iOS 4.3.3 Update: Take a Look at the Newest Download, Features, and Supported Devices

iOS 4.3.3 Update: Take a Look at the Newest Download, Features, and Supported Devices
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iPod Touch Update

The iOS 4.3 download was a major update for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, and likely the last major one before we see the new versions of devices. Since then, there have been a number of updates that have come along, each one bringing in slightly new advances, fixes, and changes. Though it seems as though the iOS 4.3.2 update was only a few weeks earlier, the iOS 4.3.3 update is now available for your iPod Touch and iPhone. Here is a look at how to initiate the iOS 4.3.3 download, how to install it, what devices it will work for, and what features you can expect.

iOS 4.3.3 Download

When you plug your iPod Touch into your computer, it will first initiate iTunes, and if the iOS 4.3.3 update has not been installed on the device it will ask you if you would like to install the update. If this does not happen or if you closed

Screenshot by Shane Burley

this option, you can initiate the download manually as well. Go into iTunes and select the iPod Touch from under the Devices heading. In the Info tab you can select to check for updates and then initiate the iOS 4.3.3 download when it becomes available.

Once you begin this iPod Touch update you will be given an outline of what devices it works for and what iOS 4.3.3 features are available, and then you will be asked to agree to the Software License Agreement. The iPod Touch update will then begin downloading within iTunes, and will take a few minutes depending on your Internet connection and computing power. After this, it will process the update file and extract the software, finishing this process by then backing up the iPod Touch. The device will be verified and restarted, where you will see a progress bar on your touchscreen showing you the progress of the iOS 4.3.3 installation.

After this has been completed, the iPod Touch will be restarted, and you will receive a message through iTunes indicating this.

iOS 4.3.3 Features and Supported Devices

The iOS 4.3.3 update, as well as several of the most recent iOS updates, is only available for the newest round of iDevices available. The includes the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3Gs, the iPod Touch 3 and 4, and the iPad 1 and 2. The first two incarnations of the iPod Touch, and the iPhone 3G and older are not included in this update.

The iOS 4.3.3 features are not overwhelming, but they are more numerous than what was available in the iOS 4.3.2 download. First, the iOS crowd-sourced location database cache has shrunk, which is not useful to users in a practical sense except that less iPod computing power is being used. The cache is also not going to be backed up on iTunes and it will be deleted when the location services are not in use. What this essentially means is that this is a software change in cache management, which is important for the general functionality of your iPod Touch though it is not going to give you new features to work with.

The main reason that many people assume that these iOS 4.3.3 features were chosen is because of the general controversy around how Apple tracks the location of iPhones. This was shown at the Where 2.0 conference and that data was being stored by Apple with the release of the iOS 4. In general, the new features that delete the location cache are going to give more autonomy and privacy to iPod Touch and iPhone users and will reduce the general waste that happens in the iPod Touch’s processing. This is something that has been more focused around the iPhone and iPad, but iPod Touch users have the same issues at play and the iOS 4.3.3 update is going to be one that creates a more efficient cache system on their device.

References

Screenshots by Shane Burley

Cheng, Jacqui, iOS 4.3.3 is out with location tracking fixes for iPhone, iPad: https://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/05/ios-433-is-out-with-location-tracking-fixes-for-iphone-ipad.ars