A few days ago, three of the major issues and problems encountered with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were featured and discussed. Some stem from the actual hardware of the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, while others originate with the phone’s software and the intricacies of the iOS 8 operating system and the various updates that have followed its initial release last September. Some of these issues can be solved by changing settings on the iPhone, updating the smartphone’s software, or through other processes of trial and error.
But whether you're an Android user looking for a change or an owner of a previous-generation iPhone considering an upgrade, here are the other major issues that might be encountered with iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.
iMessage and SMS Issues
The site iMore reported that some owners of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are having problems sending regular SMS messages, and instead can only send iMessages from their new iPhones. iMessage, the instant messaging service that is built in to Apple’s Messages app, enables users to send text, image, and video messages to anyone with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. But some iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners find that they can only receive iMessages.
Apple's Continuity feature, which it introduced with iOS 8 to enable users to send and receive SMS messages on their Macs or iPads, is susceptible to connection issues that can cause issues with SMS messaging. Network settings or expansions to LTE networks can also contribute to problems with the Messages app. iMore notes that the issues often are specifically related to VoLTE, and affect users in areas where it’s being actively expanded.
Keyboard Problems
Many iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners have had some persistent issues with the default keyboard on their iPhones — some that are not even helped by the fact that iOS 8 added the ability for users to download third-party keyboards and use them across the iPhone. Some experienced disappearing keyboards or other strange glitches, and Forbes reported that thanks to the way that the keyboard is reconfigured for the larger iPhones, many iPhone 6 users find themselves accidentally tapping the period key instead of the space bar in the Safari app. Enabling voice dictation causes the keyboard to become even more congested.
While iOS 8.3 was expected to fix the issues, a thread on Apple's support forum, titled "iOS 8.3 just screwed up my keyboard," detailed an array of persistent keyboard issues that users still experienced after upgrading to iOS 8.3. While users have found workarounds and settings to change, several concluded that problems with the operating system’s Accessibility features were contributing to their keyboard issues. Many are hoping that Apple sorts out iOS’s issues with rendering the keyboard for its larger iPhones before iOS 9 rolls around.
TouchID Security
Security experts and privacy-minded users alike have complained that the iPhone’s TouchID fingerprint sensor can be fooled with some basic forensic work and a fake fingerprint, and that hasn’t changed with the iPhone 6, according to TomsGuide. While Apple seems to have made some improvements to TouchID, experts think that the sensor still represents a security issue, especially when it comes to Apple Pay.
Germany’s Chaos Computer Club proved that it could unlock an iPhone 5s using a fingerprint lifted from a surface like glass, or even from the iPhone itself. By photographing, inverting, and printing out the fingerprint, a hacker was able to create a replica fingerprint that fooled the TouchID fingerprint sensor. Marc Rogers of San Francisco-based Lookout Mobile Security devised a more complex technique that worked not only on the iPhone 5S, but also on the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. But Rogers did note that the iPhone 6's TouchID sensor was equipped with a more accurate scanner than previous generations, though he regarded that improvement as more of a benefit for iPhone users than one that enhanced the security of the feature.
According to Business Insider, Rogers said that the hackability of TouchID isn’t much of a security issue until Apple Pay enters the picture. With the introduction of Apple Pay, TouchID protects access to users’ credit cards and debit cards, and Rogers says that criminals "now have a huge financial incentive" to devise methods that make it easier and quicker to hack the sensor.
Rogers thinks that Apple missed some opportunities to make that impossible with the iPhone 6; the sensor could have looked for conductivity or used light to detect structures below the skin. "The biggest take-away from this is that I'm disappointed in Apple. The fingerprint sensor problem has been around for a long time. A fingerprint is easy to reproduce. We leave our fingerprints around every time we touch a shiny surface."
WiFi Connection Glitches
One of the biggest problems with the iPhone 6 is its persistent issues staying connected to WiFi. Users have reported a variety of issues, from their phones having difficulty finding their home WiFi networks to their iPhones consistently disconnecting from WiFi to their phones performing sluggishly when connected to WiFi. Writing for Forbes, Gordon Kelly reported that Apple’s recent iOS 8.3 served as an acknowledgment of the existence of a problem that users have termed "WiFried." The WiFried bug causes WiFi connections to drop repeatedly without reason, impacting activities ranging from web browsing to streaming music to uploading or downloading files.
The iOS 8.3 release notes state that the update "Addresses an issue where some devices disconnect intermittently from Wi-Fi networks," but Kelly notes that Apple’s usage of the word "some" seems to be an understatement of the size of the problem. "While technically correct for a platform used by hundreds of millions, a 'WiFried' Google search turns up nearly 70,000 results and – at the time of writing – the aforementioned Apple Support Communities thread has amassed nearly 800,000 views and is approaching 3,000 replies across 183 pages."
While Apple hadn't officially acknowledged the problem before the update, iOS 8.3 changed that. But a number of reports indicate that the update hasn’t fixed the WiFi issues for some iPhone 6 users, for whom the issues with intermittent WiFi connections still persist.
(Article first published in CheatSheet by Jess Bolluyt.)
But whether you're an Android user looking for a change or an owner of a previous-generation iPhone considering an upgrade, here are the other major issues that might be encountered with iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.
iMessage and SMS Issues
The site iMore reported that some owners of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are having problems sending regular SMS messages, and instead can only send iMessages from their new iPhones. iMessage, the instant messaging service that is built in to Apple’s Messages app, enables users to send text, image, and video messages to anyone with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. But some iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners find that they can only receive iMessages.
Apple's Continuity feature, which it introduced with iOS 8 to enable users to send and receive SMS messages on their Macs or iPads, is susceptible to connection issues that can cause issues with SMS messaging. Network settings or expansions to LTE networks can also contribute to problems with the Messages app. iMore notes that the issues often are specifically related to VoLTE, and affect users in areas where it’s being actively expanded.
Keyboard Problems
Many iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners have had some persistent issues with the default keyboard on their iPhones — some that are not even helped by the fact that iOS 8 added the ability for users to download third-party keyboards and use them across the iPhone. Some experienced disappearing keyboards or other strange glitches, and Forbes reported that thanks to the way that the keyboard is reconfigured for the larger iPhones, many iPhone 6 users find themselves accidentally tapping the period key instead of the space bar in the Safari app. Enabling voice dictation causes the keyboard to become even more congested.
While iOS 8.3 was expected to fix the issues, a thread on Apple's support forum, titled "iOS 8.3 just screwed up my keyboard," detailed an array of persistent keyboard issues that users still experienced after upgrading to iOS 8.3. While users have found workarounds and settings to change, several concluded that problems with the operating system’s Accessibility features were contributing to their keyboard issues. Many are hoping that Apple sorts out iOS’s issues with rendering the keyboard for its larger iPhones before iOS 9 rolls around.
TouchID Security
Security experts and privacy-minded users alike have complained that the iPhone’s TouchID fingerprint sensor can be fooled with some basic forensic work and a fake fingerprint, and that hasn’t changed with the iPhone 6, according to TomsGuide. While Apple seems to have made some improvements to TouchID, experts think that the sensor still represents a security issue, especially when it comes to Apple Pay.
Germany’s Chaos Computer Club proved that it could unlock an iPhone 5s using a fingerprint lifted from a surface like glass, or even from the iPhone itself. By photographing, inverting, and printing out the fingerprint, a hacker was able to create a replica fingerprint that fooled the TouchID fingerprint sensor. Marc Rogers of San Francisco-based Lookout Mobile Security devised a more complex technique that worked not only on the iPhone 5S, but also on the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. But Rogers did note that the iPhone 6's TouchID sensor was equipped with a more accurate scanner than previous generations, though he regarded that improvement as more of a benefit for iPhone users than one that enhanced the security of the feature.
According to Business Insider, Rogers said that the hackability of TouchID isn’t much of a security issue until Apple Pay enters the picture. With the introduction of Apple Pay, TouchID protects access to users’ credit cards and debit cards, and Rogers says that criminals "now have a huge financial incentive" to devise methods that make it easier and quicker to hack the sensor.
Rogers thinks that Apple missed some opportunities to make that impossible with the iPhone 6; the sensor could have looked for conductivity or used light to detect structures below the skin. "The biggest take-away from this is that I'm disappointed in Apple. The fingerprint sensor problem has been around for a long time. A fingerprint is easy to reproduce. We leave our fingerprints around every time we touch a shiny surface."
WiFi Connection Glitches
One of the biggest problems with the iPhone 6 is its persistent issues staying connected to WiFi. Users have reported a variety of issues, from their phones having difficulty finding their home WiFi networks to their iPhones consistently disconnecting from WiFi to their phones performing sluggishly when connected to WiFi. Writing for Forbes, Gordon Kelly reported that Apple’s recent iOS 8.3 served as an acknowledgment of the existence of a problem that users have termed "WiFried." The WiFried bug causes WiFi connections to drop repeatedly without reason, impacting activities ranging from web browsing to streaming music to uploading or downloading files.
The iOS 8.3 release notes state that the update "Addresses an issue where some devices disconnect intermittently from Wi-Fi networks," but Kelly notes that Apple’s usage of the word "some" seems to be an understatement of the size of the problem. "While technically correct for a platform used by hundreds of millions, a 'WiFried' Google search turns up nearly 70,000 results and – at the time of writing – the aforementioned Apple Support Communities thread has amassed nearly 800,000 views and is approaching 3,000 replies across 183 pages."
While Apple hadn't officially acknowledged the problem before the update, iOS 8.3 changed that. But a number of reports indicate that the update hasn’t fixed the WiFi issues for some iPhone 6 users, for whom the issues with intermittent WiFi connections still persist.
(Article first published in CheatSheet by Jess Bolluyt.)
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