Apple Releases iOS 12.3, macOS 10.14.5, watchOS 5.2.1, and tvOS 12.3 and Debuts New Apple TV App

Originally published at: https://tidbits.com/2019/05/13/apple-releases-ios-12-3-macos-10-14-5-watchos-5-2-1-and-tvos-12-3-and-debuts-new-apple-tv-app/

Apple has released its new Apple TV app with the iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3 updates, while macOS 10.14.5 updates AirPlay 2 and fixes bugs and watchOS 5.2.1 brings ECG and heart rate monitoring to additional countries.

After installation of 12-3 on my iPhone SE I had ā€œNo serviceā€ from Telstra in Australia, It came back after I shutdown and restarted the phone:
And I cannot see a full-stop or comma on my iPad Air2 keyboard but they are hidden on the ? and ! Keys.

Good advice above to wait and see if early updaters encounter problems :slight_smile:

Josh,

Do you know if thereā€™s a way to transfer an AppleTV HBONow app subscription to the new HBO direct subscription option in the new update? Also, I donā€™t see an option to download episodes from the new HBO subscription model directly to an iPad even though thatā€™s supposedly the biggest advantage to the new service. Do you have any idea?

Thanks,
Les

After updating an iPhone XS and XS Max, tried to sync/transfer photos to Mac OS X 10.13 Photos app. Previous photo download history has been lost.

The only options were to download / sync / transfer ALL photos, or select manually and then do the transfer.

Obviously, Iā€™d be stuck with a few thousand duplicate image files that iā€™d Have to dig through, or find an application to do it for me.

Thatā€™s a pretty annoying bug. Maybe thereā€™s another workaroundā€¦ ?

Apple TV is not the only place you can legally download Game of Thrones, in Europe NowTV, part of Sky, has the rights to this and allows ad free download at the same time as the US.

Thanks, Iā€™ve tweaked the language in the article.

After installation of 12-3 on my iPhone SE I had ā€œNo serviceā€ from Telstra in Australia, it came back after I
shutdown and restarted the phone

Yeah this behaviour is often had on iPhones. For O2 UK, I just wait 30 secs and signal returns, with no restart. Also you may get the new voicemail messages notification happen (but itā€™s only telling you itā€™s re-enabled again following the software restart).

But as ever, YMMV depending on your network/carrier.

Les, I donā€™t think you can transfer a subscription to channels, but Iā€™m going to ask Apple.

Duplicates problems like this are a pain. As you donā€™t know if you should or shouldnā€™t delete the duplicates straight away.

If you do, then will everything be fine again, or will you open the app a few days later only to find itā€™s deleted the originals as well ā€“ as the ā€˜syncing systemā€™ thought thatā€™s what you were actually doing!

If you donā€™t, then how long do you wait for the ā€˜syncing systemā€™ to fix the issue, before taking steps above yourself to do so?

I guess having a backup before updating any software, and then doing the duplicate removal, gives you the best option of later recovery. Or you could just recover from the backup straight away, perhaps, and let that re-sync across devices.

Recovery from backups are not always as easy a process to deal with, as when you donā€™t know which of your thousands of files may or may not be missing somewhere in your directories without manually checking (and manually checking is really impossible, as you cannot possibly recall every file you have on your machine!), how can you be sure you havenā€™t lost something somewhere you didnā€™t notice until years later. :confused:

Where did you find the ā€œiTunes Device Support Updateā€? I donā€™t see it in System Preferences > Software Update on a Mac that was updated with the combo macOS 10.14.5 updater.

It was offered by Software Update on a Mac running 10.14.4. I could imagine it being bundled into the combo update for 10.14.5ā€”I was surprised it was separate.

In an update that appeared alongside macOS 10.14.5, Apple has released iTunes Device Support Update, a 108.3 MB download that supposedly ā€œensures proper updating and restoring for iOS devices using iTunes for Mac.ā€ Itā€™s probably worth installing if you use iTunes to manage your iOS devices.

I wonder if this might help with the iPhone syncing bug ā€œcould not be synced because the sync session failed to startā€ that several SE and 6 owners ran into lately.

Thanks for the clarification.

After monitoring forums like Macrumours I decided to download and start installing the macOS Combo Update ( https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2000 ).
My Macbook updated with no problems (so far). My reserve iMac froze during the restart. I forced shutdown (holding power button for several seconds), powered up and it has resumed the update. I am waiting to see if that is successful before updating my main iMac.

Update: All seems fine with the iMac :slight_smile:

It has always been separate because it is necessitated by an iOS update, which has historically occurred on a different date from macOS updates. This time they happened on the same day. What I found unusual was that it required a restart, which previously hasnā€™t been seen.

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My El Capitan machine told me today I have updates available. I figured it was some app or another, but it turns out itā€™s iTunes Device Support Update. I was pretty surprised at Apple doing an update for El Capitan.

Itā€™s actually an iTunes update, required because of the iOS 12.3 update and iTunes is still being updated for Yosemite and above.

So does that mean Iā€™ll get a new iTunes? Iā€™m still using the special version that allows managing apps and donā€™t really want to give it up. If so, and I decide not to install the iTunes Device Support Update, will my current iTunes not see any iDevice I update to 12.3?

I doubt that Apple will continue to support 12.6 beyond itā€™s current version. I have no idea whether El Capitan will get updates beyond 12.8.2

I suspect it will always be able to see those devices, but not be able to fully interface with any changed or added features.

With past Mobile Device updates, they were silently downloaded and installed in the background. This is the first I recall being offered as a Software Update choice and also requiring a restart. I suspect you got one back in March on the day iOS 12.2 was released. Check System Information->Software->Installations for ā€œMobile Deviceā€ to see.

I updated using the Combo Update for 10.14.5. However, I couldnā€™t find a separate iTunes Device Support Update. I searched for Apple Downloads and couldnā€™t find it on the Apple Support site and the article doesnā€™t have a link for a separate download. Unfortunately, I didnā€™t check my iTunes version before applying the Combo update, but my iTunes version is 12.9.5.5. What version is the latest for iTunes? Is there a link for a separate download for this iTunes Device Support Update?