Security

Apple has released iOS 16.5, marking the fifth and final major update for iOS 16 before WWDC and the upcoming reveal of iOS 17 in June. Just as the company did with the previous iPhone software, Apple will continue to provide security updates and bug fixes for iOS 16 this summer and even after the release of iOS 17.

Unlike the iOS 16.4 release, which included many new features, iOS 16.5 provides incremental changes and some important security fixes. Here are the details from Apple's official release notes:

Apple's Automatic Verification feature makes it possible to skip website CAPTCHA verifications in Safari. Anyone using an iOS device encounters CAPTCHA challenges, which are small tests that websites or apps require to prove they are human and not bots. These tests can be repetitive and waste time, but Automatic Verification helps to skip them automatically.

Google has updated its security app for two-factor authentication to include the ability to sync passcodes across devices. Prior to this update the free Google Authenticator app lacked the capability for synchronization, meaning that users who lost their device also lost access to their two-factor authentication codes. However, Google announced on Monday that this limitation will no longer be an issue.

Thanks to policy changes at Twitter, SMS two-factor authentication (2FA) is no longer available for free. Users must have a subscription to Twitter Blue in order to use SMS for 2FA when securing their accounts. Twitter claims that requiring membership will reduce abuse of the platform by "bad actors". While SMS verification is a convenient and popular way to increase account security, it's not the most secure. Using an authentication app provides improved protection for your account.