iOS 7.03: Apple throws the kitchen sink into a iOS update — including iCloud Keychain

Apple updated iOS 7 today from 7.02 to 7.03, but the number of changes is vastly more than you would typically expect from a point update, with new features for security, the lock screen, search, iMessage, and much more.

Typically, a .01 increment in a mobile operating system is just for bugfixes.

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iOS 7 is already one of the largest and fastest operating system upgrades in history, Apple boasted today, with two-thirds of compatible devices already running the new system. It’s actually been a slower upgrade cycle than iOS 6, but at significantly larger scale.

Perhaps the most significant new update for iPhone is iCloud Keychain support.

iCloud Keychain syncs with Keychain on your Mavericks-running OS X computer, and it stores all your account names, passwords, and credit card numbers so that you don’t have to either use one name and password for all online services (dangerous) or forget them continuously (likely) or write them down somewhere (also dangerous). Along with iCloud Keychain, iOS 7.03 also comes with a new password generator tool so Safari can suggest “unique, hard-to-guess passwords” for all your online accounts.

That’s a major jump, but it’s also tough on all the password apps like 1Password.

iOS 7.03 also updates the lock screen so it doesn’t show “slide to unlock” when you’re using TouchID, a nice touch for those with iPhone 5S’s, and adds web and Wikipedia search back into your phone’s Spotlight search.

There are some bugfixes as well: iMessage (which has been notoriously unstable), system stability with iWork apps (which have caused some “blue screen of death” situations for iPhone owners), an accelerometer calibration issue — could Sensorgate be over — and multiple other issues with Siri, VoiceOver, and security while updating.

Apple is pretty happy with its operating system update cycles — especially CEO Tim Cook, who couldn’t resist getting a dig in at “the other guys” with green robots.

“It blows away the other guys,” Cook said, referencing Google.

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The update weighs in at 92.8 MB and is available immediately.