Tag: iphone bugs

Categories
Apple iOS

iPhone Alarm Not Working Still

A lot of iPhone users had a rude awakening this new year when their alarm failed to go off. Apple soon acknowledged the problem with the following statement,

“We’re aware of an issue related to non repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2. Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3″

January 3 (or 4 depending on where you are located) is already here but it looks like the issue is still noticed by a number of users. If you are one of those being affected by the issue, you can set a recurring alarm instead of the non-recurring one that you have set currently. This will prevent the issue from recurring, at least in the short term.

Meanwhile, the iPhone alarm bug seems to have affected a number of travelers and office-goers. Here are a couple of comments from our earlier post about the issue.

Mark:

“Im a cabin crew, I set my alarm for my 5:45am sign on after new year’s eve. I almost miss my flight and might miss my job for this! Thankgoodness the crewing phoned and woke me up and just went straight away at the aircraft without our usual crew briefing.”

Chris:

“I missed my 8am flight on Jan 2 due to this alarm malfunction and it cost me $469 to get a new ticket that would get me to Miami in time for the Orange Bowl. Wonder if Apple will reimburse me? Ha! That is the LAST time I’ll rely on my iPhone alarm without backup. C’mon Apple where’s the QC??”

Gemcat:

“2 hours late for work after the 2 non-recurring alarms I set failed. The extra sleep was nice though”

Categories
iOS Mobile

iPhone Alarm Bug – Malfunction Reports On New Year Day

Yet another bug with the iPhone alarm. A number of iPhone users seem to have overslept on New Year’s day thanks to a bug in the alarm app that has caused non-recurring one-off alarms to malfunction. Users have complained that their alarms failed to ring in at the scheduled time since moving into the new year. There is a workaround for the time being – set the alarm in recurring mode which however means you will have to disable it after you wake up in order to stop the alarm from ringing again the next day.

For what it’s worth, reports note that the bug only works if the phone clock actually ticks over from 11:59 PM on December 31 to 00:00 on January 1. Also, the bug seems to autocorrect itself after January 3. This means it is just a minor hassle for those of you looking to set alarms for January 1.

Did you notice this iPhone bug? Tell us in the comments.

Categories
Apple Software and Apps

Users Notice MobileMe Login Problems Due To New Password Policy

It was only recently that we had written about a bug on the iOS 4.2 platform that resulted in a number of mobileme users noticing a “password error” message while trying to access mobileme. You can check out the possible resolution methods for the bug by clicking here.

Now we are hearing about yet another login related trouble with mobileme. Apparently, this time the problem is not with iOS 4.2, but a new password policy from Apple that targets users with short and easy passwords. According to the new policy, mobileme accounts should now have passwords that are at least 8 characters long and need to contain at least one number and letter.

Users who have short passwords not fulfilling the criteria are thus seeing a message from Apple prompting them to change passwords. However, a section of users are also complaining that the change is invisible and simply displays login failure messages to users whose passwords do not meet the criteria.

If you are one  of those users seeing such errors, simply reset your password to fulfil the new criteria and that should do.

Categories
iOS Software and Apps

iPhone 4 Proximity Sensor Problem Fixed With Cydia App

The launch of iPhone 4 in June was greeted with a number of complaints regarding the device’s antenna, proximity sensor and glass back. While Apple took care of the antenna reception issue, little effort was made to solve the users’ issues with the super-sensitive proximity sensor that made it difficult for users to complete calls.

Now while the issue itself has died down, the problems haven’t. If you are someone who is still affected by the iPhone’s proximity sensor, a new tweak available on the Cydia app store will help you solve the issue. CallLock is an app available for download at $0.99 that will allow users to manually or automatically lock the iPhone screen during a call so that the user may not inadvertently hit the mute or hangup options. In case you are wondering about this being in conflict with the iPhone’s default actions, the developer notes that CallLock will override the default events when it is activated.

Check out the video of the tweak in action.

Categories
Apple iOS Mobile

iPhone App Folders Disappearing After iOS Upgrade?

Folks at TiPb are pointing out to a bug on the new iOS 4.2 that we first mentioned over two months back – app folders on the iPhone or iPad seem to disappear inexplicably bringing all the stored apps back on to the homescreen. Apparently, Apple has not addressed this issue with the several iOS updates that it has issues since June when this issue was first noticed.

While Apple continues to stay mum on the bug, we hear that updating all the apps and then syncing them with iTunes (updated to the latest version) should address the issue. Alternately, you can also try out the fix that we had suggested in our earlier article –

1. Connect your iPhone to iTunes
2. From the left menu on iTunes, right click on your iPhone model and select ‘Back up‘. Wait for the backup process to complete
3. Now right click on your iPhone device on the left menu once again and select ‘Settings‘. Here, pick ‘Restore‘. Please remember this is only if you also need a firmware restore (Applicable to those who have unlocked their phones). Otherwise, from the ‘Settings‘, pick ‘Restore from Backup‘
4. If the system tries to sync files, cancel the process. Wait for the restoration to complete
5. Now perform restoration once again. Remember to pick the backup file created in Step 2. Wait for the process to complete

Does any of this resolve the bug? Don’t forget to tell us in the comments.

Categories
Mobile

How To Fix Battery Drain On Unlocked iPhone 3G/3GS

Ever since the latest iOS 4.2 firmware was released for the iOS devices, there has been a lot of talk about the battery life on these units. While on one hand, we have Nokia Siemens claiming that a new NFCD technology on iOS 4.2 should ensure optimal battery usage and thereby increase battery life, we have been hearing from iPod Touch users about the battery drain that their gadgets have been experiencing with the latest update.

It doesn’t stop here. A number of iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS users who have unlocked their handsets with the recently released UltraSn0w 1.2 software have been complaining about the battery drain on their devices. Apple is not to blame here and the jailbreakers are currently working on a fix to this issue that is expected to be released over Cydia shortly.

Apparently, the issue is with the hacktivation process that allows users to activate their phones using PwnageTool or RedSn0w instead of an official SIM. If you are one of those affected by the issue, you can try out one of the following methods

Option 1 : Get hold of an official SIM from a friend and activate the phone normally with this SIM. Once it is activated, take it out and replace it with your replacement SIM.

Option 2 : A workaround is to install the SBSettings app from Cydia and use it to quickly toggle the 3G network to OFF any time you don’t need it. You can save a lot of battery this way.

Categories
Apple Mobile Software and Apps

Has Find My iPhone Email-Verification Process Got A Bug?

Apple has made the Find My iPhone on MobileMe available for free on the latest version of iOS 4.2. While this is indeed a very nifty feature, a lot of users are complaining that they have been facing problems in verifying their email address while signing up for the service.

Apparently, users are notified that they would need to activate the service by clicking on a link in an email. Following the instructions however does not seem to activate the service. Here is an excerpt from the lengthy discussion on the Apple support forums

“I want to take advantage of the Find My iProduct feature that comes with the new iOS 4.2 update. I added a MobileMe account on my iPad using my Apple ID, then received a note saying I needed to verify my email address before it would become active. A few minutes later, I received the verification email and clicked on the link to verify. After another minute or two, I rechecked my MobileMe account on the iPad but it’s showing as “Not Verified”. I tried to re-verify by clicking on the link in the email and I was taken back to Apple’s website with a message that my email was already verified. When I go to my account settings on the MobileMe site it still shows the email address as not verified.”

“I’m guessing most people are in the same boat as me and never had Mobile Me accounts. From the beginning I used my Apple ID (which is an email address), which I also confirmed through the Apple ID account page. I even deleted my secondary email on that account to make sure only 1 email address is tied to it. Using our email as our Apple ID does not solve this issue”

For some users, the issue appears to have resolved by itself after a few days of trial. There are a few solutions posted too. You may want to check out one of these

“Change your APPLE ID to the E-mail address you have on file-when you sign into the Apple ID page on the bottom there is a little warning sign that says “change your Apple ID to…” just click submit and use the e-mail as your apple id-Because when u ADD an e-mail account to the device it actually is asking for e-mail type as ID-so your APPLE ID should be set to your primary e-mail.

After you do all this changes go to my next step:

Now when signing into your mobileme account on your device ( iPhone, iPad etc ) if you use the FREE .ME account sign in with the APPLE ID-which is the e-mail u used as PRIMARY or press DELETE ACCOUNT and create a NEW one with the same APPLE ID u used before.

If u use the APP do the same thing use your changed APPLE ID (the e-mail thats set as primary) and password”

If you are a user who has been affected, do let us know if this solves the problem.

Categories
iOS Mobile

Internet Tethering On Unlocked iPhone 3G Disabled After iOS 4.2.1 Update?

Yet another bug with the new iOS, people. If you are an iPhone 3G user who has officially unlocked  your handset to migrate to another carrier that Apple has not partnered with, you may be better off holding back on your iOS 4.2.1 update. This is because a number of users, primarily from Europe, who have made the upgrade have noticed that the update has caused the Internet tethering options on their phone to disappear!

This could be annoying because many of these users pay for the tethering option. Apparently, the bug is because the new iOS does not carry forward the carrier settings when making the update. If you are on a carrier that is contracted with Apple, this should happen seamlessly and you may not be affected. However, iPhone users on other carriers lose the tethering options on their handset completely. The issue does not seem to have affected iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 users.

Apple has not acknowledged the issue so far and the only fix right now appears to be downgrading your iPhone to the older iOS 4.1 firmware. In case that is not a process you are comfortable with, you do not have an option but to wait for an official fix to come your way.

Categories
iOS Mobile

iPhone Not Connecting To Car Stereo After iOS 4.2 Upgrade

Every new iOS update seems to be causing some issue or the other with respect to establishing connection with car stereos. Several iPhone users had reported having problems with pairing up their device with a car stereo after upgrading to iOS 4.0 earlier this year. While this was apparently resolved with iOS 4.1, that update brought another issue with many users observing intermittent crackling noises.

With the release of iOS 4.2 (actually iOS 4.2.1 ), problems seem to have cropped up once again. Several users have been complaining that they are having trouble connecting their iPhone to a car stereo over USB. Connecting a device displays a “Device not supported” or “Unreadable” message instead.

At the moment, Apple has not offered an official acknowledgement of the issue. However, there are some reactions from users who have been able to get some details about the issue.

“I have spoken to my local Volvo dealership and they are aware of the issue, and claim that Volvo have raised the issue with Apple and are awaiting a response. Not sure whether that will have much effect – but at least they are aware. Volvo are expecting an Apple patch to solve the issue rather than a car based fix – so we may have to wait for the next iOS update.”

Now that’s sad news since the next iOS update is not expected until mid-December at the least.

Categories
iOS Mobile

iOS 4.2 Update Causing iPod Music Library To Disappear? Here's The Fix

Unless you slept through the whole of yesterday, you may have definitely heard that the new iOS 4.2 update for Apple devices is already available for download over iTunes. The update introduces users to a number of new features. But as several users have been noticing, this update seems to be causing all music on your iPod app to vanish. Users launching the iPod app on their iPhone or iPod Touch may find that their music library no longer exists.

Apparently, this is a bug and it doesn’t actually deletes your music library. Instead, it only stops from showing them. To fix this, carry out these following steps

Step 1 : Connect your iPhone to the computer and launch iTunes

Step 2 : The iPhone will now be listed on the iTunes sidebar. Click on the arrow besides it and select Music. Playing a song on iPhone via iTunes should play the music on your computer.

Step 3 : Now, sync the phone again

You are done.  Disconnecting iPhone and relaunching the iPod app should bring back all the lost music. Did it work?