14 DAY TRIAL // After losing a lawsuit with VirnetX, Apple is informing iOS 6.1 customers that the company will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand via a software update scheduled to be released this month.
The Cupertino giant confirms in a support document that, “Due to a lawsuit by VirnetX, Apple will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later.”
Apple explains that iOS 6.1 devices (including those on iOS 6.1.1, 6.1.2, and 6.1.3) with an “Always” setting for VPN On Demand “will behave as if they were configured with the ‘Establish if needed’ option.”
Moreover, devices configured with the aforementioned settings will establish a VPN On Demand connection “only if it is unable to resolve the DNS name of the host it is trying to reach,” reads the KB article.
“This change will be distributed in an update later this month,” Apple confirms.
The documentation includes additional information on this topic, therefore users who need more information about these changes are encouraged to give it a glance.
Apple so far hasn’t released any iOS 6.1.4 betas to developers, but it might do so in the coming days.
A new software update is also needed to patch certain iOS security issues recently reported in the media, as well as a potential battery draining bug, and perhaps other issues that remain well hidden.
Apple this year is reportedly pushing for an overhaul of the mobile operating system powering iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices, with the release of iOS 7 sometime in the coming months.
The company’s Worldwide Developers Conference is usually the time and place for such major releases, but people with knowledge of Apple’s plans say the development of iOS 7 has been delayed.
Moreover, Apple is said to have shifted some development forces from OS X 10.9 over to iOS 7, in order to push out the update faster.