Warning issued for millions of iPhone 11 Pro users

After reports surfaced that iPhone 11 Pro sends out user's location even when Location Services has been turned off, Apple admitted the location settings in iPhones are misleading.

Security expert Brian Krebs raised concerns over privacy when he revealed to TechCrunch earlier this week that the latest iPhones request location data even when users have disabled the feature. Now, Apple has clarified that this is happening because of the new ultra wideband technology built into the latest models.

Apple said that it will fix the issue in a future update, TechCrunch reported. "Ultra wideband technology is an industry standard technology and is subject to international regulatory requirements that require it to be turned off in certain locations," said Apple in its statement.

"iOS uses Location Services to help determine if an iPhone is in these prohibited locations in order to disable ultra wideband and comply with regulations," Apple further said in the statement. The tech giant also assured that the management of ultra wideband compliance and its use of location data is done entirely on the device and that it is not collecting user location data.

However, what is raising eyebrows is the fact that if Apple can enable these background location checks to be disabled in their future iOS update, then why has it not been done yet. The speculations were rife especially after Apple's delayed explanation on the issue.

Apple has released iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3 updates to all its compatible iPhones and iPads, respectively, with a host of bug fixes and improvements.

The new software updates come two weeks after the release of iOS/iPadOS 13.2.3 and more than a month after the launch of iOS 13.2.

The iOS and iPadOS 13.3 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update, MacRumors reported recently.

The iOS 13.3 update includes new parental controls that allow allow parents to set communication limits.

Communication limits let parents control who their children are able to contact, with the feature covering FaceTime, Phone, Messages, and iCloud Contacts.

The iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3 updates bring support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in Safari.

Another change in iOS 13.3 is a new setting that allows users to disable the Memoji and Animoji stickers from always appearing on the emoji keyboard.

Alongside the iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3 updates, Apple has rolled out tvOS 13.3 for Apple TV users. The company has also brought watchOS 6.1.1 for all compatible Apple Watch models.