Issues relating to the iOS operating system

The iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. has had a wide range of bugs and security issues discovered throughout its lifespan, ranging from security exploits discovered in most versions of the operating system related to the practice of jailbreaking, as well as bypassing the user's lock screen (known as lock screen bypasses), to issues relating to battery drain, to crash bugs encountered when sending photos or certain Unicode characters via text messages sent through the Messages application, and general bugs and security issues later fixed in newer versions of the operating system.

Issues by iOS version

iOS 4
Main article: iOS 4 § Problems
Alarm clock bugs

The Alarm feature of the built in Clock app in the iPhone and iPod Touch has been plagued by major bugs in all versions of iOS 4. The first bug noticed was the "DST bug" which was first seen when some countries switched to/from daylight saving time from/to standard time in October or November 2010.[1][2] It caused recurring alarms to start going off an hour too early or late. Apple promised the bug would be fixed in iOS 4.2/4.2.1 but according to some reports it still exists even in iOS 4.3.1.[3]

The second alarm clock bug discovered was the "New Year's Day bug" which showed up on January 1, 2011 and January 1, 2012. It caused non-recurring alarms to never work.[4] However, two days after each New Year's Day, on January 3, 2011, they "magically" started working again. This bug was seemingly fixed in iOS 4.3.[5]

iOS 5
Main article: iOS 5 § Problems
Battery drain bugs

Apple confirmed that several battery life bugs were negatively affecting battery life in iOS 5.[6] They attempted to fix these bugs with iOS 5.0.1 and 5.1 but the problem still remained.[7] Finally, these bugs were fixed in iOS 5.1.1.

Wi-Fi

The launch of the iOS 5 update on October 12, 2011 (including iOS 5.0.1 released on November 10, 2011), led many users to report a major bug causing the device to lose Wi-Fi access. This problem has supposedly been fixed with the release of iOS 5.1.1[8][9]

SIM card

Some users of the iPhone 4S and iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) reported issues with the SIM card in iOS 5.0,[10] and even though Apple attempted to fix these issues in version 5.0.1 build 9A406 (for iPhone 4S only), they still remained.[11]

Echo bugs

Some users of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S reported issues with having echo problems during phone call in the initial release of iOS 5, which causes echoes to appear randomly during phone calls made through earbuds. The other party in the call is generally unable to hear the conversation due to this problem.[12] Apple has since released version 5.1.1 in an attempt to fix the problem.

iOS 6
Main article: iOS 6 § Problems
Maps

Apple has admitted that there were several bugs in the mapping app on iOS 6, with cities in the wrong location, some places being missed off altogether, some places misnamed and places of interest in the sea.[13][14][15] Problems submitted by users have gradually been addressed with daily updates to Maps.[16]

Bluetooth

Many users report a problem with Bluetooth audio streaming to a range of compatible devices. The sound cuts out every now and then for no apparent reason. As of October 2012, no solution has been provided by Apple.[17]

Location-based Reminders

Location-based reminders do not work for iPads, even though they were promised to work on cellular enabled devices.[18] It has later been clarified by Apple that only the 4th generation iPad and the iPad Mini 1st generation or later will be able to use this.[19]

Cellular Network

In iOS 6.1, users reported problems with cellular connectivity. This was addressed for the iPhone 4S in iOS 6.1.1 which "fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for iPhone 4S."[20]

Do Not Disturb

Many iPhone users experienced a bug with the Do Not Disturb feature when the calendar changed from 2012 to 2013. The feature would be left on past the scheduled time set by the user, allowing texts, notifications, and alarm settings to be missed. The bug was caused by a difference in formatting in the ISO calendar system versus the Gregorian calendar system.[21] Apple did not offer a quick software update for the bug, instead saying that the bug would fix itself on January 7, 2013.[22]

Microsoft Exchange

Another bug causes issues when iOS devices connect to a Microsoft Exchange server to retrieve email, resulting in message "mailbox server resources are consumed, log growth becomes excessive, memory and CPU use may increase significantly, and server performance is affected".[23] Microsoft have suggested several workarounds,[24] and Apple responded with a KnowledgeBase article describing the cause of the bug and a suggested temporary workaround, promising a fix in the near future,[25] which was then fixed with release of iOS 6.1.2.

Lockscreen bypass code

On iPhones, another bug found in 6.1 allowing bypassing the lock screen's passcode to temporarily gain full access to the Phone app, by performing a specific sequence of actions on the phone that remained unfixed,[26] with Apple acknowledging the bug[27] and then addressed with release of iOS 6.1.3.

Audio profile speakerphone

iPhone 5 users experienced dropped calls during the release of iOS 6.1.3 when there was an issue with the audio microphone profile. This also caused issues with many voice-over commands, including Siri, to get different results than expected or to fail easily. Apple fixed this bug with the release of iOS 6.1.4, which updated the audio speaker profile so users would get better results.

FaceTime

Shortly after Apple released iOS 7, users running iOS 6 were said to have problems using FaceTime. Apple later released a support document stating that this was due to an expired device certificate and that devices that support iOS 7 should update to it in order to resolve these issues.[28] Devices that are unable to run iOS 7, the fourth-generation iPod Touch and the iPhone 3GS, should upgrade to iOS 6.1.6.[28]

Data security

An attacker can collect or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS protocols. This same bug was also reported on iOS 7.0.4 and iOS 7.0.5 for the iPhone 5C and 5S. For the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch (4th generation), iOS 6.1.6 was released to fix this issue since iOS 7 is not compatible with these devices (see iOS 7.x).

iOS 7
Main article: iOS 7 § Problems
Passcode screen bypass bugs

People are able to bypass the "Enter Passcode" screen. This flaw was discovered within hours of it becoming publicly available. This is only able to be done on iPhone 5 and earlier while the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S are safe from this bug. This is caused by the ability to use the control center via the lock screen and tapping on the camera or timer buttons. This feature can be turned off in the Settings app.[29] This was fixed in iOS 7.0.2.

Motion Sickness

Users complained about dizziness and vertigo-like symptoms when using this operating system because of parallax motion effects. In iOS 7.1, a new function in the Settings app named "Reduce Motion" was introduced to reduce the motion of the user interface and disable the parallax effects.[30]

Creation of CardDAV Accounts not working

Creating a CardDAV Account contains a bug that needs manual fixing of the CardDAV-Server-URL.[31]

Battery drain problems

In iOS 7.1, users have reported seeing significant drain on their batteries after installing the new update.[32]

FaceTime

Issues with video-calling and connection errors. This was fixed in iOS 7.0.4. (See iOS 6.x)

Safari ignores local domain

Local domain names can no longer be resolved in Safari.[33][34] This breaks short names on the local network, e.g. 'nas' for nas.<ourdomain>.

Home screen crashes

Users have reported various crashes of the home screen, the core service that renders the home screen icons, Notification Center, Control Center, Siri and the lockscreen.[35] This was fixed in iOS 7.1.

Data security

Secure transport failed to validate the authenticity of connection. This issue was addressed by restoring missing validation steps. This may cause an attacker with a privileged network position to capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS.[36] This issue was addressed by the release of iOS 7.0.6.

Battery Indicator stuck until restart

iPhone 4S users report experiencing problems with the battery indicator; the indicator will freeze at the same value until the iPhone is restarted again.[37][38]

Touch ID

In iOS 7.1, Touch ID was not functioning on the iPhone 5S. The problem cannot be resolved by turning Touch ID on and off in the "Fingerprint and Passcode" menu, restarting, resetting, or restoring the device using iTunes. This problem was similar to the iOS 8.0.1 release, which crippled iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus of both cellular and Touch ID. This was fixed in iOS 7.1.1.

iOS 8
Main article: iOS 8 § Problems
HealthKit

Shortly after the release of iOS 8, Apple released a statement pointing out that a bug had been found in the operating system which prevented HealthKit-compatible apps from being released alongside iOS 8.[39] Apps already released that included Healthkit functionality were withdrawn from the App Store. iOS 8.0.1/8.0.2 included a fix for this issue.

iOS 8.0.1

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who updated to iOS 8.0.1 wirelessly had cellular service and Touch ID disabled due to a software issue. Over-the-Air downloads of iOS 8.0.1 were stopped within an hour of the release of the software, but many early adopters had been affected. These issues were fixed with the release of iOS 8.0.2 a day later.

Touch ID

Users who updated phones with Touch ID enabled to iOS 8.3 found out that they could not use Touch ID to make App Store purchases.[40] A workaround has been devised by users to repair this issue.[41]

Performance

Many users of older generation devices such as the iPhone 4s and the iPad 2 reported performance issues with iOS 8. Apple has since released iOS 8.1.1 in attempt to fix the problem.

Keyboard

Several issues with the new Keyboard API in iOS 8 were reported, including problems with custom keyboards crashing or not appearing, or being replaced with the default keyboard. Apple has since released iOS 8.3 in attempt to fix the problem.

iMessage

When a specific set of Arabic, Unicode, and English characters are sent through iMessage to an iOS device running iOS 8.0 or later, it causes the device to crash. This bug was discovered by a Reddit user in May 2015. Apple has since released a software update (iOS 8.4) to fix this issue.[42]

iOS 9
Main article: iOS 9 § Problems
Game Center

Many users reported greatly increased Game Center loading times which in turn caused apps that used Game Center logins to appear to load slowly.[43] This was fixed in iOS 9.1.

January 1, 1970

On 64-bit iOS devices, setting the date to January 1, 1970 and restarting the iPhone would prevent the device from starting up until it lost power or its time setting shifted past January 1, 1970.[44] This was fixed with the release of iOS 9.3.

Error 53

Updating an iPhone 6 with a replaced Touch ID sensor to a new version of iOS would cause the update to fail and report an "Error 53.",[45] as a result of additional hardware security checks left unintentionally.[45] This was fixed with a re-release of iOS 9.2.1, with build number 13D20.

Bluetooth

Many iPhone SE owners experienced various issues relating to phone calls via Bluetooth connectivity.[46] This issue was fixed with iOS 9.3.2.

Security

A WebKit rendering component exploit was discovered that threatened users' security by allowing access to device sensors was discovered with the release of 9.3.3. The exploit worked by tricking the user to click on a URL contained in an SMS.[47] This was quickly fixed with the release of 9.3.5.

iOS 10
Main article: iOS 10 § Problems
"30% battery bug"

Many users, especially those owning an iPhone 6s, reported that their phones would shut down automatically with 30% battery left.[48] This issue was fixed with the release of iOS 10.3.

As of the iOS 10.2.1 release, iOS throttles CPU performance on iPhones with batteries in poor health. This eventually led to Batterygate shortly after the iOS 11 release. As a result, Apple announced battery replacements would be $29 instead of $79.[49] They also announced that iOS 11.3 would show battery health in the Settings > Battery menu and let the user decide if they wanted the previous 30% shutdown behavior or the throttled CPU.[50]

iOS 11
Main article: iOS 11 § Problems
Battery

Many users reported worse battery life with iOS 11 than with iOS 10.3.3.[51] This issue was addressed with the release of iOS 11.1.[52]

Calculator

Due to an animation bug, quickly typing in an equation caused the built-in Calculator app to display incorrect answers.[53] The bug was fixed in iOS 11.2.

Mail

Users with Outlook.com, Office 365, and certain Exchange accounts were unable to send email.[54] This has been resolved with the release of iOS 11.0.1.[55]

AutoCorrect

Users complained of a bug in the built-in keyboard in iOS 11 that changed the letter "I" to "A [?]".[56] This was fixed with the release of iOS 11.1.1.[57]

December 2 respring

A bug in iOS 11 was present that would cause the device to constantly respring and crash if an app sends local notifications on or after 00:15 on December 2, 2017. Apple responded by releasing iOS 11.2 early, which fixed the bug.[58]

Telugu character crash

A bug was present in iOS 10 and 11 that would cause an app to crash when a certain Telugu character(జ్ఞ ‌ా) was pasted into it, or for the phone to respring if pasted into Spotlight.[59] The bug was fixed with iOS 11.2.6.[60]

iPhone 8 touchscreen issues after third party repair

A bug with iOS 11.3 caused some iPhone 8 devices that had had their screens repaired by a third party repair shop to become unusable by disabling the touch screen. Apple corrected this issue by releasing iOS 11.3.1.[61]

iOS 12
Main article: iOS 12 § Problems
Group FaceTime Bug
Main article: FaceTime § Group FaceTime Bug

A privacy issue was discovered when using FaceTime in iOS 12.1. This bug allowed users to eavesdrop the recipient with access to their camera and audio without them answering the call and their knowledge when adding another person to the call. As a result, Apple had permanently disabled Group FaceTime in iOS versions 12.1 to 12.1.3. An update was later released on 12.1.4 to fix the bug.[62]

Sending iMessages to the wrong contacts

iOS 12 merges conversation history for devices using a shared Apple ID, even if separate handles are used, such as unique phone numbers or email Fixes. As a result, iMessages may be delivered to the wrong device.[63]

iOS 12.3.2 update incompatibility

The iOS 12.3.2 update, released for iPhone 8 Plus devices only, caused users to be unable to transfer backups for this version to a different iPhone as only the 8 Plus has this software update.

iOS 12.4 jailbreak

Apple accidentally undid a fix to a kernel code execution exploit (Sock Puppet) that was fixed in iOS 12.3. This made iOS 12.4 vulnerable to the exploit, and a jailbreak was released. Later, the kernel vulnerability was patched again by Apple in iOS 12.4.1.

iOS 13
iOS 13.5 jailbreak

A jailbreak software called Unc0ver was updated in May 2020 with an exploit targeting devices running iOS 11 and above, including the then-latest iOS 13.5. Apple quickly fixed this with iOS 13.5.1.

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