Is it safe to update to iOS 17.4?

Well, as an AppleSeed beta tester, I’ve been using it for about 6 weeks, and it’s been stable for me; some early bugs were fixed by the RC version. But be sure to read the update documentation, because some features now work differently. IMPORTANT: 2 critical security vulnerabilities were fixed in the released version of 17.4, so it is really necessary to update to it.

mrbobbo wrote:

Wait

Great advice! With 40 security and privacy vulnerabilities fixed in iOS 17.4→About the security content of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 - Apple Support your advice puts users at substantial risk, but what the hey?

It is usually NOT safe to NOT do an update when one appears. Updates fix security vulnerabilities in addition to adding features. 17.4 resolves 2 critical vulnerabilities.

Wendeloni wrote:

Can you explain why? (This has not been the advice that I’ve received up until now.)

As Lawrence Finch explained last week, security updates.

I would recommend that the change-averse not do a major update (e.g. iOS 17 to iOS 18) for a while. They should read the forums and see what the changes are. But incremental updates are another matter. Do them.

It's rarely not safe to do an incremental update. There seem to be even fewer posts than usual about this update.

Of course, you'll always get the posts that say that the update destroyed battery life, caused the phone to crash or gave their dog mange. In fact, all of those things were caused by something else.

Amateurhour wrote:

17.4 removed my FaceTime app, disabling my iPhone to iPad call syncing facility. Had to reinstall and go through the faff of setting up both again. Reluctant to install 17.4.1 till I hear it’s bug free

Then you’ll never update again. There has never, EVER been any software by any company or developer that is bug free. Never has been, never will be. It’s the nature of software development. With every update comes a small number of users who have problems, usually not because of the update but the unstable condition of their installation prior to applying the update.

For example, the 14.4.1 update specifically dealt with USB Hub problems but a couple of users reported that after the update NONE of the their USB devices worked.

iOS 17.4 has been safe to update for me. More information here 👉 About iOS 17 Updates - Apple Support

and you can then make your own decision.

Axel F.

Wendeloni wrote:

Should we just wait for 17.4.1?

Absolutely not! Always update to the latest released version.

TalkingCatPhotos wrote:

I usually have performance issues after x.x update of iOS though they seem to pass after a few days. It seems likely likely these are related to the housekeeping that the phone does after an update.

Yes, that's what's going on.

In the past I used to have batter life negatively impacted by an update but I haven't seen that unwanted feature for at least 18 months so I guess Apple have improved updates in that regard.

It's because of the aforementioned housekeeping. It also passes shortly. And, many people don't experience it at all.

I usually have performance issues after x.x update of iOS though they seem to pass after a few days. It seems likely likely these are related to the housekeeping that the phone does after an update. In the past I used to have batter life negatively impacted by an update but I haven't seen that unwanted feature for at least 18 months so I guess Apple have improved updates in that regard.

17.4 removed my FaceTime app, disabling my iPhone to iPad call syncing facility. Had to reinstall and go through the faff of setting up both again. Reluctant to install 17.4.1 till I hear it’s bug free

Amateurhour wrote:

17.4 removed my FaceTime app, disabling my iPhone to iPad call syncing facility. Had to reinstall and go through the faff of setting up both again. Reluctant to install 17.4.1 till I hear it’s bug free

Then you will never update again. There has never been any version of any complex software that is “bug free”. Something as complex as iOS has, at any given point in time, including at release time, thousands of bugs.

And your problem with 17.4 I’m sure could have been fixed without doing anything that drastic.

I went ahead with the update and my message app started freezing up. That eventually corrected itself, but then I noticed that many of my “notes” in Contacts have disappeared. I downloaded the next update (.1), to no avail. Then I reinstalled a previous version of my contacts from the cloud… but they didn’t go far enough back. VERY disappointing. I really count on those notes. 🤨

Wait

The question I always want an answer to is are there are serious issues with 17.4 that might make me want to wait until 17.4.1? I can't find that question addressed on the web. I run an iPhone SE (2020). I always have performance issues after an iOS update and usually wait a week or more before updating to see if anything major crops up.

Does 17.4 look like a stable release?