Apple releases iOS 6.1; new features, kills bugs

On Monday afternoon, after 5 beta versions. iOS 6.1 was released by Apple. The update brings more carrier support for 4G LTE and includes a new feature that allows Siri to buy your movie tickets using Fandango. The update also returns the ability of iTunes Match subscribers to download individual songs from iCloud. This function had been removed in a previous update. 36 new carriers have 4G LTE support for the Apple iPhone and 23 now have it for the Apple iPad following the update. These carriers are in countries and regions like Italy, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, the Philippines and the Middle East.

Apple iOS 6.1 also makes some minor changes in how boarding passes are stored in Passbook and some adjustments are made to Safari. As we told you previously, the music controls on the lock screen are set up differently to make them easier to use. Apple's mapping software will also be the subject of some much needed improvements as well.

One bug that was repaired fixed a problem that was causing the JavaScript setting on the iPhone to change without any input from the phone's owner. This problem came about after Apple added "Smart App Banners" to iOS 6. If a specific app is not found on an iPhone, a banner directs the user to install the app. While helpful to app developers, it was not helpful to Apple iPhone users who saw their JavaScript settings change on their own. The update also allows you to reset your Advertising Identifier which controls how advertisers track your movements on the web using Safari. You can find the feature by going to Settings > General > About > Advertising.

The update to iOS was the first one since iOS 6.0.2 in the middle of last month. That update removed the static lines from the virtual QWERTY, killed a bug that prevented the Apple iPhone from receiving OTA updates, and one that deleted meetings from calendars. Today's update was pushed out OTA and also via iTunes. To see if you have received it, go to Settings > General > Software Update. The update is about 107MB in size although Apple suggests that you have 1GB of storage available, and takes 30 minutes to install using Wi-Fi. Once you install it, you will have to re-boot and re-enter some passwords for features like iCloud, iMessage, and FaceTime.