Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 13.3 With Communication Limits for Screen Time, Safari Physical Security Key Support, and More

Apple today released iOS 13.3, the third major update to the iOS and iPadOS 13 operating systems. The new software updates come two weeks after the release of iOS/iPadOS 13.2.3 and more than a month after the launch of iOS 13.2, which brought new emoji.

The iOS and ‌‌iPadOS‌‌ 13.3 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released an iOS 12.4.4 update for older devices that aren't able to run iOS 13.

ryanscoolios13thumbnail
iOS 13.3 continues to add features that were originally promised for iOS 13 but were ultimately eliminated during the beta testing process, with the update introducing Communication Limits for Screen Time.

Communication Limits let parents control who their children are able to contact, with the feature covering FaceTime, Phone, Messages, and iCloud Contacts.

Calls to emergency numbers are always allowed and when placed, will turn off communication limits for 24 hours to make sure children are safe and not restricted from communicating with people in the event of an emergency.

The iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3 updates bring support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in Safari. That means physical security keys like the Lightning-equipped YubiKey can be used for more secure two-factor authentication in place of a software-based two-factor authentication option.

In the Keyboards section of the Settings app (under General), there's a new toggle that prevents Animoji and Memoji stickers from being displayed as an option on the Emoji Keyboard for those who prefer not to see Animoji and Memoji sticker options.

When editing a video, there's a new feature that lets you save the edited version as a new clip rather than replacing the original, and Apple has also tweaked the Apple Watch app icon, changing the color of the Digital Crown from black to gray.

Apple's full release notes for the iOS 13.3 update are below:

iOS 13.3 includes improvements, bug fixes and additional parental controls for Screen Time.

Screen Time
- New parental controls provide more communication limits over who their children can call, FaceTime, or Message
- Contact list for children lets parents manage the contacts that appear on their children’s devices

Apple News
- New layout for Apple News+ stories from The Wall Street Journal and other leading newspapers
- Easily like or dislike stories with a tap

Stocks
- Stories from Apple News are now available in Canada in English and French
- Continue reading with links to related stories or more stories from the same publication
- “Breaking” and “Developing” labels for Top Stories

This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements. This update:
- Enables the creation of a new video clip when trimming a video in Photos
- Adds support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in Safari
- Fixes issues in Mail that may prevent downloading new messages
- Addresses an issue that prevented deleting messages in Gmail accounts
- Resolves issues that could cause incorrect characters to display in messages and duplication of sent messages in Exchange accounts
- Fixes an issue where the cursor may not move after long pressing on the space bar
- Addresses an issue that may cause screenshots to appear blurry when sent via Messages
- Resolves an issue where cropping or using Markup on screenshots may not save to Photos
- Fixes an issue where Voice Memos recordings may not be able to be shared with other audio apps
- Addresses an issue where the missed call badge on the Phone app may not clear
- Resolves an issue where the Cellular Data setting may incorrectly show as off
- Fixes an issue that prevented turning off Dark Mode when Smart Invert was enabled
- Addresses an issue where some wireless chargers may charge more slowly than expected

For more on the new features that Apple added to iOS with the launch of iOS 13, make sure to check out our iOS 13 roundup.

Related Forum: iOS 13

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
76 months ago

Ive never had a device brick ever.
iOS devices can't really be bricked because you can always DFU them.

Even with over the air updates, bricking is practically impossible now with APFS.

The way the updates work is:

- The OS partition is cloned. (copy on write, this doesn't take extra space)
- The update is applied to the cloned partition. (Preparing update)
- The partition is verified; every file in it gets an md5 check to make sure the update has no errors. This is why that damn progress bar takes so long.
- The system is rebooted from the clone.
- Only after the system comes up correctly and various checks pass (the second progress bar) is the previous OS partition deleted.

This sequence of events makes it practically impossible for an over the air update to brick the device anymore. If something interrupts the update, the device will just boot from the unmodified original OS version and you can try again.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Paradoxally Avatar
76 months ago
Let's see how buggy this version is...
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Elitegate Avatar
76 months ago

Also 12.4.4 for older devices
I love Apple for this. One big reason to favor Apple / iOS devices over Android.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NMBob Avatar
76 months ago
I'm getting kinda tired of hitting the 'download & install' button and having to go in again and tell it to install. Why don't they split up the two functions into 'download' and 'download & install' or just do what they asked to do? How many people have they hired from Microsoft?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stromos Avatar
76 months ago

Very, real lag on everything. Watching a video in News and press up/down on the volume keys has 2-3 second lag

OK update, originally it was but had to close the apps and now it seems to be OK. Not sure what just happened but after the restart the phone was very unresponsive for 5 minutes
Always need to give it 24 hours or so to bake. iOS likes to reindex the filesystem after an update depending on how much you have installed....
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otternonsense Avatar
76 months ago
OK, it's there! Literally the only reason I wanted to install this update was to remove the asinine ani/Memoji from the keyboard. Was a boneheaded idea to shoehorn them into the emoji keyboard to begin with.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)