID data
• Safari bug can leak some of your Google account info and recent browsing history
• Apple working on a fix for Safari bug that leaks browsing history and Google ID

Apple’s release notes for iOS 15.3 are short and to the point: “iOS 15.3 includes bug fixes and security updates for your iPhone and is recommended for all users.”

You can update your iPhone to iOS 15.3 and your iPad to iPadOS 15.3 by heading to the Settings application, choosing General, then choosing Software Update. The build number of today’s releases of iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 is 19D50.

Apple is also rolling out watchOS 8.4 for Apple Watch users today. This update also focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements. You can update your Apple Watch to watchOS 8.4 by going to the Settings app on your Apple Watch or using the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

What’s next

With the mundane updates that are iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 now available to the public, Apple is likely to start beta testing iOS 15.4 sooner rather than later. This could ultimately end up being a more feature-rich update, but only time will tell for sure.

Most notably, the long-awaited Universal Control feature is still nowhere to be found. This feature, originally announced at WWDC in June, was slated to be released sometime last fall, but was ultimately delayed until 2022.