iPhone Firmware

Apple has been releasing iOS updates left and right lately, greeting iPhone owners with a prompt every time they start up iTunes. Many are wondering if these updates are important, what the purpose of the updates are, and whether or not it's actually worth the time to continue installing. When it comes to the latest update, iOS 4.3.3, Apple has made significant changes to the way in which location data is stored on your device.

Responding to criticism and questions from across the board, Apple is reacting to a discovery by security researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden. The pair discovered a log file on the iPhone and iPad that keeps location data from cellular tower triangulation indefinitely. With software they wrote, they were able to see maps of where they had been with their iPhones ever since the iOS 4.0 update was installed.

Apple has finally addressed complaints that its mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad are tracking users by recording cellular tower triangulation data. The company issued a Q&A document to explain exactly what's happening on the devices they manufacture and how they plan to remedy the issues that even some members of Congress have expressed concerns over.

Apple is already facing lawsuits over the tracking issue, which was revealed by security researchers. Although individual devices have locally stored logs of location data going back as far as the installation of iOS 4.0, Apple insists that the company can't track individuals as any data it collects is anonymous and encrypted. According to the Q&A document, the purpose of these transmissions is to build better location based services and individual iPhones are never tracked at all.

Reports that iPhones are tracking and storing your every move are causing some Congressional leaders concerned about privacy to question Apple's motives. Reactions to yesterday's revelations that a single unencrypted file on iPhones has been recording location data since the installation of iOS 4 has been mixed.

Some have reacted with amusement, looking at maps of their whereabouts using the open source iPhone Tracker software posted on the web by researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden. Others are wary of Apple's purpose and concerned that this location data is routinely backed up to computers using iTunes.

Apple has released the latest firmware files for iOS devices containing bug fixes and security updates. Verizon iPhone 4 owners were not left out of the fun this time, getting their own iOS 4.2.7 updates specifically for the CDMA device. Those experiencing blank or frozen FaceTime video issues should find that the firmware update fixes these problems.

Both iPhone 4 and iPad 2 owners reported the FaceTime issue was affecting Apple devices running iOS 4.3. Another issue that was widely reported in the news was a connectivity problem causing issues with the iPad connecting to 3G networks.

BGR already has its hands on a copy of the upcoming iOS 4.3.2 firmware update for iPhone and iPad. According to their sources the update will be released before the end of April, possibly even next week. Several fixes and changes are expected in this minor update.

For one, the 4.3.2 update should address the strange FaceTime issues that iPhone 4 and iPad 2 users have been experiencing lately. These include video freezing, having to restart the iPad, and the iPhone 4 leaving behind random photos of users on the screen. iOS 4.3.2 will not presumably be available on the Verizon iPhone 4, which is still running 4.2.6 firmware.