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Release appearance

iOS 9.3 Public

Source-linked record
Public release

Recorded context

About this appearance

The public iOS 9.3 release introduced Night Shift, expanded core apps and education deployment, improved CarPlay and system services, repaired broad reliability issues, and delivered security fixes.

Date
Mar 21, 2016
Availability
available
Revision
No

Chronology evidence

Appearance sources

These sources support the recorded date, channel, or availability. A researched release-notes article has not been added.

  1. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Apple Music improvements

  2. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — CarPlay improvements

  3. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Education improvements

  4. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Enterprise, Accessibility, and Other bug fixes

  5. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Health improvements

  6. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — News improvements

  7. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Night Shift

  8. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Notes improvements

  9. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Other improvements

  10. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 — Photos and iBooks improvements

  11. About the Security Content of iOS 9.3

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3 security content

  12. About iOS 9 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 9.3

  13. About the Security Content of iOS 9.3

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · Messages — CVE-2016-1788

Release changes

Changed in this release

Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.

bugFix · fixed

Enterprise, accessibility, and system reliability fixes

documentedconfirmed

Apple documented repairs across enterprise deployment, accessibility, device startup after extreme date changes, iCloud Backup and restore, iMessage and FaceTime activation, call presentation, restrictions, Watch settings, 3D Touch, voicemail, and low-storage Mail.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Enterprise, Accessibility, and Other bug fixes

enhancement · changed

CarPlay Music, Maps, Siri, and audio improvements

documentedconfirmed

CarPlay added For You and New music areas, a Maps Nearby screen for driving essentials, more concise Siri messaging, and more consistent loudness between audio sources.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — CarPlay improvements

feature · introduced

Night Shift

documentedconfirmed

The new Night Shift setting used time and geolocation to shift supported displays toward warmer colors on an automatic sunset schedule.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Night Shift

enhancement · changed

Health and Activity integration

documentedconfirmed

Health linked selected data types to compatible apps, incorporated Apple Watch goals, added 3D Touch access, and made Activity rings and summaries available to third-party apps through HealthKit.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Health improvements

enhancement · changed

Protected and expanded Notes

documentedconfirmed

Users could lock sensitive notes and gained new organization, sketching, checklist, attachment, camera-media, and Evernote import workflows.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Notes improvements

enhancement · changed

Maps, Wallet, Apple Pay, Podcasts, and Activity updates

documentedconfirmed

Maps clarified transit routes, Wallet linked passes to their apps, Apple Pay supported in-store rewards enrollment, Podcasts played full-screen video, and Activity added a filterable Workout history.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Other improvements

enhancement · changed

Photos and iBooks expansion

documentedconfirmed

The release let users extract a still image from a Live Photo, improved original-media downloads and Live Photo sharing, and broadened iBooks synchronization, purchase, reading, and annotation tools.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Photos and iBooks improvements

security · fixed

Messages attachment cryptography fix

documentedconfirmed

Apple addressed CVE-2016-1788 by rejecting duplicate messages, correcting a cryptographic weakness in the narrowly described attack path against encrypted Messages attachments.

  1. [1] About the Security Content of iOS 9.3 · Messages — CVE-2016-1788

enhancement · changed

News reading and discovery improvements

documentedconfirmed

The News app made prominent and curated stories easier to find, added direct feed actions and video playback, and improved article viewing on iPhone.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — News improvements

feature · introduced

Shared iPad and Classroom support

documentedconfirmed

Schools could preview multi-student use of one iPad, sign in with managed identities, use the Classroom app, control Home Screen organization and visibility, and restrict selected iCloud and Music services.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Education improvements

enhancement · changed

Apple Music refinements

documentedconfirmed

Subscribers could add catalog songs to playlists without first adding them to the library, use full-screen video on iPad, see live Beats 1 content, navigate to an album, and identify popular tracks.

  1. [1] About iOS 9 Updates · iOS 9.3 — Apple Music improvements