Apple iOS 10.1.1 bug alert: Device owners complain of sudden battery draining, earpods malfunction

Apple released the iOS 10.1.1 update some time back to fix the bug in iOS 10.1 firmware, which denied access to health app data. Now, it has come to light that the new software patch is riddled with two bugs causing negative user experience. 

Several Apple device owners on Apple support page (first reported by keen-eyed Gordon Kelly) have complained that after upgrading to the iOS 10.1.1, they are facing earpods malfunction issues. People were also facing trouble switching between playing music via earpods to the speaker to answer a phone call. Despite pressing the speaker button, the mic doesn't work.

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Some people tried rebooting the device, and it worked fine for some time. But the issue returns.

Here is one of the complaint related to the earpods malfunction registered on Apple help forum page:

"I am wrestling with mutegate on my 6S+ running 10.1.1. The symptoms appeared immediately after upgrading to iOS 10 (never before) and are exactly as others have reported. The best temporary relief from daily reboots is to have calls set to speaker and then manually switch to headphones once a call starts - this makes the mute bug appear less frequently. But it still appears.

Yesterday I deleted the phone, set it up as new and then recovered my backup, first from iTunes (where I ran into a problem) and then from iCloud. Took me several hours. Mute problem appeared again today, so it was a complete waste of time.

Speaking for the third time with Apple support, they now suggested me to 'Erase all settings'. It's the option at the top of the list and I'm not sure of the exact words, as my iPhone is set to Swedish. Now I have done that, it removes all passwords, WiFi, personal settings on the phone, Apple ID etc. Will report later if it helps!," LejonKlou complained.

A second issue being faced by iPhone users who upgraded to iOS 10.1.1 is that their device, despite having enough battery life, abruptly gets switched off.

Many people have experienced this issue at different points of the battery life, but more cases have been reported at around 30 percent mark, Forbes reported.

What's more odd about this issue is that when it is plugged to a charging port, the iPhone reboots, showing 30 percent power. Upon unplugging, it continues to work a few more hours like nothing happened.

Going by the complaint registry, it is seen that these issue was first detected in iOS 10.1 (and also v10.0), but it is only getting highlighted in the media now, so maybe iOS 10.1.1 aggravated the issue in more devices.

Here are some of the complaints related to the battery problem posted on Apple help forum page:

"Interestingly I also identified this problem on my iPhone 7, and it only has 7 days of use, unfortunately I'm already having a bad experience with the new iPhone 7, although the problem is only iOS 10.1.1 should fix this urgently," MaiconHerverton said.

"I'm having an issue where my battery will just drain without any apps running. I checked my settings and saw that Apple Music has been running 6.5hrs worth of background apps. Not sure if that's the culprit, or if there's a way to shut down background apps. My phone dropped from 80, to 50, to 19 percent battery life today. Never had these issues prior to the update," SlappyJerry91 complained.

Initially, these two issues were thought to be affecting only a few individuals, but over the weeks, the complaint threads have swelled to several pages, indicating that the issue is quite widespread and needs immediate attention from Apple. 

The company is currently testing iOS 10.2 and has already released three beta versions to registered developers.

The company may release minor incremental update iOS 10.1.2, to fix the glitches or incorporate the software patch in the iOS 10.2 and make it available to the public soon.

Keep an eye on this space for more updates.