Apple Releases iOS 4.3.3 With Location Fixes

Apple on Wednesday released iOS 4.3.3, which solves what Apple called a "bug" with its location-based services.

"This update contains changes to the iOS crowd-sourced location database cache," according to the update. Specifically, it reduces the size of the cache, no longer backs up the cache to iTunes, and deletes the cache entirely when location services is turned off.

At issue is the location-based data collected by devices running iOS 4. Last month, researchers said that that information was stored in an insecure manner and accessible to anyone who stumbled upon your iPhone, iPad, or the computer with which you synced your iOS device. That prompted concerns that Apple, and anyone who looked at that data, could track your whereabouts.

In an April 27 Q&A posted on its Web site, Apple denied tracking its users. "Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so," the company said.

The researchers, however, said that since the release of iOS 4, all location data has been stored on a file known as "consolidated.db," which is backed up to your computer whenever you sync your iPhone. In that Q&A, Apple said "the reason the iPhone stores so much data is a bug we uncovered and plan to fix shortly." That fix is the iOS 4.3.3 update. Going forward, the iPhone will not store more than seven days of this data, according to Apple, and it will not sync with iTunes.

There was also concern that location services still collected data even when that option was turned off. "It shouldn't. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly," Apple said last month. According to iOS 4.3.3, this problem should no longer be an issue.

The issue over iPhone tracking has prompted a class-action lawsuit as well as inquiries from Congress. Apple is scheduled to appear at a hearing on May 10 before the Senate Judiciary Committee to further discuss the issue. Google will also be in attendance, and PCMag will be covering.

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iPhone Users to Receive Location Database Fix Soon

iPhone users will receive a free iOS 4.3.3 software upgrade within the next couple of weeks, which among other things will offer location database fixes.

The BGR reports that Apple will release iOS 4.3.3 within the next couple of weeks. This software upgrade will ensure that the iPhone will no longer back up the location database to iTunes, reduce the size of the location database, as well as make it possible to shut down the location database when Location Services are turned off.

Apple recently issued an official FAQ related to location services, where the company stated that the location database will also be encrypted in the next major release of iOS. The company is expected to unveil iOS 5 in June, but it's still unclear when that software upgrade will reach a public release.

The iPhone 5 is currently rumored to be released in late September or early October, and it's natural to believe that iOS 5 will make its debut around that time. A recent leak also revealed that the MobileMe service will go by the name iCloud in time for the iPhone 5 launch.

Infosync

Google Memo Reveals Importance of Android Location Database

Just how important is location-based data to Google? Just how important is it for the sun to rise each morning? Same deal.

This question comes in the wake of eyes turning toward mobile handsets—specifically, Apple's iPhone and smartphones based on Google's Android OS—for the information they collect about the various wireless access points and cell phone towers the devices connect to (or notice) throughout the course of a given day.

We've already covered Apple's response to the allegations that the company tracks one's location via iPhones: It doesn't, says Apple. The information found on one's iPhone isn't personal movement tracking, rather, a subset of a larger list of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cellular access points that gets downloaded to one's iPhone. This list is used by the iPhone to help it more quickly triangulate its position and connect to available access points, a process that would take much longer if the smartphone relied on a GPS-based lookup of its location each time.

So what about Google?

In Google's case, the concept is the same, but the reasoning for doing so is a bit different. Google needs to be able to pinpoint the location of wireless signals emanating into the airwaves, for it uses this information to better help a smartphone triangulate its position. And, in doing so, this presumably allows a smartphone to know where it is for services like Foursquare or location-based advertising, among other products.

"Information about the location of WiFi networks improves the accuracy of the location-based services, such as Google Maps or driving directions, that Google provides to consumers," said Google last year in a letter to U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman. "Because GPS and cell tower data can be unreliable or inaccurate, in some cases using the location of Wi-Fi access points can enable a smartphone to pinpoint its own location more quickly and accurately."

However, the information Google receives about nearby wireless points from Android smartphones—an opt-in process—has been made even more critical, for the company has chosen to no longer collect this Wi-Fi information using its fleet of Street View cars. Google abandoned the practice late last year after it was revealed that the company unintentionally collected "payload data" from unsecured wireless networks as its Street View cars drove by.

A memo between Google product managers and now-CEO Larry Page, sent last year in the wake of Motorola opting to use a different location data service over Google's, reveals just how critical Android Wi-Fi tracking has become.

"I cannot stress enough how important Google's wifi location database is to our Android and mobile product strategy," wrote Google location service product manager Steve Lee. "We absolutely do care about this (decision by Motorola) because we need wifi data collection in order to maintain and improve our wifi location service."

PCmag

Report: iOS 4.3.3 Fix For iPhone Location 'Bugs' On Its Way

As promised last week, Apple will reportedly fix location-tracking software on the iPhone and other devices in an update to its iOS mobile operating system in the next few weeks.

Apple will release iOS version 4.3.3 "within the next two weeks, possibly sooner," BGR.com reported Monday, citing a company source.

The update for iPhones and iPad tablets will address several location-tracking issues that came to light in April when two researchers publicized the existence of an unencrypted, hidden file on iPhones that stores location data taken from nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots. The cached data is also timestamped, backed up on iTunes and although associated with Apple's Location Services, cannot be shut off by users when they opted out of the service.

The iOS 4.3.3 update promises to end the backing up of the location database when devices are synched to iTunes, reduce the size of the cached data file and delete the database when users turn off Location Services, according to BGR.com.

There will also be some improvements in 4.3.3 that aren't related to location tracking, including a boost to battery life and fixes for bugs in the iPod Touch.

The last piece of Apple's PR nightmare over what it calls location-tracking "bugs"—the lack of encryption for the location data cache—won't be addressed until the "next major iOS software release," the company stated last week.

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