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iOS 7.1 Update Due 'Any Day Now' With Support for SXSW App

Tuesday March 4, 2014 10:59 am PST by Juli Clover

Apple's much-anticipated iOS 7.1 update could come any day now, according to new information from John Gruber of Daring Fireball. Gruber has heard that Apple has plans to release an iOS 7.1-reliant app that will stream the iTunes Festival performances at SXSW, and as SXSW will begin on March 11, iOS 7.1 will need to be released to the public ahead of that date.

Apple's first iTunes Festival in the U.S. starts a week from today at SXSW in Austin. Apple is going to stream the performances to iOS devices using an app, but I've heard from a little birdie that the app requires iOS 7.1 (which explains why the app isn't out yet). That means iOS 7.1 should ship any day now.

iOS 7.1 has been in testing since mid-November, and has seen five different developer betas thus far with the last beta coming on February 4. The operating system update includes a number of visual tweaks, including revamped shift and caps locks keys on the keyboard, refined icons for the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages apps, and a new look for several aspects of the Phone dialer.

Details on features in past beta releases can be found in our previous beta posts: Beta 1, Beta 2, Beta 3, Beta 4 and Beta 5.

A mid-March release date for iOS 7.1 is in line with several previous reports that have pointed to a March launch for the operating system. Apple has yet to seed a Golden Master build to developers, however.

Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, and London Grammar kick off the SXSW iTunes Festival with a performance on March 11 that begins at 7:30 PM CST.

Top Rated Comments

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jared52

62 months ago

4 months is a long time to beta test icon changes.

Rating: 40 Votes

spaceballl

62 months ago

I am so sick of the crashing / re-springing! It can't come soon enough! And if the animations are faster too, I'll be a happy camper...

Rating: 33 Votes

SMIDG3T

62 months ago

4 months is a long time to beta test icon changes.

Brilliant, well done. I'd like to see you test a major update before it's released to millions of customers.

Rating: 25 Votes

locoboi187

62 months ago

I nEeD jAiLbReAk ThO

Rating: 22 Votes

bryanescuela

62 months ago

Re:

Can't wait for the "the battery sucks" comments

Rating: 16 Votes

kwokaaron

62 months ago

Image (http://rsa.realsocialsites.com/files/2014/02/boring.jpg)

i dont like the way update ,,, too many update now ... why don't apple just
stop update and testing ios 8 ready for september ,,,

this 7.1 7.2 7.3 don't change anything much

:eek: what?... :confused:

Rating: 12 Votes