One way or another, the iOS software that iPhones run has gained popularity over the years because it’s the more reliable operating system on the market. Of course, that assumption wasn’t unfounded. After all, it’s easier to avoid bugs when you only have to tweak your operating system for a few phones instead of hundreds. But while Apple has had the advantage of being known for its more stable software, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been instances – and even periods – of annoying and sometimes device-damaging bugs on iOS. In fact, we seem to be seeing more and more problems in recent years, especially after the big annual updates.
September is just around the corner and Apple will soon launch its new iPhone 16 series along with the iOS18 Update. So here’s a quick recap of some of the worst bugs to plague iPhones over the past few years, and a reminder that it’s not always a good idea to rush to update to the latest software version.
Of course, there are many bugs to choose from over the years, as we now have iOS 18. We will look at some of the more recent examples as they are more current and relatable.
Notorious iOS bugs of the last four years:
Just iOS 13 in general…
Every now and then we get an iOS update that makes our heads explode and is filled to the brim with bugs that are not only numerous but also persistent. The iOS 13 update was just that and was an unpopular update among many iPhone users. In fact, Apple didn’t even release iOS 13.0 because it contained too many bugs. It wasn’t until iOS 13.1 that it was made available to users as the first public version.
One particular bug that consumed users’ mobile data remained unfixed for months. The worst part about this bug was that its effects continued even though no apps were active. The amount of data consumed ranged from just a few extra kilobytes per day to gigabytes of data disappearing without a trace.
The problem seemed to be related to a feature called “Uninstalled Apps” in the iPhone settings. This was supposed to show how much data was used by deleted apps, but it apparently wasn’t working properly.
Other bugs included ringtones not working properly or the phone randomly hanging up during a call. All in all, it was not a good year for iOS users.
The screen problems
With the iPhone 12 series, Apple launched its first 5G-capable iPhones, but then another problem made everyone doubt Apple’s quality assurance. The iPhone 12 models had green and gray spots on their screens, especially at lower brightness levels. This practically negated the benefits of the OLED displays that were first used on all iPhone models. The problem had already occurred on the iPhone 11 Pro Max before the iPhone12 series was released, and although it was thought that Apple had fixed the problem, it somehow still appeared on the newer models. Thankfully, Apple subsequently released a software update to fix the problem.
Speaking of display issues, another bug that mostly affected iPhone 14 Pro models was horizontal lines that appeared briefly when turning on or unlocking the device. Apple, a company that usually stays silent about some issues, surprisingly publicly acknowledged the problem and confirmed that it is a software-related issue.
“SIM not supported”
Speaking of the iPhone 14 series, this was also the first time that Apple switched to eSIM only in the US. Of course, it would have been a surprise if this controversial decision hadn’t caused an uproar, but it certainly didn’t help that there was also a bug.
iPhone14 Models were displaying the “SIM not supported” error message, followed by the device freezing, leaving you unable to operate the phone and having to restart it. It goes without saying that this was one of those errors that completely ruins the user experience. Again, credit goes to Apple for fixing it quickly, but in this case we never found out what the cause was.
Annoyances
A recent bug that spread like wildfire caused iPhone users around the world to miss alarms. The problem was that alarms were not going off at the scheduled time.
While the problem was thought to be a simple alarm malfunction, Apple explained that the real cause was the Attention Aware feature, which falsely considers the user to be awake and silences alarms prematurely.
This was definitely one of the funnier iOS bugs. Imagine if a bunch of people were late for work or school at roughly the same time. Of course, they probably didn’t find it that funny…
Security-threatening iOS bugs
Not all bugs are the same. Some types are annoying, others cause device damage, but the worst are undoubtedly those that put your personal data at risk.
One example wasn’t directly related to iOS, but it had to do with an update to the iOS 15 version of Safari. The bug exposed the user’s browsing activity and potentially revealed personal information. The most worrying aspect of the bug: It didn’t require any specific user action to be triggered. It had the potential to reveal a wealth of personal information, including profile pictures and potentially more sensitive data.
Another more recent example, which turned out to be a false alarm, showed how unsettling the mere thought of a security threat can be. Numerous iPhone users reported being frequently and unexpectedly prompted to enter their Apple ID password. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Reddit were awash with user complaints expressing their confusion and concern about the issue.
Many users spoke of simple annoyance and found the recurring password prompts more disturbing. Some even reported panic attacks triggered by the unexpected prompts.
Personal experiences
What made me think about this topic in the first place is that I have been experiencing more and more iOS bugs over the last year. One of the latest issues I encountered had to do with my notifications, which became a sort of “This is not a bug, this is a feature” kind of situation for me.
The problem was – and still is – that when I had a new notification, I didn’t get the usual prompts, no sound played, and the screen didn’t wake up. However, when I manually checked my phone, the notification was there.
Of course, I made sure I wasn’t in any focus and that all my settings were set up to get a signal, but unfortunately the problem persisted. After not being able to fix it in the settings, I decided to do a settings reset. This seemed to fix the problem, but after less than half a day, the error came back again.
Another annoying bug that plagued me for days was that my AirDrop wasn’t working properly. I tend to share a lot of files between my devices and for some bizarre reason, sometimes things “just work” and sometimes they “just don’t work”. This includes, for example, the ability to copy one thing (like text or an image) on the iPhone and paste it on a MacBook.
Apple’s slogan “it just works” has now become an inside joke among my friends. I just hope that with the upcoming iOS18especially with the big launch of Apple Intelligence. Apple says everything is very secure and confidential, but we won’t know for sure until we’ve tried the new software sufficiently after it’s released.
The moral of the story is that iOS is not without its problems. In fact, they seem to be occurring more frequently each year recently, so soon they may no longer be a reason for consumers to choose an iPhone over an Android.
