{"id":627286,"date":"2026-04-24T06:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627286\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T06:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:12:10","slug":"signal-praises-apple-over-security-fix-in-new-iphone-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627286\/","title":{"rendered":"Signal praises Apple over security fix in new iPhone update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Encrypted communication app Signal has praised Apple for releasing a new iPhone security update it says will prevent notifications from being “inadvertently-preserved”.<\/p>\n

Apple issued a new security update for its iPhone and iPad software on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The latest iPhone software version is now iOS 26.4.2, which includes a range of updates to things like accessibility features and the emoji keyboard \u2014 but it’s the security tweak that’s getting attention.<\/p>\n

What was the security issue?<\/p>\n

Apple hasn’t given too many details about the update, but did acknowledge that “notifications marked for deletion could be unexpectedly retained on the device”.<\/p>\n

“A logging issue was addressed with improved data redaction,” the company said in a statement about the security content of the update.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Signal, however, provided more context.<\/p>\n

“This comes following @404mediaco reporting that the FBI accessed Signal message notification content via iOS despite the app being deleted,” Signal wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, 404 Media published a story<\/a> claiming investigators from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were able to access deleted Signal messages from an iPhone via a database of that device’s push notifications.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was in relation to a case in which nine people were convicted over their involvement in a shooting at a US \u200cImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Alvarado, Texas, last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Signal allows people to send “disappearing messages”.\u00a0 (Reuters: Dado Ruvic)<\/p>\n

But Apple hasn’t confirmed if the update was linked to the reporting or if the issue was affecting the Signal app.<\/p>\n

The ABC has contacted Apple for comment on the nature of the security update and whether the issue had been fixed.<\/p>\n

What is Signal?<\/p>\n

Signal is a popular encrypted private messaging app, which allows users to send secure “disappearing messages”.<\/p>\n

It’s been around since 2014, but previous iterations of the encrypted messaging software go back to 2010. It was once owned by Twitter.<\/p>\n

Reports on how many people use Signal varies, but the estimates of active users are in the tens of millions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For example, Statista estimated there had been more than 10 million downloads of the app in the third quarter of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Signal ‘grateful’ for update<\/p>\n

Signal appears convinced Apple’s update fixed the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are very happy that today Apple issued a patch and a security advisory,” the company said.<\/p>\n

“Once you install the patch, all inadvertently-preserved notifications will be deleted and no forthcoming notifications will be preserved for deleted applications.”<\/p>\n

Signal went on to thank the iPhone manufacturer for the update.<\/p>\n

“We’re grateful to Apple for the quick action here, and for understanding and acting on the stakes of this kind of issue,” it said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It takes an ecosystem to preserve the fundamental human right to private communication.”<\/p>\n

What should I do?<\/p>\n

Apple advises users to always update to the latest software versions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Keeping your software up to date is one of the most important things you can do to maintain your Apple product’s security,” its website says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How do I update my iPhone software?<\/p>\n

To update the software on your\u00a0iPhone or iPad, Apple says you should put your device on a charger and make sure it’s connected to wi-fi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Head to “Settings” to find the software update prompt.\u00a0 (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Then you need to go into Settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From there, tap General and then tap Software Update. You should be met with something that looks like this:<\/p>\n

You should be able to then tap either “update now” or “update tonight” if you want your software to update while you sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ABC with Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Encrypted communication app Signal has praised Apple for releasing a new iPhone security update it says will prevent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[274069,304052,64,63,152015,1342,1341,56688,25491,105,304051],"class_list":{"0":"post-627286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-apple-security-update","9":"tag-apple-updates","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-ios-update","13":"tag-ipad","14":"tag-iphone","15":"tag-iphone-update","16":"tag-signal","17":"tag-technology","18":"tag-what-is-the-next-ios-update"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}