Every new operating system has its issues and
Apple’s iOS 7 is certainly no exception. We’ve seen a multitude of bug reports rolling in and, while many people have updated successfully, there’s no shortage of people encountering glitches or even major problems. We discussed
how to prepare for and download iOS 7, and we’ve suggested some
helpful iOS 7 tips and tricks, now it’s time to review some common iOS 7 problems and, where possible, identify solutions. We’ll refer to the iPhone throughout the article, but the majority of the problems and fixes will apply to the iPad and iPod Touch as well.
Bug: White screen of death
A bug that seems to have cropped up for a lot of people, particularly on the iPad, but also various iPhone models is a random crash from the home screen which soft reboots the device and brings up a screen with the
Apple logo. The background color matches the device, so a white iPhone will have a white boot up screen with a black Apple and vice versa. There’s some suggestion that this is linked to the battery, but it’s not clear.
Workarounds:
- Press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button until you see the Apple logo to restart your device.
- Try DFU mode, explained below under the Glitch: Stuck on Apple logo.
- Backup and factory reset your iPhone.
Potential solution:
- Apple has acknowledged this issue, Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told Mashable “We have a fix in an upcoming software update for a bug that can occasionally cause a home screen crash.”
Problem: Can’t make or receive calls
If you’ve run into problems with making or receiving calls after updating to iOS 7 then you are not alone. You might find that people are trying to call you, but your iPhone is not ringing, or perhaps you are unable to make a call. Some people report calls apparently connecting, but the line seems to be dead and they can’t hear the other person. Assuming you’re not just in a dead spot (try making the call from another location), there are a few things you can try.
Potential solutions:
- Go to Settings and toggle Airplane Mode on for five seconds and then turn it off again.
- Make sure that Do Not Disturb in Settings is not turned on.
- Go to Settings > Phone and make sure Call Forwarding is not turned on.
- Go to Settings > Phone and check under Blocked.
- Make sure you have the latest carrier update by going to Settings > General > About. If there’s something available then you should be prompted to download it (make sure you’re connected the Wi-Fi and your mobile network).
- Make sure there isn’t another iOS update by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
- Try removing the SIM card, make sure it’s clean and replace it carefully.
- Try resetting your network settings via Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
- Go to Settings > Cellular and try toggling Enable LTE and/or Enable 3G.
- Contact your carrier and make sure there’s no problem on their end.
- Try factory resetting your iPhone.
Glitch: Keyboard is orientated the wrong way
Occasionally, iOS 7 fails to identify the correct orientation of your device and produces a keyboard that is only partially on the screen, rendering it useless. It is a common occurrence after using the camera from the lock screen.
Solutions:
- Slide across the screen and the keyboard will correctly orientate itself to the screen.
- The glitch appears to be fixed in iOS 7.1 beta.
Bug: Control Panel and Notification Center don’t appear
There have been some reports of an issue in iOS 7.0.4 that the Control Panel and Notification Center aren’t accessible by swiping up or down respectively, or will work for a short period of time but eventually become unavailable.
Potential Solution:
- Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Assistive Touch. Turning this setting on and off seems to provide a fix for the issue, albeit it sometimes only a temporary one.
Glitch: Stuck on Apple logo
If your update went wrong then you may well find that your iPhone is stuck on a blank boot screen or on the Apple logo and it won’t start up properly. You’re going to want to connect to
iTunes and try DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode.
Potential solution:
- Hold down the Sleep/Wake button to turn your iPhone off.
- Open iTunes on your computer and connect your iPhone.
- Hold down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for ten seconds, and then release the Sleep/Wake button.
- Continue to hold down the Home button until you see a pop-up on iTunes stating that “iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes.”
- Your iPhone screen should be blank, if you see a logo or message on it then you are not in DFU mode.
- Select your iPhone in the left hand column of iTunes and select Summary then Restore.
- You may need to install the iOS 7 update again.
Problem: Rapid battery drain
Many people are finding iOS 7 is more power hungry than iOS 6 was. You can find some general help by referring to our
tips for saving smartphone battery, but there are also a couple of iPhone specific fixes worth considering.
Potential solutions:
- Disable the parallax effect that gives the home screen that 3D look by going to Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion.
- Turn off the background app refresh for at least some of your apps by going to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
- Turn off AirDrop by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and selecting the toggle in the Control Center.
- Go to Settings > Notification Center and toggle off any apps that you don’t want to include.
Bug: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth not working
A lot of people have found that the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functions are not working properly after the update to iOS 7. They may appear greyed out in Settings and either won’t toggle on or appear to toggle on, but turn straight off again.
Workaround:
- You should try rebooting your iPhone and your router, but it is unlikely to permanently fix the problem.
Potential solutions:
- Some people have had success by removing an apostrophe from the iPhone name. If your iPhone is called something like “John’s iPhone” then this might work. Go to Settings > General > About > Name and change it to something with no apostrophe.
- Some people have reported success by putting the iPhone into Airplane mode and then going to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings, but the problem may return.
- You could also try going to Settings > Control Center and disable Access on Lock Screen then turn your iPhone off and on again.
- Make sure that your router firmware is up to date.
- Try backing up your iPhone and then restoring it. Check how to factory reset an iPhone for details.
- If nothing is working for you, try contacting Apple or take your iPhone into an Apple Store.
Problem: Keyboard lag
This one seems to be a problem for
iPhone 4 owners, but it may not be limited to that model. Sufferers have been complaining about lag with iOS 7 in general, but also some serious delays when typing on the virtual keyboard.
Potential solution:
- Go to Settings > iCloud and turn Documents & Data off.
Bug: iTunes Store keeps crashing
Some people have found that the iTunes Store app on their iPhone crashes when they try to open it. There are two potential fixes to try.
Potential solutions:
- Open the Music app and tap Store in the upper left corner. You should find that the app now works, although the problem might reoccur.
- Double tap the Home button to open the multitasking menu. Close iTunes Store if it is listed. Now go to Settings > iTunes & App Store and click on your Apple ID then choose Sign Out. Sign in again and open the iTunes Store app and it should work.
Bug: iMessage or FaceTime not working
Many people have encountered issues with FaceTime and/or iMessage not working after the iOS 7 update. For a number of users iMessage was not sending messages correctly, some people found that it wouldn’t activate. There were also complaints about FaceTime calls failing.
Potential solutions:
- Turn FaceTime and/or iMessage off and on again via the toggles in Settings.
- Turn off Cellular Data in Settings > Cellular and make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi, then go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. You’ll have to set up your connection again, but FaceTime and iMessage should now work.
- If nothing else has worked then back up your iPhone and try restoring it.
- Apple addressed the iMessage issues in the iOS 7.0.3 update released in October.
- Apple addressed the FaceTime issues in the 7.0.4 update released in November.
Glitch: Freezing
Some people have been complaining about random freezing on their iPhone after the update. It doesn’t seem to be confined to a specific model.
Potential solutions:
- If it happens in a specific app then double-click the Home button and find the app that froze and swipe it up to close it.
- If that isn’t working then hold down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home Button until you see the Apple logo.
- Try backing up and restoring your iPhone.
Bug: There is a crazy way to bypass the lock screen
If you’re worried about the security risk posed by the revelation that people can bypass your lock screen and gain access to some content, there is a way to close the loophole.
Workaround:
- Go to Settings > Control Center and toggle Access on Lock Screen to off.
Solution:
Problem: Apps keep logging you out
Many users have encountered issues with apps like Mailbox and Snapchat logging them out. App developers are working on fixes and seem to be in agreement that the way iOS 7’s background refresh works is the problem.
Workaround:
- Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and turn it off for any apps where you’re finding problems.
Solution:
- You may have to wait for an update from the app developer or Apple to find a permanent fix for this one.
Bug: Loads of unread emails
Some people found that they had hundreds or even thousands of unread emails after updating to iOS 7. This problem seems to be particularly common for Gmail users, but it can occur with other email accounts.
Potential solutions:
- Go into your email account on your computer and select all your emails then choose Mark as Read. Now go back to your iPhone and the count should be drastically reduced. It may be quicker to select all, choose Mark as Unread and then choose select all again and click Mark as Read.
- You can also select Edit > Mark All > Mark as Read on your iPhone, but for it to work, you’ll need to download all your emails to the iPhone first, which can take a long time.
Problem: iPhone won’t turn on
A few people have reported that their iPhone won’t turn on at all after installing the recent update. Plugging in the charger doesn’t seem to have any effect. In some cases, there’s no recognition when plugging into a computer and trying to connect to iTunes either. There’s probably more than one problem at work here, but here are some steps you can try.
Potential solutions:
- Make sure that you’re using an Apple cable. Apple is working to block third-party cables and chargers by including an authenticator chip in its official cables. It’s not likely, but just to eliminate them as problems, try using a different cable and a different power outlet.
- Try holding down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for at least 10 seconds.
- If you are using an official cable then plug your iPhone in and leave it to charge for at least a couple of hours before trying the Sleep/Wake and Home button again.
- Try a factory reset.
- Try DFU mode (you can find full steps under Glitch: Stuck on Apple logo at the start of this article).
- If none of these steps works for you then it’s time to call Apple, or, even better, take your iPhone into an Apple Store.
Source: Digital Trends
