Apple has released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 for iPhone and iPad with a feature that Apple isn’t overly keen to shout about… so doesn’t appear in the release notes.
While informing users about some unspecified bug fixes and security updates, Apple is keeping schtum about a feature that makes it easier to ditch your iPhone or iPad altogether. The new data transfer tool arriving in this update comes at the behest of the European Union, which has a real bee in its beret about interoperability.
The new feature in iOS 26.3 (and its iPad extension) will enable users to begin transferring photos, messages, notes, cross platform apps, passwords, contacts, and more during the set-up process of a new phone. Back in December, the European commission said the planned feature was as a “direct result” of the Digital Markets Act.
The EC wrote in a statement last year: “This OS portability solution will allow users to easily transfer data from iPhone to Android and vice versa when they set up a new device. It will support many types of data, including: contacts, calendar events, messages, photos, documents, Wi-Fi networks, passwords, and even data from third-party apps. It will also work wirelessly. These are major upgrades compared to the currently limited data transfer solutions.”
iOS 26.3 also features a new setting to limit how mobile phone operators can track the location of their users. However, there isn’t widespread adoption just yet. BT, for example, is the only UK network on board.
This is one of the more minor updates for an iOS .x release. However, there’s plenty still in the works with the Google Gemini-powered Siri rebirth expected in iOS 24.4 in the spring.
