iOS 7 Beta Update #4 Released After Delay

Nearly two weeks after suffering a severe security setback to their Developer Portal, Apple has released a new update of iOS 7 to the developer community. The hacking incident forced the company to take the the iOS Developer Center offline for 8 days while software engineers and the security team worked furiously to patch vulnerabilities and rebuild much of the system.

The main updates to the iOS 7 beta 4 release are:

• User interface changes including tweaks to the answer and call buttons
• Simplified phone lock screen
• iCloud Keychain integration to save login information and credit card numbers for mobile commerce purchases
• Incremental improvements to Safari, Calendar, Siri and Music apps

Apple’s recent iOS update comes three weeks after beta 3 was released. Previous to the hacking incident, the company was rolling out updates on a consistent basis every two weeks.

As an iPhone app developer it is a huge relief to have the Dev Center back up and running. Development work in the iOS mobile app ecosystem slowed down considerably as devs were unable to access many of the core tools needed to build and deploy iPad and iPhone applications. The portal being yanked offline for 8 days presented a serious inconvenience for each iPhone app developer in Las Vegas and across the globe.