Messages in iCloud is a useful iOS and macOS feature that has been available for several years, but it still isn’t perfect. Occasionally, messages will get out of sync between devices, and while there’s a way to trigger a manual sync on macOS, there isn’t an analogous feature on iOS.

Fortunately, there’s a workaround for this missing iOS feature. It appears that triggering a manual iCloud backup also forces Messages in iCloud to sync. You can trigger a manual backup in the Settings app by following these instructions.

Credit for this tip goes to this Reddit post from 2018.

Some iPhones and iPads appear to be having trouble updating to iOS 14 from older versions of iOS. If you receive an “Unable to Install Update” error after downloading iOS 14, it may be worth temporarily disabling your passcode before trying the update again. Make sure to re-enable your passcode once your device successfully updates.

It’s unclear what devices and/or old versions of iOS are affected by this bug, but I confirmed the issue on an iPhone 7 running iOS 10. At the moment, several other users are reporting similar issues on the Apple Developer Forums.

If your device still won’t update with the passcode disabled, check if you have enough free storage space available. It’s also worth taking a look at Apple’s guide on what to do when your iOS device won’t update.

This morning, Apple released iOS 12.1.4, an incremental update that fixes several security issues including the Group FaceTime eavesdropping bug from last month. The Group FaceTime service has also been re-enabled for devices running iOS 12.1.4 or higher.

The eavesdropping bug, discovered accidentally in January by a 14-year-old from Arizona, caused certain Group FaceTime calls to automatically connect even if the recipient did not answer the call. This flaw allowed macOS or iOS users to be eavesdropped on by any malicious FaceTime user. The bug was disclosed privately to Apple by the teen and his mother at least a week before it went public, but it appears that Apple did not clearly or immediately respond to the bug reports they filed.

Shortly after the bug went viral on January 28th, Apple took the Group FaceTime service offline as a temporary fix before a patch could be released. On February 1st, with Group FaceTime still offline, Apple announced that the bug had been fixed server-side and that a client-side software update to fully resolve the issue would be available the week of February 4th.

Read More

• Major iPhone FaceTime bug lets you hear the audio of the person you are calling … before they pick up – 9to5Mac
• Serious FaceTime bug allows you to listen remotely before anyone answers — Apple to fix ‘later this week’ – The Verge
• Serious FaceTime Bug Lets You Hear a Person’s Audio Before They Answer – MacRumors
• Apple FaceTime privacy vulnerability lets another user listen in – Business Insider

This September, iOS 12 brought software optimizations to a wide range of Apple devices, but one seemingly minor change to the iPad keyboard has confused users and prompted a slew of complaints. For no clear reason, Apple reversed the layout of the “.?123” and emoji keys in the bottom left of the keyboard, throwing off users who expected to find their punctuation and number keys in the usual location.

Notably, iOS 12.0.1 brings a fix for some charging and Wi-Fi issues that iPhone XS users have experienced, but it also restores the iPad keyboard to its pre-iOS 12 layout. This should be a welcome change for users who are accustomed to touch-typing on their iPad keyboards.

iOS 12.0.1 is immediately available for download on all supported devices.

Apple released iOS 12 to the public this Monday, where it immediately became available for download on a sizable list of supported devices. As announced at WWDC this year, iOS 12 is a conservative release intended to prioritize performance improvements and bug fixes over shiny new features.

As it turns out, iOS 12 delivers on those promises.

New Life for Old Hardware

Apple’s continued support for the iPhone 5S and iPad Air directly contradicts the idea that the company intentionally sabotages older hardware.

Ever since the release of iOS 7 for the iPhone 4 and the release of iOS 8 for the iPhone 4S, it’s been clear that new iOS releases have the potential to cripple old hardware. However, this isn’t 2014 anymore, and Apple is supporting a much more capable lineup of devices. It’s also clear that Apple is trying to provide a more consistent and usable experience across all supported devices.

iOS 12 is remarkably fast on an original iPad Air, a device that was sold so long ago that it originally shipped with iOS 7. There’s no fooling anyone into thinking that an Air with iOS 12 is a brand-new iPad, but it turns an almost-obsolete tablet into a very usable device.

On my iPhone 7, iOS 12 feels just as fast as it did with iOS 10, which is what it originally shipped with back in 2016. There’s less dropped frames than in iOS 11, and this is the first time I can remember an iOS update making my phone feel faster instead of making it feel slightly out of date. It doesn’t hurt that almost all the new features in iOS 12 are supported across Apple’s entire lineup as well, with the exception of ARKit which requires an A9 processor or later (iPhone 6S or newer).

In the end, it’s great to see Apple committing to a better user experience for new and old iOS customers. There’s never been a better time to own an older iPhone.

Messages in iCloud, Apple’s hotly anticipated cloud-syncing feature for the Messages app, has arrived on macOS a few days after debuting on iPhone and iPad in iOS 11.4. Messages in iCloud is an aptly named new iCloud feature that allows iMessages and regular SMS messages to live in iCloud rather than be stored locally per-device.

On iPhone, Messages in iCloud is available in iCloud Settings as another small toggle switch and requires two-factor authentication to be active before it can be enabled. Enabling Messages in iCloud can free up space on your device, streamline the process of deleting messages across all your Apple devices, and make it easy to sync your text message history to a new iPhone, iPad, or Mac. However, you may need to upgrade your iCloud storage plan if you like to keep a large amount of old messages and attachments, since iCloud’s 5 GB free tier may not be sufficient for heavy users.

The macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 update brings these new features to the Mac as well as the usual round of security updates. However, rather than being located in the iCloud section of System Preferences, the setting for Messages for iCloud on Mac is located in the Messages app settings pane. Refer to Apple’s official support page for instructions on enabling Messages in iCloud for both Mac and iPhone.