When a new iOS version launches, it’s easy to concentrate on its bugs and forget the problems it causes for third-party iPhone software. An analysis of user reviews made in the weeks since iOS 16 debuted found that social networking apps and dating apps are more likely to have issues on iPhones running Apple’s latest OS.
So if you’re suddenly having problems with a frequently used app, you might not be alone.
Third-party apps and iOS 16 don’t always get along
iPhone users can’t point to third-party developers as the sole source of problems in their software. New iOS versions make many code changes that are unknown to users, and these can play havoc with apps. Developers have access to iOS betas, but some problems still sneak through to emerge after the operating system is released.
To see what types of applications are having the most issues with iOS 16, UnitQ applied artificial intelligence to thousands of reviews of 4,800 mobile apps on the App Store. It compared these to reviews posted before the OS upgrade.
Social networking apps experienced a 42% increase in complaints of product quality issues. Dating apps came in second place with a more than one-third increase in reports of quality problems. Health and fitness apps were in third place with a 21% increase.
To get specific about types of problems, social networking apps saw a 90% increase in users complaining they’re unable to upload photos. Reports of Apple Pay not working in shopping apps went up the same amount. Games saw an 85% increase in complaints of blank screens.
And the problems aren’t all in consumer-oriented software. Business and productivity apps had a 73% increase in users being unable to log into the apps. This was a big problem on new iPhone 14 models but was fixed by iOS 16.0.1.
To be clear, these figures are for percentage increase in complaints of specific problems in app reviews. UnitQ is not saying 90% of users of iPhone shopping apps can’t anccess Apple Pay. Instead, the number of complaints about this problem have almost doubled compared to before the iOS 16 launch.
iOS 15 was actually worse
This analysis shouldn’t be taken as a sign that iOS 16 is excessively buggy. UnitQ did the same analysis shortly after the debut of iOS 15 and found even worse problems. For example, complaints of excessive buffing in social networking apps went up 2,900%. And griping from early iOS 15 adopters that the download button was missing from photo/video apps went up 1,633%.
Those iOS 15 problems were solved for most third-party applications. The same will be true of iOS 16.
And, at this a point, the problems affect less than a quarter of potential users. Data from Pixilate indicates that 23% of iPhones had been upgraded to the latest version after three weeks.
Source: UnitQ
