Is it safe to install iOS 14 on your iPhone?

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Apple has released the yearly update to its mobile operating system, iOS 14, slightly ahead of schedule. While that’s nice for consumers in this age of everything being delayed due to the pandemic, what does it mean for the stability of iOS 14?

I mean, we had multiple, big issues with iOS 13 last year, so you’d be forgiven if you decided to wait before upgrading this year.

Are there any show-stoppers this time around or is the new OS update mostly safe to use? What about apps you rely on, are those working since app developers only got 24 hours notice for the public build to go live?

So, is it safe to install iOS 14 on your primary device?

Short answer: Sure, but expect a few minor bugs

While I’ve not seen any show-stopping bugs yet on iOS 14, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any, and depending on your usage, you might want to delay the upgrade. I’ve personally really only had one annoying bug, in that automatic uploads to iCloud Photos don’t always happen, requiring me to hit pause on the upload and then resume for them to finish.

The only other bug I’ve run into is when setting third-party apps as default. That’s cool, letting you use Chrome or Outlook as your default apps, but iOS 14 wipes the setting back to default once you reboot the iPhone. Oops.

Tom’s Guide noticed a few more bugs, like the keyboard not showing up on some screens, or the App Store being weird when trying to update some apps. As I said, I’ve not personally seen those ones so maybe it’s device-specific? Anyway, if these bugs are likely to annoy you, it’s probably best to hold off a while before upgrading to iOS 14 (or just don’t try to change default apps).

What do you think? Are you on iOS 14 yet? How are you liking it? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Firefox and DuckDuckGo join Google Chrome as default browsers on iOS 14
• Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is now a billionaire
• How does iOS 14’s back tap function work?
• You can finally make a third-party app handle email on your iPhone

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.