Apple on Wednesday released and then quickly retracted an update to the software that underlies iPhones and iPads after early adopters reported numerous bugs.
The update was the first for iOS 8, the latest version of Apple s operating system for mobile devices, which the company released a week ago. Dubbed, prosaically, version 8.0.1, the update was supposed to offer fixes to a wide variety of problems reported with the initial release of iOS 8.
However, in this case, the cure seems to have been worse than the disease. After installing the update, some users reported that they were no longer able to access the cellular networks on their phones, while others reported having problems with Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor built into the latest iPhones.
Apple spokeswoman Laura Newell confirmed that Apple was no longer offering the update.
We have received reports of an issue with the iOS 8.0.1 update, Apple said in an emailed statement. We are actively investigating these reports and will provide information as quickly as we can.
Newell declined to say how many users had downloaded the update before Apple discontinued it. She also did not know if users who installed it could remove it and return to the original version of iOS 8.
IOS 8 offers a host of new features, including new options for sharing content and interacting with apps. One feature it was supposed to include — but didn t at launch — was the ability to collect together the data from various health and fitness applications into a new Apple-provided Health app. However, immediately before the launch of iOS 8, Apple discovered a bug in the underlying software that would connect Health to other apps. The update released Wednesday was supposed to fix that bug.
Other bugs it was supposed to address included one that affected the ability to use third-party keyboards and one that prevented access to the Photo gallery in other apps.
Photo: Apple s iPhone 5s devices running iOS 8 (Courtesy of Apple).
