Apple customers who have older iPhones and iPads are now reporting that upgrading to iOS 9 have caused some apps and, in some instances, their entire devices to crash, rendering their devices practically useless.
Users have flocked to various online platforms to gripe about the issues they have been having with their iDevices, making this the latest glitch in a series associated with Apple's scheduled launch of new software for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
The latest issue covers a wide range of situations. While some users report having only their apps affected, others say the entire system on their devices was not functioning properly.
Laggy multi tasking. Crashing apps. Buggy interface. Whaddup ios9 :(
— Myco Antonio (@mycsantonio) September 19, 2015
WARNING: Don't update to #IOS9 if you need your phone. Lots of iphones crashing. Better to wait a few weeks till bugs are fixed #tech — Miriam Cosic (@MiriamCosic) September 19, 2015
I upgraded to iOS 9 and now my phone is slow and my apps crash. You're better than this Apple.
— ∆aron Will (@aaronwill) September 18, 2015
Best part about iOS 9 is how it made all my favorite apps crash fifteen seconds after I open them :-| — Mr. Invisible (@softsurv) September 17, 2015
The problem isn't new. Back in 2014, Apple users also encountered similar issues with apps and their entire systems crashing following the upgrade to iOS 8. Although Apple eventually rolled out updates to fix the issue, Reuters reports not all problems were patched.
Moreover, Apple's insistence to stay mum on a problem that affects several users is causing more ire in some customers.
"They said they were aware of the problem and their engineers were working on it 24/7, but they couldn't tell me when or how I would get a solution," said Zorry Coates, who claims she has spent three hours at an Apple Store only to be advised to wait for an update or restore factory settings on her iPhone, which would delete all her settings and data from day one.
Gene Munster, analyst at Piper Jaffray, believes the uproar will settle down in a few days as Apple rolls out fixes for the issues.
"The big picture here though is that this is the standard environment for a new operating system launch," Munster said. "There are always going to be a spectrum of bugs but they should be solved within a few days."
iOS 9 has been plagued with problems from the start, as several users upgrading to the new OS at launch reported their devices failed to install the software. The problem was attributed to the huge number of users upgrading at the same time.
WatchOS 2, the second iteration of Apple's OS for the Apple Watch, was also pulled out at the last minute before launch due to a critical bug. Apple declined to explain what the bug was.
Despite these problems, adoption rate for iOS 9 is soaring, with mobile analytics firm Mixpanel reporting that nearly one out of five iPhone and iPad users having successfully installed the OS in less than 48 hours after launch.
