Apple has pulled its iOS 8.0.1 update following widespread reports the 73.1MB update bricked iPhones by disabling cellular telephony access and the Touch ID fingerprint reader.
From
unexpectedly bendy iPhones to unexpectedly fast iOS updates that are then unexpectedly pulled, Apple has taught the world to unleash its unexpectations.
iOS 8.0.1 appeared – and was then pulled – just a week after iOS 8.0 was unleashed unto the world.
Most Australians were spared the hassle of updating to a buggy iOS update due to the update going online overnight and being pulled before most people woke up this morning.
Rene Ritchie from iMore.com has published
a simple guide to get back to iOS 8.0 for those who might have updated overnight and are now wondering how to go back until Apple launches what may well be iOS 8.0.2.
Apple’s description of the update states that iOS 8.0.1 “contains improvements and bug fixes.”
The more detailed list of changes for the now pulled update includes:
– Fixes a bug so HealthKit apps can now be made available on the App Store.
– Addresses an issue where third-party keyboards could become deselected when a user enters their passcode.
– Fixes an issue that prevented some apps from accessing photos from the Photo Library.
– Improves the reliability of the Reachability feature on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
– Fixes an issue that could cause unexpected cellular data usage when receiving SMS/MMS messages.
– Better support of Ask to buy for Family Sharing for In-App Purchases.
– Fixes an issue where ringtones were sometimes not restored from iCloud backups.
– Fixes a bug that prevented uploading photos and videos from Safari.
These updates plus presumably a couple more will be what we can expect when the iOS 8.0.1 or 8.0.2 update is restored.
As for the “Bend-gate scandal”, I have been using the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus without issue, keeping the 6 in my pants pocket most of the time and the 6 Plus in my jacket pocket because it’s a really big phone and just isn’t something I’ve wanted to put in my pants pocket – front or back!
For those allegedly bending their iPhones by sitting on them, perhaps sitting on a thin device with likely 50+ kilos of weight (or in my case 97kgs of weight) just isn’t a terribly smart idea.
I mean, common sense is called for in these situations and while people have said “yeah but it’s a cell phone that you’re supposed to put in your pocket”, well, make sure you have a solid case and before you sit down and place massive amounts of pressure on your thin device – whichever company makes it – you might want to do the obvious and take it out of your pocket.
Taking a phone out of your pocket when you’re sitting makes it easier to answer, makes it possible to use the screen, and makes sure you don’t unduly place huge pressure on a device that now has a larger surface area, or in the case of the iPhone 6 Plus, a much larger surface area.
Sure, you can use a Bluetooth headset, and I do too, but when you’re dealing with a much bigger iPhone that has ever been available before, keeping the phone in your back pocket when sitting, or your front pocket, and having all that pressure on it just isn’t smart.
Neither is forcibly apply maximum pressure to the phone with your thumbs. Try that with some other phones as has been done online, and you’ll see things bending, you’ll hear internal glues cracking and you’ll see screens partially popping out as we can see in the video below. This isn’t rocket science, dear reader.
In addition, taking your phone out of your pocket when driving and putting the phone into a cradle is also a great way to avoid the temptation of reaching into your pocket and answering a call illegally when driving.
Online comedians have already said “you’re sitting wrong” in reference to Steve Jobs supposedly having said “you’re holding it wrong” when the iPhone 4 “Antenna Gate” episode happened at the time.
My prediction is that is “episode”, this “bend gate” or “bend-ghazi” as has been called online, is yet another one of these “massive Apple problems” that simply disappears in a week or two or three, never to be heard of again, until whatever issue inevitably appears when the iPhone 6S or 7 is launched.
Finally, it’s not as if other phones haven’t had issues. Sony’s Xperia Z and Z2 are well known to have screens that spontaneously crack without any pressure whatsoever.
This happened to a friend of mine who heard some cracking sound. He alerted his colleague, and the two of them watched in sheer horror at the Xperia Z2 lying face up on the table getting a tiny crack which grew larger and larger and larger in the space of a couple of seconds.
Unless you see such a thing with your own eyes, you’d never expect it to happen, but it did and it does – do your own Google search online and be surprised at the endless list of reports from people who not only saw it happen with the first Sony Xperia Z but its follow up, the Z2.
Sony will be launching the Z3 in a couple of weeks in Sydney, I will be sure to ask Sony representatives if they have fixed their cracker of a problem.
Technology – it still needs to be handled with care, no matter who makes it!
