iOS 12.1 Release Date, News & Update: Update Fixes Issues With Poor Cellular Connectivity and Smoothing Effect on Selfies

iOS 12.1 is now live and it fixes some of the annoying issues iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR users have been dealing with. As indicated in the release notes (via MacRumors), Apple has addressed the issue concerning the skin-smoothing effect on photos taken on the front camera. Dubbed “Beautygate,” the issue is caused by a bug in the phone’s HDR camera system.

The iOS 12.1 update also improves cellular connectivity for iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR users. That’s great news for people who have been dealing with poor connectivity issues in the past. The issues involving messages merging into one thread and numbers appearing without their contact name have also been fixed. The bug preventing users from adding or removing others from Family Sharing has been resolved as well.

Meanwhile, a performance management feature that prevents the phone from unexpectedly shutting down is included in the latest update. Over 70 new emoji, a new Group FaceTime feature, and Dual SIM support for the standard nano-SIM and digital eSIM has been added as well for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR. “Users can now activate an additional cellular plan from a carrier without having to use a physical nano-SIM,” Apple noted in the iOS 12.1 release notes.

The Depth Control in Portrait mode preview on the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR are now live as well with the iOS 12.1 update. “Advanced depth segmentation in Portrait mode enables more sophisticated portraits with professional-level bokeh. With iOS 12.1, users can now dynamically adjust the depth of field in real-time preview in addition to post-capture, enabling more control to create portraits with a beautiful background blur. Portrait mode with Depth Control is also available on the TrueDepth camera for selfies, which includes Memoji and faster face tracking support for third-party ARKit apps,” Apple said in the statement announcing the update.