Sure, iOS 10.2.1 brought with it essential upgrades and security fixes. Unfortunately, it continues to ignore the infamous battery drain bug we’ve talked about previously. After months of seeing our iPhones shut down around the 30% mark of its battery life, it’s a huge oversight on Apple’s part not to address the issue in its iOS 10.2.1 release. Unsurprisingly, the update has been met with a widely lukewarm reception. Not only has the update been divisive, it has seemingly created even more problems. In fact, several users are coming forward with more complaints as soon as they downloaded iOS 10.2.1 in their mobile devices. Let’s just say we can’t wait for iOS 10.3…
More Bugs than Solutions on iOS 10.2.1?
There’s a good reason critics have called the latest iOS update a headache. It has, after all, introduced more hassles than fixes. What are they, you ask?
Display Brightness Bug
Some iPhone users have reported seeing their gadget’s display automatically dim at certain battery percentages. For instance, when their battery hits the 70% mark, the display dims to around 70% brightness. Once it hits the 40-49% mark, the display dims a little bit more to 50% brightness.
Although Apple offered no explanation for this change, experts are speculating that this may be the company’s attempt at solving the 30% battery drain bug. After all, many iPhone users are reporting a similar observation on their device.
Malfunctioning TouchID
Another problem reported by people who’ve downloaded iOS 10.2.1 involves the malfunction of their device’s fingerprint reader. Based on their observations, removing and re-adding fingerprints (as well as the factory reset) on the service no longer works.
While such complaints came mostly from iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners, it’s interesting to note that the downgrading to iOS 10.2 seemed to fix this.
Unreliable Bluetooth
We’ve seen similar problems back in the release of iOS 8 and they’ve seemingly resurfaced with iOS 10.2.1. To begin with, there’s the excessive battery drain while Bluetooth is paired. Another complaint we’ve heard has something to do with a frequent loss of Bluetooth connectivity.
This bug could potentially keep iPhone users from fully enjoying the best Bluetooth speakers.
These are just a few of the many headaches associated with iOS 10.2.1. We’re crossing our fingers that the next iOS update will offer a reprieve from these.
Looking Forward to iOS 10.3
In the midst of all these nuisances, it’s easy to see why a lot can’t wait for iOS 10.3 to come around. And if we are to believe tech experts, the next iOS release looks promising.
A Slew of New Features?
New timely features for iOS 10.3 include: Find My AirPods app, iCloud storage breakdown (so you can better manage your iPhone’s storage space), Apple ID profiles (to easily see and edit all important account information), and even significant upgrades to CarPlay app.
There’s even enhanced WiFi Calling for Verizon customers!
Two New, Hidden Keyboards on iOS 10.3
You’ll not only see new features in the upcoming iOS 10.3, betas have revealed something quite unexpected.
In a revelation made by an eagle-eyed developer, it seems that iOS 10.3 has some really interesting features hidden from plain sight.
Steven Troughton-Smith revealed on Twitter what seemed like hidden codes in iOS 10.3. It shows two entirely new iPad keyboards, one that is gesture-based and the other that seems like a compact floating keyboard.
The first keyboard has been shown to enable backspace/space when one swipes left or right on any key. The other can be dragged wherever you want.
What to Make of Such Discoveries
It remains to be seen whether these new keyboards would come to iPhones and iPads soon, though it makes a lot of sense if they do. Keep in mind that a similar functionality can be seen on Google’s Gboard. It’d be logical for Apple to follow the trend.
What we do know is that the keyboards are already accessible on iPads that are 9.7-inches or smaller. That means only the iPad Pro 12.9 may be left out on this update.
An interesting footnote to these hidden iOS 10.3 features is the fact that they’ve been in development for some time. Troughton-Smith says that the code for the two keyboards could be traced back to iOS 10.0. If you can’t recall when that was released (or you just made the switch from Windows), that was in September of last year.
With these hidden features, it’s clear that they’re not finished quite yet. We’ll have to wait and see whether they’re arriving in its final form in iOS 10.3. The update may be publicly released by the end of this month.
For long-time Apple subscribers, these new keyboards show a bit of promise. The tech brand has never been known to put that much attention to the development of its touchscreen keyboard so it’s definitely a welcome sight.
