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You might want to hold off on updating to iOS 11
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You might want to hold off on updating to iOS 11

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Screengrab via EverythingApplePro/YouTube

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iPhone users are reporting critical bugs in iOS 11, putting a damper on an exciting month for tech giant Apple.

First reported by the Next Web, dozens of iPhone users took to Reddit to complain about the recently released operating system in the last week. Some users say certain applications, especially music apps like Apple Music and Spotify, are crashing or experiencing strange hiccups. Others claim their iPhones are now getting significantly worse battery life after updating from iOS 10 to iOS 11.

A new report from mobile security firm Wandera seems to confirm many of these issues. The company discovered that battery life for iOS 11 upgrades is decaying more than twice as fast as iOS 10. The report suggests only upgraders are experiencing problems, not those who use Apple’s new iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus.

“Ever since I upgraded, launching apps is an absolute chore. Safari, Reddit, ESPN, Yahoo, texts, etc all have a terrible time opening,” leejoness, the Reddit user who started the iOS 11 discussion thread, posted. “They either crash back to home, freeze and require closing the app or take well over a minute to load. I never had a single issue with my 7+ before last night and now suddenly it’s like this phone is stuck in quicksand. I’ve never had to hard reset this phone before but I’ve had to do it twice in the past two days.”

Comments from dozens of others echoed the user’s complaints. “I am having very similar issues with the 7. Apps just freeze up, forcing me to shutdown the phone and restart. It’s honestly bordering unusable,” one user said.

Others stated, “My audio sounds fucked on Bluetooth,” and “it’s been a horrible upgrade for me as well. I’ve had app lockups daily, never had this problem before upgrading to ios11 🙁 going to give it a fresh update and see if that sorts it out (as suggested in the comments).”

Some users say the only way to fix the problem is by restoring iPhone settings and setting the phone up as new. (To do this go to “Setting,” then “General,” then “Reset,” then “Reset all settings.”)

User “hurtmemore” claims they were able to restore their phone back to iOS 10.3.3 and felt an immediate difference:

I just restored to 10.3.3

Without exaggeration it immediately felt better to be back on 10 than it has for the past week on 11. Messages are faster, launching Siri, safari, notes, even lock screen, control center, some animations, etc. I think they released an OS with bugs and poor optimization especially for older phones. And some questionable UI choices. Might try again in 11.1 or 11.2 but this is better for me right now.

However, the process is fairly involved, and you’ll lose your custom settings and apps.

Folks have also taken to Twitter to slam the new OS.

Do keep in mind, it’s common for a new operating system—even one from Apple—to release with several bugs. That’s no excuse, but we still suggest you keep your phone up to date for security reasons and brave the storm until Apple issues the necessary updates. Alternatively, you can hold on to 10.3.3 a while longer until you’re convinced everything’s been ironed out.

Of course, not everyone is experiencing these issues so keep that in mind when you’re staring down at the “update available” prompt on your iPhone.

We have reached out to Apple and will update this article if we hear back.

Phillip Tracy

Phillip Tracy

Phillip Tracy is a former technology staff writer at the Daily Dot. He's an expert on smartphones, social media trends, and gadgets. He previously reported on IoT and telecom for RCR Wireless News and contributed to NewBay Media magazine. He now writes for Laptop magazine.

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