Apple fixes Safari crash search bug

Image copyrightApple

Image captionThe Safari fault appears to be affecting a range of Apple's devices

Apple believes it has fixed a problem that caused its Safari web browser to crash when users carried out a search via its address bar.

The problem appears to have begun earlier in the day.

Users had complained that they had experienced the bug on both the firm's mobile devices and its Mac computers.

Apple recently updated its iOS and OS X operating systems, but users who had not installed the new versions had also reported the fault.

This would suggest that the immediate cause was a process happening at Apple's data centres. However, some experts have suggested that an additional flaw in Safari itself may have led to the program crashing as it was unable to handle the invalid input.

Apple has not provided a comment about the fault.

But the BBC understands that the fix may take some time to go through for everyone.

Users can, however, speed up the process by clicking on the "clear history and website data" in Safari's preferences.

The issue only impacted people whose "suggestions cache" had updated while they were using the phone between 09:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT.

As a result, Europe-based device owners were more likely to have been affected than those in Asia or the US.

Malicious link

Earlier in the week, it emerged that a web link had gone viral that forced Safari to crash.

The page the browser was sent to used JavaScript to put the software into a loop forcing it to fail.

Image copyrightTwitter

Image captionSafari users have complained about the problem on Twitter

However, the more recent problem appears to have been much more widespread, and was replicated by the BBC.

Apple revealed on Tuesday that there are about one billion of its core devices in use.

The vast majority of those may have been affected, although the number also includes its set-top TV boxes and smartwatches, which do not use the browser.

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Apple to launch 4" iPhone and iPad Air 3 in first half of 2016

According to connected KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is preparing two major iOS device introductions for the first half of 2016 in the much-rumored 4-inch iPhone and a refreshed 9.7-inch iPad Air 3.

In a Sunday note to investors, Kuo said he expects Apple's upcoming 4-inch iPhone to be met with tepid demand, as the device's form factor and hardware are mostly iterative. Apple is revisiting the smaller handset size after shifting R&D efforts to larger-screened iPhone 6 and 6s models.

The rumored "iPhone 5se" will sport a form factor similar to the outgoing iPhone 5s, but with higher-spec hardware like a 12-megapixel camera and adoption of slightly curved iPhone 6s-style "2.5D" cover glass. Compared to current iPhone 6s and 6s Plus handsets, the new 4-inch version is not expected to boast much in the way of hardware innovations, Kuo says. 

Less is known about the upcoming iPad Air 3 and "iPhone 7." Today's note is one of the first to predict a first half 2016 launch window for Apple's refreshed 9.7-inch tablet. In 2014, Apple released the A8X-powered iPad Air 2 in October, though minor hardware upgrades, while solid additions, weren't enough to slow steeply declining in sales. 

Kuo has little insight on this year's flagship iPhone, tentatively dubbed "iPhone 7," but notes no surprise innovations in the information he has been able to confirm thus far. This suggests Apple is currently working on evolutionary upgrades in A-series SoC technology, camera resolution, battery life and more. 

If Apple follows its usual upgrade cycle, this year's iPhone should bring a revamped design. Multiple rumors suggest Apple is looking to ditch iPhone's 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of a Bluetooth or Lightning solution, while less reliable sources have claimed the handset will be waterproof and feature wireless charging.

As for quarterly shipments, Kuo models iPhone sales at 77 million for the three-month period ended in December. The number sits at the midline of Wall Street expectations.

Looking ahead, tame iPhone 6s demand will drive current quarter iPhone shipments of 43 million units, down 44.2 percent quarter over quarter and 29.7 percent from the same time last year. Apple traditionally sees seasonal headwinds coming off strong holiday sales. Kuo believes the dip in iPhone demand is set to correct to between 42 and 45 million units in quarter two when 4-inch iPhone model production ramps up.

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Why the feature-light iOS 9.2.1 security update matters

Three days ago Apple released an iOS 9.2.1 update with seemingly arbitrary ‘security updates and bug fixes’ listed in the release notes. As we’ve seen time and time again with these type of software updates, most often these small updates seem to go ignored by the general public. We stress how important it is to keep your device up to date, even with small security updates like this.

As is customary after Apple releases a security update version of iOS, the firms and people that discovered the vulnerabilities are coming out explaining how and why these security updates matter. Apple has already included a breakdown of what security issues were resolved in iOS 9.2.1, but it’s still nice to get a further detailed look into what made the vulnerabilities possible in the first place.

SkyCure, a company helping in threat defense in EMM and MDM solutions, released a blog post this week detailing their discovery while noting that Apple had finally resolved it.

The security issue (CVE-2016-1730) was reported back in June of 2013, but SkyCure notes that it was a more complicated issue to fix than one would imagine. SkyCure’s discovery relates to the way iOS handles cookies when connecting to a malicious captive-enabled Wi-Fi network. You may have seen these types of networks if you’ve ever connected to a hotel, airport or Starbucks network.

On Thursday, security researchers at Zimperium zLabs had also released a report analyzing how their vulnerability (CVE-2016-1722) was discovered. This vulnerability appears to have taken less than two months to resolve. Zimperium’s discovery revolved around a heap buffer overflow in syslogd that would allow an attacker to have elevated privileges or even perform remote code execution (although this would require the device to be on an already trusted Wi-Fi network).

As the desire for better security, privacy, and encryption increases, I welcome the security researchers’ work and Apple’s “minor” update. Even if they don’t include any exciting new features, like new emoji.

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