Apple withdraws the latest beta version of iOS, which would block iPhones

The latest iOS beta, iOS 17.3, apparently has major problems. Problems serious enough that Apple withdraws the beta version from circulation after only a few hours.

After the release of iOS 17.3 Beta 2 this week, reports began to pour in that some users who had installed it were seeing their iPhone stuck in a boot loop. The devices would restart without stopping and without ever fully charging. Consequence: Apple quickly made the beta version unavailable for download and installation.

According to a Mastodon user, the problem is at least partially related to the “Back Tap” gesture. Designed primarily as an accessibility function, the Back Tap gesture allows users to assign specific functions to a double or triple press on the back of their phone. “It seems that the iOS 17.3 beta 2 startup loop is caused by a Back Tap crash,” the user wrote. “According to the crash log, it is likely that this will happen for those who have activated the ‘Back Tap’ function. Other accessibility subsystems seem to be affected by the same bug, but it is this crash that causes the startup loop.”

Avoid installing beta versions on your main smartphone

Affected users reported that restoring their iOS to an earlier version, either 17.3 beta 1 or iOS 17.2.1, fixed the problem.

It should be noted that it is highly discouraged to install beta versions of iOS on your main smartphone, as they are designed to do exactly what happened here: expose bugs and flaws.

Shortly after withdrawing the beta version, Apple added a paragraph to the patch notes: “iOS and iPadOS 17.3 beta 2 have been temporarily withdrawn due to an issue preventing a small number of devices from booting up. If your device is in this state, you can recover it by entering Recovery mode and restoring a previous version of iOS.”

The latest beta version of iOS 17, released in December, brought a major security feature, the protection of stolen devices, as well as Apple Music collaborative playlists and some small bug fixes. The new version should not bring any major new features, but only a few small fixes.

Source: “ZDNet.com “