iOS 15 Bugs Deleting Photos, Freezing Mail App, More; Siri Removes Voice Commands That Help Visually Challenged Users

The issues cropping up from iOS 15 may impact iPad users running on iPadOS 15 — considering both are built on the same foundation.

By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 30 September 2021 13:19 IST

iOS 15 Bugs Deleting Photos, Freezing Mail App, More; Siri Removes Voice Commands That Help Visually Challenged Users

Photo Credit: Apple

Apple brought iOS 15 with new features, but it introduced bugs for some users

Highlights

iOS 15 is found to have bugs impacting users storing photos from messages
The new iOS version is also making camera viewfinder non-functional
Siri is discovered to have silently removed certain voice commands

iOS 15 — the latest software from Apple that was released last week — is being reported to have introduced a series of bugs. Amongst the issues, multiple users have reported that after updating to the new iOS version, the photos they download from the Messages app delete once they remove the thread carrying them. Some other users have complained that the iOS 15 update causes the default Camera app to sometimes bring a non-functional viewfinder. There are also complaints around iPhone wake up issues and the freezing of the default Mail app. Separately, Siri is discovered to have removed features alongside the iOS 15 release that helped the visually challenged. The features are also no longer working on previous iOS versions.

Some users on Apple Support Community forums have reported that after installing iOS 15, the photos they download from a messages thread delete once they remove that particular thread from the Messages app. The deletion appears to come into place once the iCloud Backup is performed, which is automatically in most cases.

MacRumors reports that even if the photos that users download from messages are saved in iCloud Photo Library, they are deleted when the thread is removed.

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Apple has not yet acknowledged the problem. Some users have pointed out that it persists on iOS 15.1 beta 2. This suggests that the bug is yet to be fixed.

The extent of the issue could be large enough as the iCloud Backup feature is enabled by default by most Apple users. So, for the time being, the only solution for keeping photos downloaded from the Messages app is to not delete the threads from where they came initially.

In addition to the photos bug, iOS 15 is found to have introduced problems including a non-functional viewfinder in the default Camera app. Mikey Campbell of Apple Insider noted in a tweet alongside the camera issue, the new iOS version causes the iPhone to not wake on touch and become unresponsive after trying to unlock by swiping up. The Mail app also freezes in some cases.

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The iOS 15 update also restricted users from disabling Apple TV Keyboard notifications. Apple has provided a workaround to remove notifications coming for enabling Apple TV Keyboard on an iPhone by going to Settings > Notifications > Apple TV Keyboard. But as MacRumors reports, the new software doesn't allow users to disable those notifications.

Some iOS 15 users particularly using the iPhone 13 models also a few days back reported they were not able to access the Unlock with Apple Apple Watch feature. Apple acknowledged the problem and promised to bring its fix.

It is important to note that most of the bugs related to iOS 15 appear to be visible on iPadOS 15 as well — considering the fact that both are based on the same foundation. Both new iOS and iPadOS versions were released for compatible Apple devices earlier this month.

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Aside from the issues people are facing after updating to iOS 15, Siri seems to have discontinued some of the important features alongside the release of the latest iOS update. The voice assistant was helping people with visual impairment to access phone calls, voicemails, and send emails that are no longer available.

MacRumors mentioned that Siri used to support commands including “Do I have any voicemails?”, “Check my call history”, and “Send an email”. These commands have apparently been removed, without informing users.

Some users have reported the removals on the AppleVis forums — the dedicated place where visually impaired and low vision users discuss Apple products and their experiences.

Instead of allowing access to any of the previously supported features, Siri has started responding to users with a message saying, “I can't help with that.”

Particularly in the case of voicemails, Siri still does support playing the most recent voicemail message or a voicemail from a specific caller. It, however, doesn't read out the list of all available voicemails.

Users believe that the removals have come alongside the release of iOS 15, though the voice commands in question are no longer accessible even on earlier iOS versions, including iOS 14.

Gadgets 360 has reached out to Apple for a comment on the matter and will update this space when the company responds.

This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we discuss iPhone 13, new iPad and iPad mini, and Apple Watch Series 7 — and what they mean to the Indian market. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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