iOS 4.3 To Be Released Mid-December: Brings App Subscriptions
by Joe White
November 23, 2010
According to a recent post by MacStories, Apple is planning on releasing iOS 4.3 in mid-December.
The next installation of the famous iOS mobile operating system will reportedly introduce app subscriptions. And, the first app which will take advantage of this, will be the Apple and News Corp., created tablet-only newspaper, the Daily, which we told you about recently.
"Application subscriptions" are a means by which newspaper-style apps may offer customers a subscription. As the name suggests, a copy of the Daily will be released seven days a week. Through app subscriptions, users will be able to subscribe to the digital newspaper without having to re-purchase the app each and every day.
It seems likely that the launch of the Daily will require a press event. John Gruber, of Daring Fireball, yesterday noted:
[This] initiative is going to launch with a press event, with Murdoch (and perhaps other newspaper and magazine executives) joining Steve Jobs on stage ... The date I’ve heard is December 9, but that’s a Thursday, which would be somewhat unusual for an Apple press event. My guess is that they’re telling people December 9 but it might slip back to Tuesday or Wednesday the week after.Furthermore, MacStories notes that they have heard from a "reliable source" that Apple is "planning for an iOS 4.3 release on December 13th, which is a Monday." The speculated release of iOS 4.3 will therefore follow the Daily's announcement, which Gruber states will be on December 9th. While the Daily will be the first application to take advantage of Apple's upcoming "app subscriptions" feature, it has been noted (by MacStories) that other apps will have the option of following suit. Besides this feature, it is also speculated that iOS 4.3 will address any AirPlay issues. Obviously, the usual bug fixes will also be present within the software update, though it seems the emphasis of iOS 4.3 is going to be on the new "app subscriptions" feature. We'll be updating this post as more news becomes available, so keep checking back! [Image credit: Consomac]
