Software Updates Cause Damage
I don’t know about you but I am getting afraid to update any of the electronic technology such as my iPhone in my life from fear of the repercussions and consequences.
It seems like one out of every four or five software updates, once they are downloaded somehow damages and confuses my Smartphone, computer, or any object they are on or connected to and the software operations of the technology whatever it is.
I downloaded Apple iPhone iOS 13 on around September 20th and it has been really bad all the way through. Most recently iOS 13.1.3 has made my iPhone almost completely inoperable. I have lost all cell phone service, it will not send or receive calls, the texting works intermittently, and the internet will not work unless you are next to a wifi router.
Apple released the iPhone iOS 13 updates on September 19th, iOS 13.1 on September 24th, iOS 13.1.1 on September 27th, iOS 13.1.2 on September 30th, iOS 13.1.3, and on October 15th. That is exceedingly fast in the software world.
Not sure who is running (QC) Quality Control at Apple on updates or who made the final call to “Pull the trigger” and release this one but wow.
Maybe it is just an Apple experiment on tolerance with the human race. Can you imagine literally frustrating and enraging two hundred million people with a keystroke?
Wild Goose Chase
Talk about a waste of time, we spend endless hours on customer support, researching the problem, chat lines, and phone calls trying to sort out the mess that these updates create. I have been thinking about this for quite a while now. Thinking about the actual productivity lost to this process and the frustration.
Most of the time I postpone the inevitable customer support phone call for usually two to three weeks and struggle and live with the problem depending on the severity. Oh yes, excuse me, that is called procrastination.
iPhone on Auto-update
I also made the innocuous mistake of leaving my iPhone on auto-update. It has never been a problem until now and there is no undoing that mistake with Apple Customer Support because trust me I have tried. They will not help you remove the Apple iPhone iOS 13 update or go back to a previous version of the iOS.
As you can see in the picture below that I get on my iPhone Screen 4 to 8 times per day that my iPhone is not working properly.
Yes, I am no longer connected to the Internet because my phone doesn’t work anymore from the very first iOS 13 updates. It is a Chicken or the Egg dilemma?
Technology Mass Loss of Consciousness
What is crazy is like some kind of “Mass Societal Loss of Consciousness”, we have just accepted the fact that talking to customer support for hours and days is normal so you can use your Cell Phone, Computer, or Wearable Technology?
This is now just part of day to day life? We as a species, humans, the world, Americans? We have become accustomed to Corporate America and especially the Technology Sector work out their bugs and bug fixes on the general public at our expense.
Please see some of our other fun and interesting articles “Can A Phone Case Affect Wifi Reception?” and “What Is the Orange Dot on Top of the (4th Gen) Alexa Echo Dot?”
Fitbit Won’t Pair
My life has been a complete frustrating nightmare in regards to my iPhone and things connected to it.
The side effects of the Apple iOS 13 update are that my Fitbit also won’t pair with my iPhone and since downloading and updating the iOS 13. You can see from the description in the picture from Fitbit below that this is a problem that touches everyone.
Distance Affects Signal
This is all leading somewhere but I first noticed a problem in March of this year when I moved somewhat out of town (a whole 3.6 miles) and noticed a change in my iPhone’s reception. It seemed to get worse and was constantly dropping calls but I thought it was just my imagination possibly. In a larger city, the distance that I moved would be unnoticeable to the surrounding carrier access.
Using Someone Else’s Phone
I have been on someone else’s phone interacting with Apple Support on four different days because my iPhone will intermittently not dial out since September 19th, connect to the internet or text. I have gone through every possible fix that Apple Customer Support asked me to initiate but to no avail, it keeps going back to the problem.
Apple’s Option
Apple’s first option is to send me a box and mail my phone into Apple for seven to fourteen days with no certain time frame from customer support on when I will get my iPhone back. No problem!!
They sent me the box, but I cannot lose my phone for that time frame (Not many people can) so I am postponing that option for the time being because I have to go to Anchorage anyway for other business.
I had to drive 41/2 hours to Anchorage Alaska to have them look at my iPhone because although I don’t live in remote Alaska it feels like it sometimes when it comes to technology. In a small town, there is a small GCI Cell Phone Carrier store in Homer Alaska where I live but they are not open on weekends and are limited to what they can do. Not sure how the average working person can get in there without taking off work?
A Day at Disneyland
A day at Disneyland is an analogy to waiting in line all day for a ride. Slowly making your way through the barricaded snake of a line that you cant see the front of. What is a couple of hours for each ride inline in the summer out of your life anyway right? 10 hours, 5 rides, no problem. It is the happiest place on earth?
Now I always make appointments especially with the Apple Store over the years but we had multiple items on our agenda for our trip to the big city for 3 days so we could not narrow our time frame down, unfortunately.
When we got to the Apple Store entrance there was a line in front of the store. So instead of getting into the line I went looking for and spoke to the Apple Barista “Specialist”. The Apple Specialist told me the wait time was approximately 90 minutes and took down our name, and assigned a time frame for the “Genius Bar” to help us.
Apple Store
When we finally got into the Genius Bar to see the Apple “Genius” he finally told me that the problem I am having with my phone is a known error with iPhone 7’s. Really? The iOS.13 issue is just magnifying the problem.
We then went through the repair scenarios and I would have to have my phone mailed to the factory from the Apple Store. They could not give me a loaner phone at the store even though this was an Apple manufacturing issue.
The Apple Genius also told me that with this knowledge that I should call Apple and ask for an “Express Return” which means they would give me a loaner phone through the mail and I would have to back mine up, remove the sim card and put it in the loaner phone and then mail mine back to Apple.
Now remember at this point I have been on the phone with Apple support with someone else’s phone on four (4) different days because my phone will not call in or out or text.
I have driven 41/2 hours to the Apple store because no one from Apple Customer Support could tell me on the phone that they had this problem with the iPhone 7?
iPhone Factory Repair
Although I like Apple iPhones and the security they afford I do not feel a need to have the latest model in my hands at all times. The iPhone 11 looks interesting and our Apple Genius showed us some pictures of his brother he just took sitting in his car one day with his brand new iPhone 11.
The picture was the most amazing clear picture I believe I have ever seen. We will see what happens in the next phase of the iPhone repair issue.
Other Manufacturer and Software Programs Problems
So obviously Apple is not the only technology or software manufacturer with these kinds of issues. All companies have these issues so it does not matter if it is Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Quicken, Chevy, or Instagram.
Quicken my bank account computer program was just down for three weeks because at least once per year their update does something to my program. The slow call back time on my part is because calling any customer support is like running a cheese grater down your arm.
I just spent 2 hours on the phone with them to fix the problem that it has not fixed completely and have to call them back and do it all over again.
Two months ago our Instagram account was not working and that is a whole other ball game figuring out how to have them help you fix issues with their program but to their credit, they did fix it.
My HP Wireless Printer went down after a Microsoft update also and that was a cumulative four-hour search and figure out the mission that I have become very accustomed too.
Even my Chevy Vehicle was part of the main reason for our trip to Anchorage to fix 3 different recalls at one time to save time. Let’s not talk about planned obsolescence here.
Samsung Keyboard Glitch
In an article titled “How a keyboard glitch left 600 million Samsung smartphones at risk of being hacked” by Jacob Bogage in the Washington Post states just how dangerous these issues can also be.
“More than 600 million Samsung mobile devices including the Galaxy S6 are vulnerable to a security breach that could allow hackers to take control of the devices, according to a report by mobile security firm NowSecure.
The devices’ word prediction software, produced by software firm SwiftKey, could give hackers “system privileges,” or control of the entire device, according to the report.”
Is Technology Saving us Time?
It sure doesn’t feel like it some times but in the big picture and with the race for new technology it permeates our lives more every day. With the (IoT) Internet of Things, 5G technology, Artificial Intelligence, Self Driving Cars, Robots, and the list goes on and on in the hope that life will become easier than it is today.
In a report from Pew Research titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humans” it states:
“The experts predicted networked artificial intelligence will amplify human effectiveness but also threaten human autonomy, agency, and capabilities. They spoke of the wide-ranging possibilities; that computers might match or even exceed human intelligence and capabilities on tasks such as complex decision-making, reasoning and learning, sophisticated analytics and pattern recognition, visual acuity, speech recognition, and language translation. They said “smart” systems in communities, in vehicles, in buildings and utilities, on farms and in business processes will save time, money and lives and offer opportunities for individuals to enjoy a more-customized future.”
Also in an article from the Independent by Gemma Francis titled “Modern technology saves the average person two weeks each year, study claims” they state that in a survey of 2,000 adults they found:
“Modern technology is saving the average person two weeks each year that would otherwise be spent on mundane tasks like shopping and banking, a new poll claims.”
It doesn’t look like we are going backward from here anytime soon.
How to Remove the Latest Apple iPhone iOS Update
We would always recommend contacting Apple for official support and guidance to deal with iOS update issues first.
After talking to five separate Apple employees none of them ever told me about this option of removing the Latest Apple iPhone iOS Update to maybe help with the situation or to reload it. This may or may not help but is an option.
- Open the “Settings” app
- Go to “General” and then to “iPhone Storage”
- Locate iOS 13.1.3 or the one you want to remove in the list and tap on that
- At the bottom press on “Delete Update” and confirm that you want to remove the update from your device
- Delete the latest iOS update
- Restart the iPhone by turning the device off and back on again (or hard reboot)
- Return to “Settings” > General > Software Update and click “Download & Install” when iOS 13 shows up again
References:
https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-13/
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210393
https://developer.apple.com/news/releases/?id=10152019b
https://ios.gadgethacks.com/news/reasons-why-you-shouldnt-update-your-iphone-ios-13-right-away-0206476/
https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/12/10/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-humans/
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/does-tech-really-make-our-lives-easier/