iOS 11.1 News: Apple Releases Major Update With New Emojis and Security Patches
After over a month since iOS 11 went live, Apple released its first major update, iOS 11.1, which contained several fixes along with new emojis and a set of security patches.
Some of the additions that came along with iOS 11.1 were the more than 70 new emojis "including new food types, animals, mythical creatures, clothing options, more expressive smiley faces, gender-neutral characters and more," according to its release notes.
The addition of the new emojis had already been announced by Apple in early October. In a statement, the company teased: "The new emoji are designed to reveal every detail and adapted from approved characters in Unicode 10."
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At the time, Apple previewed new emojis such as "Woman with Headscarf, Bearded Person, Breastfeeding, Zombie, Person in Lotus Position and new food items such as Sandwich and Coconut. Also included in the update is the Love-You Gesture, designed after the 'I love you' hand sign in American Sign Language."
Meanwhile, the iOS 11.1 was also equipped with a much-needed security patch for the notorious Wi-Fi KRACK vulnerability that was discovered by Mathy Vanhoef back in July.
A hacker can exploit this KRACK vulnerability to gain access and control over Wi-Fi networks that use the WPA-2 security protocol -- a program used by almost all Wi-Fi connections around the world for most devices.
Other security patches in iOS 11.1 fixes vulnerabilities spotted on Siri and the Messages app. According to its security patch notes, a bug made it possible for a person apart from the device owner who had physical access to an iPhone or an iPad to command Siri to read notifications.
As for the Messages app, a bug discovered before iOS 11.1's release allowed someone to open Photos even from the lock screen due to an issue with the "Reply With Message on a locked device" function.
To check if the iOS 11.1 update is already available on the device, users must open Settings > General > Software Update. Keep in mind that a device must have at least 50 percent of battery available or is plugged in to avoid an unsuccessful installation of the software update.
