All iPhone users must update now.
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Apple has now released iOS 26.1, and all iPhone users are warned to install this as soon as it’s available on your device. As well as the expected improvements to Liquid Glass, Apple Music and Alarms, it comes with a critical security update.
Apple and Google are now playing a continuous game of cat and mouse with spyware developers around the world. Rather than wait for point updates to be collated and rolled out, Apple can now push these out silently to devices — no user action needed.
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Per TechRadar, “you’ll now find a toggle to automatically install background security improvements, which are small updates that ‘provide additional protection to your iPhone in between software updates’.”
This further widens the gap to Android and especially to Samsung, Apple’s primary competitor in the flagship space. Samsung is struggling with updates of its own, and this should cement Apple’s status as the more secure OS on the market.
New Security Improvements
MacWorld
This toggle is under Settings > Privacy & Security > Security Improvements, and you should enable this as soon as you have installed the update. “These updates won’t be attached to new iOS version numbers, but they will help keep your iPhone safe from threats. As such, it’s definitely worth turning this feature on.”
If this works, it’s a game-changer. The caveat is that it didn’t work when Apple first played with a similar setting some years ago. It was used once and then reversed. But it’s the obvious answer to the increasing frequency of confirmed zero-days affecting both iPhones and Androids. Seamless, silent updates are clearly the answer.
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It’s worth installing iOS 26.1 for this new security feature itself, but as usual the update comes with a raft of security f