A growing number of users are complaining about the inability to use Touch ID fingerprint scanning to authorize purchases in the App Store after updating to iOS 8.3.
As reported on Twitter, Reddit and detailed in a thread on Apple's Support Communities forums, iOS 8.3 appears to be asking for an Apple ID password for each and every purchase made in the App Store.
This is regardless of whether or not the option to use Touch ID in the App Store is enabled in Settings. What gives?
Apple today released the iOS 8.3 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The software contains dozens of fixes and brings out a handful of feature enhancements related to Messages, Siri, the much enhanced emoji keyboard and more. Oddly, a subtle change to how Quick Reply and Notification Center handle messages with previews disabled aren't mentioned in release notes.
That's something I was alerted to by Twitter user @ericcamazin. Without a doubt, you'll find these changes much welcomed.
Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities claims Apple may call the next line of its iPhone the "iPhone 7", instead of the "iPhone 6s" like previously thought. The name change will be because of significant changes to the iOS user interface, including Force Touch technology for better interaction, the analyst says.
Having been tracking iOS 8 adoption rates on a regular basis, it's clear now that the pace of user adoption of the latests and greatest iOS version has been slowing down since its peak in the holiday quarter of 2014.
According to the most recent numbers provided by Apple itself on the App Store Distribution webpage, iOS 8 is now installed on 78 percent of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices in the wild, a marginal increase over the 77 percent adoption rate from two weeks ago.
iOS 8.3 beta 4 that was seeded to Apple's registered iOS developers last week has removed the long-standing option to share content to Twitter, according to our own findings a couple days ago that have since been confirmed by other users.
We've noticed something was afoot as the option to share to Twitter has gone missing from the Share sheet in iOS 8's stock Photos and Safari app.
Technically, the feature has not been removed entirely because it only disappears after installing Twitter's official iOS app in iOS 8.3 beta 4, as evidenced on the screenshots provided by our own Oliver Haslam.
Uninstall Twitter and it comes back.
Over the past few days, I've been working with developer MohammadAG to test his in-progress iOS-to-Android Wear application on the LG G Watch. This application, which has a ton of potential for both jailbreakers and non-jailbreakers, allows iOS to forward notifications to Android Wear devices. In the video that follows, I showcase some of the features that are in the current version of Mohammad's new Android Wear APK.
Apple has seeded the fourth beta of iOS 8.3 to developers, close to two weeks after seeding the third iOS 8.3 beta and roughly a month and a half after releasing the first iOS 8.3 beta.
The new build of iOS 8.3 carries the build number 12F5061, and is available to download over-the-air or from Apple's iOS Developer Center. Apple also released Xcode 6.3 beta 4 with Swift 1.2 and an update for the Apple TV beta.
Users who upgrade their iPhone to iOS 8.3 when it's released next month will be finally able to tell Siri to make a phone call through the device's speakerphone when the 'Hey Siri' option is enabled, reports 9to5Mac.
You can say, for example, 'Hey Siri, call my Mom on speaker' and the call will be automatically transferred to the iPhone's speaker, like it should have always been, may I add.
Again, provided the 'Allow Hey Siri' option is enabled in Settings > General > Siri and the phone is plugged into power.
A new 'Password Settings' section has been discovered in the Settings app of the current iOS 8.3 beta which will permit users to set up their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad so that downloading free iTunes apps and iTunes media won't require an Apple ID password.
The new option is only exposed to users when Touch ID is disabled, reports 9to5Mac. With Touch ID enabled, the new option is unavailable.
This is understandable to an extent, because approving purchases — free or paid — with the tap of a fingerprint is a frictionless experience.
Our regular tracking of adoption rate figures is back with up-to-date, fresh stats straight from Apple indicating that iOS 8 is slowly but surely finding its way to users iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.
As of today, Apple's latest mobile operating system is now powering 77 percent devices in the wild, a modest improvement over the 75 percent adoption rate as measured by the App Store two weeks ago.
As predicted, Apple has opened up its iOS beta program to the public and is no longer requiring a paid developer account to test new software. Apple debuted the new public program on Thursday along with the third iOS 8.3 beta.
You can sign-up to receive the new beta from the Apple Seed website. It's as easy as signing in with your Apple ID and then installing the beta software to start using it.
Fleksy, a popular 99-cent keyboard for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 8 or later, has received another newsworthy update following its equally massive Valentine's Day release.
A dedicated Tips Extension shows you helpful tips throughout the app while a new Color Pops Extension lets you customize the colors of your key pops (disable them completely via a transparancy slider).