A lowdown of Apple’s mission with the internal development of iOS 6.1.1

Feb 9, 2013 13:53 GMT  ·  By

Apple this week rolled out iOS 6.1.1 to developers, in what was the first iOS beta to ever focus solely on improving Maps (namely, for Japanese users). However, there’s more to iOS 6.1.1 Build 10B311 than meets the eye.

In addition to the Maps improvements which we’ve already covered on February 7, iOS 6.1.1 also brings under-the-hood changes that should pique the interest of many developers (and hackers alike).

According to a well known hacker in the iOS jailbreak community (iH8sn0w) iOS 6.1.1 Beta 1 has its ReleaseType designation set to “beta,” yet it has no expiry date.

Apple usually sets an expiration date on iOS seeds providing developers with an accurate idea of when the next beta should arrive.

In the cat and mouse game between Apple and jailbreakers, the Cupertino tech giant appears to be stripping its betas of the clear indications regarding a potential upcoming update.

However, a second reported change in the underlying code of the new beta, iOS 6.1.1 fails to patch the jailbreak exploits delivered by evasi0n, a new hack tool capable of jailbreaking any iDevice under iOS 6 through iOS 6.1.

Apple has historically patched jailbreak vulnerabilities as fast as possible. This time around, the iPhone maker decided this would not be a priority for the first iOS 6.1.1 beta.

Since we’re on the topic, it is also worth pointing out what the next iOS 6.1.1 seed may bring.

According to Vodafone, AOL, and a number of iPhone customers on the Apple Support Communities forums, the recently-released iOS 6.1 suffers from connectivity bugs.

AOL, for example, has switched off some functionality in its Enterprise devices after confirming a nasty bug that caused iPhones to send and receive abnormal amounts of data without express consent from the user.

Vodafone has discovered a flaw in iOS 6.1 that affects 3G networking. The carrier has even sent out text messages to iPhone 4S customers advising them to stay away from the new release, had they postponed the update.

And while some iPhone owners claim iOS 6.1 has actually fixed the bugs causing battery strain, numerous consumers continue to report power drain on their handsets after installing the new software.

In this respect, Apple’s upcoming iOS 6.1.1 beta for developers will most likely include patches for at least some of these issues.

A public release shouldn’t be too far off either, considering the urgency of having to address some of these flaws.