Version of the iOS operating system | |
Developer | Apple |
---|---|
Source model | Closed, with open-source components |
Initial release | September 19, 2019 |
Latest release | 13.7 [1] (17H35) [2] (September 1, 2020 ) [±] |
Update method | Software Update |
Package manager | App Store |
Platforms | |
Kernel type | Hybrid (XNU) |
Default user interface | Cocoa Touch (multi-touch, GUI) |
License | Proprietary software with open-source components |
Preceded by | iOS 12 |
Succeeded by | iOS 14 |
Official website | iOS 13 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 11, 2020) |
Tagline | A whole new look. On a whole new level. |
Support status | |
Obsolete, no longer receiving security updates, because all iPhones and iPod Touches that supported iOS 13 support iOS 14 and iOS 15 as well. Partial third-party app support. Drops support for all A7 and A8 chips with less than 2 GB of RAM, including the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6/6 Plus, and iPod Touch (6th generation). | |
Articles in the series | |
iPadOS 13 (iPadOS version derived from iOS 13) |
iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for the iPhone, iPod Touch and HomePod. The successor to iOS 12, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 3, 2019, and released on September 19, 2019. It was succeeded by iOS 14, released on September 16, 2020.
As of iOS 13, the iPad lines run a separate operating system, derived from iOS, named iPadOS. Both iPadOS 13 and iOS 13 drop support for devices with less than 2 GB of RAM.
iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 were introduced by Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi at the WWDC keynote address on June 3, 2019. [3] [4] [5]
The first beta was made available to registered developers after the keynote. [6] The second beta was released to registered developers on June 18, 2019, and the first public beta was released on June 24, 2019. [7] The initial release of iOS 13 was version 13.0, which was released to the public on September 19, 2019. [8]
iOS 13 changes the handling of location data. When an app requests access to location, the user chooses whether to grant access whenever they are using the app, never, or only once. The user will receive similar prompts for background location access, and when an app requests access to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (which may also be used for non-consensual location tracking). [9] [10]
In August 2019, it was reported that beginning in April 2020, the PushKit API for VoIP would be restricted to internet telephone usage, closing a "loophole" that had been used by other apps for background data collection. [11] [12]
A system-wide dark mode allows users to enable a light-on-dark color scheme for the entire iOS and iPadOS user interface, all native applications, and supported third-party apps. It can be manually turned on or set to automatically switch between light and dark modes based on the time of day. [13]
The volume indicator was redesigned, replacing the larger, centered overlay with a slimmer bar shown vertically near the volume keys in portrait orientation, or at the top in landscape. The bar can also be manipulated directly. [14]
The card UI elements from Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books has been implemented system-wide, being an option for third-parties to use in their apps.
Siri uses a software-generated voice called "Neural TTS", intended to sound more natural than previous versions that use clips of human voices. Siri also became more functional and new sound control is available. The Siri Shortcuts app is installed by default. Siri also uses HomePod to learn and recognize voices of different people. It is also possible for Siri to automatically read incoming messages aloud on AirPods. [15] [16]
The QuickType virtual keyboard features QuickPath, allowing the user to swipe their finger across the keyboard to complete words and phrases. This functionality was previously exclusively available via third-party keyboard applications such as SwiftKey, [[Adaptx t]], Gboard, or Swype. [13] [17] Emoji stickers have been included on the emoji keyboard and can be used wherever regular emoji can be. [18]
iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 add a new system-wide gesture interface for cut, copy, paste, undo, and redo. A three-finger swipe left or up will undo; three fingers right or down will redo. A single three-finger pinch will copy, a second three-finger pinch will cut, and a three-finger spread pastes. A three-finger single tap will bring up a shortcut menu with all five options. [19]
The blue text cursor can be moved around text fields by pressing and holding to pick it up and move it. Many new options for text selection have also been added: double-tapping a word will select it, triple-tapping selects a sentence, and quadruple-tapping a paragraph selects it. [20]
A new single sign-on service known as "Sign in with Apple" is integrated with iOS 13, and allows users to create accounts for third-party services with a minimal amount of personal information. Users may optionally generate a disposable email address for each account, improving privacy and anonymity, and reducing the amount of information that can be associated with a single email address. [21]
All iOS applications that support third-party social login are required to implement Sign in with Apple, [22] [23] The iOS human interface guidelines also state that Sign in with Apple should be given prominence above any other login provider in application interfaces. [24] [21]
iOS 13 contains several performance improvements. Face ID unlocks the iPhone X, XS/ XS Max, and XR up to 30% faster than on iOS 12. A new file format makes app downloads as much as 50% smaller, app updates as much as 60% smaller, and app launches up to twice as fast. [13]
Similar to many laptops, [25] iOS 13 has a feature to limit the battery charging percentage to 80%. [26]
Keeping the battery percentage more centered instead of complete charges and discharges reduces strain onto the battery. This reduces the battery aging of the lithium-ion battery and extends its lifespan.
iOS 13 introduced a new Core Haptics framework. Prior to iOS 13, apps could only provide the default haptic patterns. Core Haptics gives developers more fine-grained control over the iPhone's Taptic Engine, including synchronized audio, allowing apps to provide customized haptic and audio feedback. [27] This feature is only available on iPhone 8 or newer. [28] It is also not supported on the iPod Touch due to the lack of a haptic motor in those devices.
iOS 13 introduced the ability to connect to external USB drives. [29] Although primarily designed for thumb drives and hard drives, a wide variety of USB disk devices will work, thanks to the iOS's support of the SCSI subclass of USB Mass Storage. Native SCSI disk devices will work as well, when used with a SCSI to USB adapter. [30]
On May 20, 2020, Apple released iOS 13.5, which includes the Exposure Notification API that provides access to the (Google/Apple) Exposure Notification System that Apple have developed jointly with Google. [31] This is provided to support digital contact tracing which came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic. [32]
ARKit 3 was released as a part of iOS 13 [33] and brought new features, such as People occlusion, [34] which allowed AR objects to be in front or behind people in a more realistic way. New features were restricted to devices with A12 processors and newer – like iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and the 2018 iPad Pro. [35] Other features of ARKit 3 were multiple face tracking [36] and collaborative sessions. [37]
Released with the 2020 iPad Pro, [38] ARKit 3.5 vastly improved positioning in virtual environments due to new anchors and use of data from a LiDAR scanner. [39] It also improved its motion capture and people occlusion. [40]
The version of iOS for iPad devices was renamed iPadOS, reflecting the precedence for the OS to include additional features intended primarily for use on tablets. [41]
iOS 13 adds official support for the Sony DualShock 4 and the Microsoft Xbox One controller. [42] iOS 13 also adds support for wireless audio sharing for AirPods and certain Beats headphones. [43]
A new multi-select gesture is available in supported applications such as Files and Mail. Multiple items, such as files or emails, can be quickly selected by dragging two fingers over the desired items. [20]
Apple Music now supports real-time synced song lyrics that animate along with the music as they are being sung, rapped or spoken. The currently playing line is highlighted in white color. The feature also lets the user skip to a part of a song simply by tapping on the lyric. [44]
User profiles can be created and Memoji can be used as an iMessage profile picture. All iOS devices with an A9 processor or newer can create custom Memoji. Memoji and Animoji can be used as a sticker in iMessage and other apps; they are also available as regular emoji for use anywhere the emoji keyboard is available. There are a variety of new customization options for Memoji. [18]
The Maps app features a redesigned maps UI, featuring more detailed maps, and Look Around, a street level imagery implementation similar to Google Street View. [13]
Redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up with new features such as the ability to suggest when a reminder should be delivered to the user, and the ability to tag contacts so that references to reminders can be surfaced elsewhere, such as in Messages. [13] [45]
The Photos app includes a redesigned UI and uses machine learning to auto-hide "clutter" images such as screenshots and documents. [46]
Photos has a redesigned interface showing users photos they took in the past year, month, week and day. This brings all photos to one page and shows users photos based on what their device suggests for them. [47]
There were a number of issues following the release of iOS 13, some relating to battery drain, call-dropping, and ringtones not functioning properly, resulting in frequent software updates and patches. Despite the frequency of bug fix releases, the updates have introduced new issues. [48] [49] [50] [51]
Other issues included incorrect artwork for user's playlists. Users reported the artwork is repeated for some playlists or uses a different picture. [52]
iOS 13 requires 2 GB of RAM. It drops support for all iPhones and iPod Touches using an Apple A7 or A8 SoC and devices that shipped with 1 GB of RAM [lower-alpha 1] . iOS 13 is the first version of iOS to drop support for iPhones with Touch ID.
To further differentiate features between iPhones and iPads, Apple rebranded the tablet-oriented platform with its own operating system, iPadOS.
Version | Build | Codename | Release date | Release notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
13.0 [lower-alpha 2] | 17A577 | YukonPre | September 19, 2019 | Release notes Security content |
13.1 [lower-alpha 3] | 17A844 | Yukon | September 24, 2019 [54] | Release notes Security content |
13.1.1 | 17A854 | September 27, 2019 [55] | Release notes Security content | |
13.1.2 | 17A860 17A861 [lower-alpha 4] | September 30, 2019 [56] | Release notes | |
13.1.3 | 17A878 | October 15, 2019 [57] | Release notes | |
13.2 | 17B84 | YukonB | October 28, 2019 [58] | Release notes Security content |
13.2.1 [lower-alpha 5] | 17B90 | October 30, 2019 [59] | ||
13.2.2 | 17B102 | November 7, 2019 [60] | Release notes | |
13.2.3 | 17B111 | November 18, 2019 [61] | Release notes | |
13.3 | 17C54 | YukonC | December 10, 2019 [62] | Release notes Security notes |
13.3.1 | 17D50 | YukonD | January 28, 2020 [63] | Release notes Security content |
13.4 | 17E255 | YukonE | March 24, 2020 [64] | Release notes Security content |
17E8255 [lower-alpha 6] | April 15, 2020 [lower-alpha 7] | |||
13.4.1 | 17E262 | April 7, 2020 [65] | Release notes | |
17E8258 | April 23, 2020 [66] | |||
13.5 | 17F75 | YukonF | May 20, 2020 [67] | Release notes Security content |
13.5.1 | 17F80 | June 1, 2020 | Release notes Security content | |
13.6 | 17G68 | YukonG | July 15, 2020 [68] | Release notes Security content |
13.6.1 | 17G80 | August 12, 2020 [69] | Release notes | |
13.7 | 17H35 | YukonH | September 1, 2020 [70] | Release notes |
See Apple's main page for iOS 13 release notes, as well as their 2019 and 2020 security update contents.
The iTunes media platform was first released by Apple in 2001 as a simple music player for Mac computers. Over time, iTunes developed into a sophisticated multimedia content manager, hardware synchronization manager and e-commerce platform. iTunes was finally discontinued for new Mac computers in 2019, but is still available and supported for Macs running older operating systems and for Windows computers to ensure updated compatibility for syncing with new releases of iOS devices.
iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple exclusively for its devices. It was unveiled in January 2007 for the first-generation iPhone, which launched in June 2007. Major versions of iOS are released annually; the current stable version, iOS 18, was released to the public on September 16, 2024.
Game Center is a service by Apple that allows users to play and challenge friends when playing online multiplayer social gaming network games. Games can share multiplayer functionality between the Mac and iOS versions of the app.
iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was given a name distinct from iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones to reflect the diverging features of the two product lines, such as multitasking. It was introduced as iPadOS 13, reflecting its status as the successor to iOS 12 for the iPad, and first released to the public on September 24, 2019. Major versions of iPadOS are released annually; the current stable version, iPadOS 18, was released to the public on September 16, 2024.
iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, 2014. It was succeeded by iOS 9 on September 16, 2015.
watchOS is the operating system of the Apple Watch, developed by Apple Inc. It is based on iOS, the operating system used by the iPhone, and has many similar features. It was released on April 24, 2015, along with the Apple Watch, the only device that runs watchOS. watchOS exposes an API called WatchKit for developer use.
The iPad Air 2 is the second-generation iPad Air tablet computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced on October 16, 2014, alongside the iPad Mini 3, both of which were released on October 22, 2014. The iPad Air 2 is thinner, lighter and faster than its predecessor, the first-generation iPad Air, and features Touch ID with the height, width and screen size the same as the iPad Air.
iOS 9 is the ninth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 8. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, and was released on September 16, 2015. It was succeeded by iOS 10 on September 13, 2016.
tvOS is an operating system developed by Apple Inc. for the Apple TV, a digital media player. In the first-generation Apple TV, Apple TV Software was based on Mac OS X. Starting with the second generation, the software is based on the iOS operating system and has many similar frameworks, technologies, and concepts.
iOS 10 is the tenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 9. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 13, 2016, and was released on September 13, 2016. It was succeeded by iOS 11 on September 19, 2017.
iOS 11 is the eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple, being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5, 2017, and was released on September 19, 2017. It was succeeded by iOS 12 on September 17, 2018.
iOS 12 is the twelfth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple. Aesthetically similar to its predecessor, iOS 11, it focuses more on performance than on new features, quality improvements and security updates. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, iOS 12 was released to the public on September 17, 2018. It was succeeded for the iPhone and iPod Touch by iOS 13 on September 19, 2019, and for the iPad by iPadOS 13 on September 24, 2019. Security updates for iOS 12 continued for four years after the releases of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 for devices unable to run the newer versions. The last update, 12.5.7, was released on January 23, 2023.
iPadOS 13 is the first major release of the iPadOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iOS 12 on those devices, it was announced at the company's 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 3, 2019, as a derivation from iOS, with a greater emphasis on multitasking and tablet-centric features. It was released on September 24, 2019. It was succeeded by iPadOS 14, released on September 16, 2020.
iPadOS is a mobile operating system for tablet computers developed by Apple Inc. It was first released as a modification of iOS starting with version 13.1 on September 24, 2019. Before the release of iPadOS, iPads were released with iPhone OS, which was later renamed to iOS. New iPadOS versions are released every year mostly in sync with iOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
Find My is an asset tracking service made by Apple Inc. that enables users to track the location of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, tvOS devices, AirPods, AirTags, and a number of supported third-party accessories through a connected iCloud account. Users can also show their primary device's geographic location to others, and can view the location of others who choose to share their location. Find My was released alongside iOS 13 on September 19, 2019, merging the functions of the former Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single app. On watchOS, Find My is separated into three different applications: Find Devices, Find People and Find Items.
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