Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/ iOS 8.3 Triggers an Avalanche of Improvements Josh Centers Apple has updated iOS to version 8.3, and while the 200'300 MB update doesn't bring any major new features, it offers a massive list of bug fixes and performance improvements, by far the most of any update to iOS 8 so far. You can download the update via Settings > General > Software Update, or through iTunes. As always, it's a good idea to wait a few days to see if the update causes any problems, but so far it appears that iOS 8.3 brings the performance and stability that has been lacking in earlier releases of iOS 8. With iOS 8.3, iCloud Photo Library is now officially out of beta to coincide with the release of Photos for Mac; we'll have more about that soon. The first change you might notice in iOS 8.3 is the addition of over 300 new emoji. There are new flag emoji, along with a new one for the Apple Watch, but the bulk of the new symbols expand the diversity emoji with symbols for same-sex couples and for different ethnicities. Some emoji now have selectable skin tones, which you can see by tapping an emoji, and then selecting your preference from the popover. The emoji picker has also been redesigned for seamless scrolling. [1][tn_iOS-new-emoji-picker.jpg] In addition to the new emoji, you might also notice a bit of a speed boost, particularly in these areas that Apple calls out: * App launching * App responsiveness * Messages * Wi-Fi * Control Center * Safari tabs * Third-party keyboards * Keyboard shortcuts * Simplified Chinese Keyboard The release notes also boast of improved stability in Phone, Mail, Bluetooth, Photos, Settings, Weather, and Genius Playlists in Music. I haven't noticed significant changes on my iPhone 6, however switching between keyboards is now much faster, and scrolling through Safari tabs seems smoother. iOS 8.3 includes a few Wi-Fi and Bluetooth fixes, addressing issues like being continuously prompted for login credentials, devices randomly disconnecting from Wi-Fi networks, hands-free calls spontaneously disconnecting, and an issue where audio playback could stop working with some Bluetooth speakers. The update fixes a number of orientation quirks, including a fix for stuck orientations, a fix for upside-down orientations on the iPhone 6 Plus, and an issue that prevented apps from rotating. Apple also claims that orientation rotation performance has been improved (and we've noticed that Safari seems to maintain scroll position when changing rotation in Reader View, which wasn't reliable before). Messages sees some welcome improvements, such as a fix for group messages that sometimes split, an issue that prevented messages from being forwarded or deleted, and an issue that prevented photo previews from displaying. There are also improvements with Family Sharing, with increased reliability for Ask to Buy notifications, a fix for a bug that prevented family members from downloading free apps, and a fix for a bug that would prevent apps from launching or updating. iOS 8.3 includes many more tweaks than we can list here, including improvements to CarPlay, enterprise connectivity, accessibility, and various miscellaneous fixes. They aren't available online yet, though you can see them before you update. As always, the iOS update includes a slew of [2]security fixes. Apple has also released [3]Apple TV 7.2 for the third-generation Apple TV with a number of similar security improvements. References 1. http://tidbits.com/resources/2015-04/iOS-new-emoji-picker.jpg 2. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204661 3. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204662 .