Apple releases iOS 7.01, fixing iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor bug

Well, that didn’t take long.

The new iPhone 5S, incorporating Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor, has only just been released – and already the company has issued a patch.

As Ars Technica reports, Apple has released an update to its funky and newly flat iOS smartphone operating system, bringing the version number up to 7.01.

Unfortunately, Apple is being somewhat coy with the nature of the update, saying only that it includes “bug fixes and improvements”.

But users who have tried it out on their shiny new iPhone 5Ss (is it iPhone 5S’s, iPhone 5Ss or iPhone 5Ses.. someone please tell me) it also fixes a bug in the fingerprint scanner that prevented users from using the fingerprint sensor as a way of authenticating their iTunes purchases – instead forcing them to enter their passcode.

Of course, it’s quite likely that the update also fixes some other bugs that have been discovered in iOS 7.0 since it rolled out to the masses. If anyone has bravely updated their iDevice to iOS 7.01 it would be interesting to hear if it fixes the iOS 7 lock screen bypass flaw.

Don’t be surprised if more iOS 7 bug fixes are on their way…

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.