Reddit and LinkedIn are making changes to their apps after Apple's big new iPhone update caught them snooping

• Reddit and LinkedIn are making changes to their app after Apple's iOS 14 software discovered that they were copying content from the clipboard.
• Reddit is releasing a fix for its app on July 14, while LinkedIn recently said it had released a new version of its app to the App Store that removes this functionality.
• Apple's iOS 14 update has a new privacy feature that alerts users when apps are accessing information from the clipboard.
• TikTok recently changed its app after its app was also caught retrieving information from the clipboard.

Reddit and LinkedIn are making changes to their iPhone apps after users criticized the platforms for snooping on content from the clipboard, the feature that makes it possible to copy-and-paste information across devices. The update comes after Apple's new iOS 14 software, which flags this practice to users, launched its developer beta.

Reddit said in a statement to Business Insider that it would update its app on July 14 to no longer see data from the clipboard, earlier reported by The Verge. A LinkedIn executive said on Twitter on July 4 that the company had released a new version of the app to remove that practice as well.

Apple's upcoming iOS 14 has a new privacy feature that alerts users when an app copies content from the clipboard. Don Morton, a developer who has been testing iOS 14, pointed out on Twitter that LinkedIn and Reddit were copying clipboard information. He posted videos showing alerts appearing with seemingly every keystroke when typing in the LinkedIn and Reddit apps.

—Don urspace.io (@DonCubed) July 2, 2020

TikTok recently came under scrutiny for the same issue and updated its app.

Erran Berger, LinkedIn's vice president of engineering for consumer products, said on Twitter that the company had traced this functionality to a piece of code that checks the clipboard content against text that has currently been typed in a text box. It was not storing or transmitting the clipboard contents, he said.

—Erran Berger (@eberger45) July 3, 2020

A Reddit spokesperson told Business Insider that the snooping came from a functionality that checks the clipboard for URLs when starting a new post. "We do not store or send the pasteboard contents," the spokesperson said, adding: "We removed this code and are releasing the fix on July 14th."

LinkedIn did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment and more information about why its app was copying clipboard information.

Apple's iOS 14 update recently launched in developer beta and is expected to become available in a public beta this month. The full version of the software will debut in the fall.

The new iPhone software is filled with privacy-oriented features, including new requirements that app developers disclose their privacy practices on the App Store, a setting that allows users to share their approximate location rather than their precise location, and a mandate that developers obtain user consent before their apps are able to track them.