Apple releases iOS 5.0.1 with fix for iPhone battery life bugs

The update is now available to all users through iTunes, and will also be made available for download as an over-the-air update. In addition to addressing battery life issues, it also brings new multi-touch gestures for multitasking to the first-generation iPad.

The full list of fixes in iOS 5.0.1, according to Apple, are:

• Fixes bugs affecting battery life
• Adds multitasking gestures for original iPad
• Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
• Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation

Apple provided its developer community with two betas of iOS 5.0.1, and both were released in rapid succession last week, just two days apart. The last build, released last Friday, was known as "9A404."

The company worked quickly to address battery life concerns that were expressed by existing iPhone users who upgraded to iOS 5, as well as customers who bought the new iPhone 4S hardware. Apple publicly said the battery life bugs affected a small number of users.

In addition to the features listed above, pre-release builds of iOS 5 listed two more developer-centric updates available in the new version of the mobile operating system. They included security improvements, as well as a new way for developers to specify files that should remain on a device even in low storage situations.

Prior to issuing the iOS 5.0.1 update, Apple employees were actively working with some customers to diagnose the battery-related bugs as it worked on a fix. Some users were asked to install temporary diagnostic software on their iPhone so Apple could track their usage.