Apple iOS 4.3 Preview

This version of the Apple iOS builds upon the previous iOS 4.1 and iOS 4.2 releases. Apple iOS 4.3 is currently out with beta testers (iPhone 4 only though) and will be a free download on March 11th for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, 3rd and 4th gen iPod Touch, and all iPads.

On the 2nd March 2011 Apple released iTunes 10.2 which adds sync support for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch units running iOS 4.3 and also updates the Home Sharing support on Macs and PCs. Homesharing over Wi-Fi is now added. This was quickly followed by another 10.2.1 release, to fix some bugs.

This version of iOS was released on 9th March 2010. The next release is a major one, iOS 5.

iPad Features

iPad users get some extra multi-touch gestures, primarily aimed at 'improving' navigating on the tablet. Leaks so far suggest swiping up to reveal the multi-tasking bar then swiping sideways to switch between apps, along with swipe with four or five fingers to access the home screen. There are some videos here.

There were also rumours of a new FaceTime icon to better suit the iPad. The iPad 2 has a forward facing camera to support this service.

Personal Wi-Fi Hotspot

iOS 4.3 introduces the Personal Hotspot Wi-Fi sharing. Here in the UK, this generally requires a you to subscribe with your network operator and activation is acheived through their web site. In the UK, O2 want to charge and additional £7.50 for the tethering bolt-on. This is pretty outrageous given that O2 customers have already paid for their connection and bandwidth. It would be fair if customers paid for additional bandwidth used only.

Location Service Switch

There is now a new master switch for location services.

Find My Friends

Apple code in the beta release contained string variables in the Mobile Me settings panel show a new entry for a 'Find My Friends' service. This is rumoured to be a location-based service tied into social media, to compete with Google Latitude. This is not destined for mainstream success in our view though. Not that many people use Google Latitude. Even less people have iPhones and the desire to use a location tracking service like Latitude.

Either way, it is irrelevant as it doesn't appear to be in the released version.

AirPlay

AirPlay builds upon the features delivered in iOS 4.2 and becomes more widely accessible in iOS 4.3. You can now push content from the Photos app on iPods and iPhones. Developers can now support the streaming and control features it provides in their own apps. Games and even websites can now be pushed to devices like Apple TV. AirPlay is still limited in the audio and video formats that can be used though.

You can't underestimate how useful and powerful AirPlay is, especially when you have an Apple TV and use iTunes. There are some very useful apps that allow to pull audio and video from the Internet and will soon be able to push them to your main TV. Some of these apps also form part of a connected home solution and allow you to stream content from network attached storage devices. Apple TV will be getting a matching iOS update to enable better AirPlay support.

To get the most from AirPlay, you need to link the devices and services using a common Home Sharing account (your iTunes account). iPod, iPhones and iPads can then browse you iTunes library residing on your computer and play the content. AirPlay then allows it to be pushed to Apple TV.

Safari

The main improvement in 4.3 is a major performance boost for the Safari browser, Apple having migrated the Nitro JavaScript engine from Mac OS X to iOS.