It was just a few days ago we were discussing why Apple users should update to iOS 14.5 for privacy enhancements (and there have been some non-critical issues with that — we’ll get there). And a few weeks before that, we urged you to update to iOS 14.4.2 as part of a security fix.
Unfortunately, you’ll need to take a few long minutes to update again, and this one is, once again, a security issue. As TechRadar reports, Apple is suggesting you update both your phone and iPad to 14.5.1 immediately to fix a security flaw that originated in the Webkit browser engine that powers the Safari web browser as well as Mail and the App Store on iOS devices.
As Apple notes on their support site, these updates are needed because “processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.”
14.5.1 also fixes an issue with Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency policy “where some users who previously disabled Allow Apps to Request to Track in Settings may not receive prompts from apps after re-enabling it.” If you’re wondering where all those pop-ups are that were supposed to ask you if an app could track you across different sites and apps, well, you probably chose to limit ad tracking in older versions of iOS (and for good reason) and that indirectly led to your current lack of pop-ups. You can either fix this via Settings > Privacy > Tracking or, from what Apple’s newest release looks like, simply update to 14.5.1.
To perform the 14.5.1 update on your phone, go to Settings > General > Software Update. If you need help with that, go here.
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