Apple was facing wide spread complaints as the iOS 13.2 update kills background apps and tasks too aggressively. With the roll out of the latest 13.3 developer beta 1, the issue seems to have been fixed.
Early morning Wednesday Beijing time, Apple released the first developer beta of iOS 13.3, one week after the launch of the controversial iOS 13.2.
Better RAM management
Early tests indicate that iOS 13.3 does solve the RAM management problem, with users on Twitter reporting there is no reload on iPhone 11 Pro Max after opening dozens of apps and quickly switch between them.
But it seems there is a timeout to remove the background app from memory if you try after a few minutes.
iOS 13.3 Beta seems like it fixes the apps reloading / RAM management issue. I have opened 32 apps and have not had one reload yet on iPhone 11 Pro Max
— Aaron Zollo (@zollotech) November 5, 2019
Quick followup on the RAM management / App reloading…. Opened 32 apps and if you go quickly into them they do not reload. Then tried after a few minutes and I do get some reloads. It’s almost as if there is a timeout to remove it from memory and close the app in the background
— Aaron Zollo (@zollotech) November 5, 2019
I keep testing App reloading…I find that it is much better than before. iPad Air 2 for example it seems to be better. I opened 8 applications. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then opened them again. Not one reloaded. Then I locked it, let it sit for 3 minutes. Only safari reloaded.
— Aaron Zollo (@zollotech) November 5, 2019
As cnTechPost reported last week, reports emerged around the world that background apps seem to be getting killed much more frequently than before after users upgraded their iPhones to the latest iOS 13.2, with one Twitter user saying:
Every single app on my iPhone 7 iOS 13.2 gets killed every time I close. No backgrounding. And each tab on Safari when I move to a new one. So frustrating.
While in China, where WeChat is one of the most frequently used apps in people’s daily life, users were complaining that they always must wait a longer time getting the WeChat interface back after switching it to the background.
They expressed similar frustration according to Chinese media reports:
I just want to order a takeaway and when I switch back to WeChat, my chat window disappeared.
Other changes
The first notable change spotted by Apple Insider in iOS 13.3 beta 1 is that the Apple Watch app icon was updated slightly. Now instead of a black center to the Digital Crown, there is a grey one instead.
(Photo: Apple Watch app icon in iOS 13.2 versus iOS 13.3, Apple Insider)
Users also have the option to disable Memoji on the keyboard within Settings.
Screen Time now has a communications category that allows users to decide who they can talk to during screen time and their downtime.
How to update
For regular users, go to beta.apple.com on the iPhone or iPad on which you wish to run the beta.
You’ll sign up for the beta and download a beta profile. Then go to Settings > General > Profile and to find the beta profile and install it.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll download beta updates just like regular iOS updates: by heading to Settings > General > Software Update.
Developers who want to participate in developer betas can follow a similar procedure by going to developer.apple.com/download to download the developer beta profile.
But before doing this, it’s recommended that you should back up you iPhone to avoid losing your data.
Here is how to do the backup:
- Connect your iPhone with your Mac or Windows PC and open iTunes.
- Click on the iPhone icon in the menu bar when it appears.
- Click on Back Up Now.
- Go to iTunes in the menu bar and click on Preferences.
- Click on the Devices tab.
- Control-click on your Backup and choose Archive which will prevent your current backup from being overwritten by an iOS 13 backup in the future.
