iOS 13.3 Beta 2 Released With Support For NFC, USB, And Lightning FIDO2-Compliant Security Keys

Apple today released the second developer beta for iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3, less than a week after the public release of iOS 13.2.2, while they also released the second developer beta of tvOS 13.3 and watchOS 6.1.1 Those who have enrolled in Apple's Developer Program should be able to download and install these betas over-the-air.

In beta 2, Apple added a Safari feature that supports NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys, meaning users will be able to use physical security keys like the Lightning-equipped YubiKey for more secure two-factor authentication. For those unfamiliar what YubiKey is, it's a total legitimate and useful tool created by Yubico, where you simply plug it into a device, say an iPhone, to complete the two-factor authentication.

Now supports NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in Safari, SFSafariViewController, and ASWebAuthenticationSession using the WebAuthn standard, on devices with the necessary hardware capabilities.

As for beta 1, the biggest highlight is that it brings fixes for the poor RAM management issue in iOS 13.2, which is already addressed in the iOS 13.2.2 update released last week. Other new features in iOS 13.3 beta 1 including the Screen Time feature now has communication restrictions that limit the time kids spend on their phone for messaging and FaceTime purposes, it also added option to not display the emoji button on the keyboard in keyboard settings, and the Digital Crown of the Apple Watch app icon is grayed out, instead of all black.