iOS 14.1 is rolling out to eligible iPhones right now, but it's not a huge improvement

iOS 14
iOS 14 (Image credit: TechRadar)

The first update to iOS 14 is rolling out, so if you've got an eligible Apple smartphone (an iPhone 6S or later) you'll soon be able to download it onto your handset (or maybe you already can, depending on where you live).

iOS 14.1, as it's called, isn't a massive update - instead, it's mainly a load of bug fixes that polish some of the original iOS 14 features.

Some of the bugs fixed include issues with Apple Watch family setup not working, zeros not appearing on the calculator, items on the home screen looking shrunk, and videos playing at a lower resolution than they should, among others.

One problem that doesn't seem fixed is an issue with battery life, as many users found iOS 14 slashed battery life, especially when using a paired Apple Watch. Hopefuly that'll be fixed in an upcoming patch.

There is one tiny improvement - now people using an iPhone 8 Plus and later can view and edit HDR videos when using the Photos app.

The new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have iOS 14.1 pre-installed - it's likely when the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max come out they'll have it too, though maybe iOS 14.2 will be out by then.

iPadOS 14.1 is here too

An update to iPadOS 14 is here too - iPadOS 14.1 brings the same fixes and patches that iOS 14.1 does.

It's likely the HDR video improvement will be more useful for iPad users, since tablets are better suited to video editing and playback thanks to their bigger screens.

Again, battery life has been an issue with iPadOS 14, but we'd hope that gets fixed very soon. When later versions of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 come out, we'll let you know.

Tom Bedford
Contributor

Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.


He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist. He also currently works in film as a screenwriter, director and producer.