Apple Warns About Third-Party Keyboard Issue in iOS 13 and iPadOS, Fix Coming Soon

Tuesday September 24, 2019 1:10 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released a support document warning users about a security issue affecting third-party keyboards in iOS 13 and iPadOS.

Third-party keyboards can be set to run standalone without access to external services or can request "full access" to provide additional features. A bug in ‌iOS 13‌ and ‌iPadOS‌ can cause keyboard extensions to be granted full access even if full access hasn't been approved.


According to Apple, the bug does not affect Apple's built-in keyboards, nor does it impact keyboards that don't make use of full access.
Third-party keyboard extensions in iOS can be designed to run entirely standalone, without access to external services, or they can request "full access" to provide additional features through network access. Apple has discovered a bug in ‌iOS 13‌ and ‌iPadOS‌ that can result in keyboard extensions being granted full access even if you haven't approved this access.
Apple says that the bug will be fixed in an upcoming software update. Third-party keyboards that you might have installed can be viewed by opening up the Settings app, and then going to General > Keyboard > Keyboards.

iOS users concerned about their data and the access granted to third-party keyboards can mitigate the issue by temporarily uninstalling third-party keyboards.

Related Roundups: iOS 13, iPadOS
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Rychiar
11 weeks ago
People still have third party keyboards? I forgot that was even a thing years ago.
Rating: 12 Votes
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MagMan1979
11 weeks ago
I always thought add-on keyboards were a bad idea on Android ripe for abuse (proven right over the years), and I have believed this to be an equally bad idea on iOS since the day it was introduced, and once again proven right.

The built-in iOS keyboard is second-to-none for accuracy and ease of use, why some one would want to infect their iOS device with a potentially keystroke-harvesting POS is beyond me.
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Apple needs to be split up. They can’t get anything done remotely on time. Half of new iPhone’s features missing. iOS delayed (as is MacOS for years). Then .1 release. Oh sorry we forgot to add security patch. And and and

Too big to manage.

When small and nimble Apple was world class. now it’s just another IBM

Thank god people like you don’t run Apple.
Rating: 11 Votes
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JohnApples
11 weeks ago


This has got to be the most bug riddles release I've seen in a while. This version was definitely rushed, and the 13.1 release was equally as rushed for whatever reason. I've seen the Trump Tariffs given as a reason, but either way I'm sure Apple programmers will be happier when 13.1.x or 13.2 is out.

This is fairly buggy. But it’s nothing compared to iOS 11 *shudders*
Rating: 10 Votes
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SoundJudgment
11 weeks ago
Now that Apple has Swipe in their keyboard... Swift-Key can go the way of the Dodo.
Rating: 10 Votes
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deuxani
11 weeks ago


People still have third party keyboards? I forgot that was even a thing years ago.


I always thought add-on keyboards were a bad idea on Android ripe for abuse (proven right over the years), and I have believed this to be an equally bad idea on iOS since the day it was introduced, and once again proven right.

The built-in iOS keyboard is second-to-none for accuracy and ease of use, why some one would want to infect their iOS device with a potentially keystroke-harvesting POS is beyond me.


Till iOS 13 I was still using SwiftKey and loved it. You guys might be native English speakers, but for many languages in the rest of the world the default Apple keyboard was/is almost useless. Till iOS 13 my language didn’t even have word prediction, let alone being able to talk in two languages without changing the keyboard (which is very common in my country). SwiftKey had all of that for years, so obviously many people use third party keyboards if Apple is too lazy or just doesn’t prioritise a simple keyboard update for other than the big languages.

But only now I can finally switch. Even though many other people probably still can’t or won’t.
Rating: 9 Votes
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BootsWalking
11 weeks ago
It's bad enough third-party keyboards get to see everything you type but giving those apps access to network services (intentionally or not) lets them share that data with others. Very smart of Apple to compartmentalize the two and require users to grant network access - unfortunate about the bug which breaks the logic but they found it quick enough. If anything it'll raise awareness of the security issue when you do explicitly grant network access to these keyboard apps.
Rating: 8 Votes
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dennislaska
11 weeks ago
Oh come on Apple. These bugs out of the gate are getting ridiculous.
Rating: 8 Votes
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Glockworkorange
11 weeks ago
I mean, they've been doing 3rd pty keyboards since iOS 8 and still can't get it right. How hard is it??
Rating: 7 Votes
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SSD-GUY
11 weeks ago
Looks like someone forgot to regression test. Proper DevOps.
Rating: 6 Votes
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CarlJ
11 weeks ago

Protecting you by spamming about bluetooth access.

It's not spamming, you're just suddenly finding out how many apps were quietly getting BlueTooth access that they don't need, in order to have a look at what's around you. You should be saying no to most of them. It'll only happen once per app.
Rating: 6 Votes

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