AppleInsider Staff
Apple on Wednesday confirmed it is working on a fix for an issue that causes devices running iOS 7 to randomly crash and reboot; a problem seen by many users since the mobile operating system debuted in September.
When Apple launched iOS 7 last September, it bet big on a completely redesigned and reimagined flagship product. Many of the changes and additions were greeted with praise, but bugs in iMessage, iCloud and other features plagued the mobile OS since release.
One of the more pervasive — and concerning — issues involves reports of continual crashing during normal use, which sees devices randomly conduct soft restarts for no apparent reason. After keeping mum on the subject, Apple has finally revealed it is indeed working on a fix that will be included in an upcoming software update, reports Mashable.
"We have a fix in an upcoming software update for a bug that can occasionally cause a home screen crash," said Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller.
In a reference to Windows' "blue screen of death" system failure, the iOS 7 problem has been dubbed by some as the "white/black screen of death" as the OS startup sequence shows either a white or black screen with corresponding Apple logo. As of iOS 7, iPhones with black faces show a black screen with white Apple logo, while those with white faces display the inverse.
Illustrating the extent of so-called "white/black screen of death" problems, the publication points to an Apple Support Communities forum thread filled with similar complaints. As of this writing, the "iPhone 5 with iOS 7 randomly shuts off" thread contains 249 replies and over 89,000 views.
In most cases, users affected by the crash see a sudden and seemingly random reboot sequence. The cause of the soft restart is unknown, though some forum members claim the issue presents itself more frequently when power levels are below 30 percent.
It is not clear when Apple plans to roll out the patch, but an optimal launch period may be on the horizon with the upcoming iOS 7.1 software update. On Monday, developers were provided with a fourth iOS 7.1 beta version for testing, though the seed notes made no mention of a rebooting bug fix.
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54 Comments
"though some forum members claim the issue presents itself more frequently when power levels are below 30 percent" yup ! exactly, it's exactly that !
Cool. Originally, I just thought I was holding the phone wrong, so I let it slide. :D But you know... It's happened to me a few times randomly. Not really a huge issue, as it doesn't happen enough to affect my day to day activities. Thanks for fixing it though, Apple.
I just got a 5S on Monday and no crashes so far. And fewer Safari crashes on my Air since I did a restore.
"though some forum members claim the issue presents itself more frequently when power levels are below 30 percent"
yup !
exactly, it's exactly that !
So the problem is not accurately described as "random". If it was truly "random" then there would be no discernible pattern. Just because something is unexpected or unexplained does not make it "random". In fact, it would be a rare software bug indeed that did anything at "random". It would have to be carefully programmed indeed!
Do the soft resets have anything to do with the incessant backboardd crashes, or is that a 5s issue only? Additionally, I'm logging quite a few SpringBoard and mediaserverd crashes.