iOS 7 launch hit by performance and security issues

Apple’s launch of iOS 7 on Wednesday (September 18th) appears to have been plagued by issues for users grabbing the major update.

The problems started almost immediately with the firmware’s release, with users attempting to download the update for Apple’s iPad and iPhones devices experiencing a multitude of error codes, malfunctions and incredibly slow download speeds.

Even some of those who managed to install the update have battled with the changes, with battery issues (a common complaint with iOS updates), app incompatibility and slow response times seemingly common.

Some app developers have advised users to stick with iOS 6 until the new firmware is fully free of bugs. The makers of app Audiobus have criticised changes in iOS 7’s new ability to transfer audio between apps, saying crashes and performance issues are widespread.

Security flaws have also been discovered in the fresh software, one of which allows anybody to bypass a passcode-locked phone by using iOS 7’s new ‘Control Centre’ from the lockscreen.

The intruder then enters the alarm clock app and holds the iPhone’s sleep button, before cancelling and double tapping the home button to enter the phone’s multitasking mode, from which photos can be accessed, as well as any social media accounts through which the photos can be shared.

The flaw can be stopped by disabling the lockscreen Control Centre in the iPhone’s settings, but remains a vulnerability for those with the feature, which is on by default, enabled.

Many took to social media networks to voice their opinions – both positive and negative – about the software, with over seven million tweets about iOS 7 in the first two days of its launch.

The tweets varied in their tone, with one user joking: “I never got what my wife went through being in labour for 30 hours with our twins until I started downloading iOS 7” and another saying “Uh wow, none of iOS 7′s new ringtones are of the musical genre dubstep. Talk about epic fail.”

Even parody Twitter accounts rode the zeitgeist, with “God” (@The TweetOfGod) himself appearing to have troubles: “There seems to be a slight bug in the Universe 7 upgrade software. Don’t worry if it starts raining methane. It will only last a few days.”