iPhone 5s Went Crazy
hi folks
early this morning when i was checking emails and messages on my iPhone 5s, it seemed suddenly not responsive to my touch and gestures. it simply froze there for a while, about 10 seconds if i remember correctly.
then it went crazy. the phone looked like working on its own, switching between apps or opening an app, typing something randomly, turning pages to left or right, or scrolling the content up and down, just like a toddler was operating the phone.
i tried double pressing the Home button to switch apps but I could only see the floating apps for a very short while, then the chaos continued. i also tried starting Siri by holding down the Home button, i could see Siri started and showed its options but that's all. it lost control, totally.
initially I thought the chaos was caused by my touch and gestures when the phone was frozen. but I then realised it was not true simply because i definitely didn't operate blindly that much. the phone kept doing in an insane way and no sign shown to stop.
thanks God the Power Off function still worked and I stopped the crazy behaviour finally.
after rebooting the iPhone 5s, everything is back to normal and like nothing happened before.
but WHY?
anyone of you ever had the same or similar experience before? what can cause this issue? a sign of being attacked or targeted?
all comments and suggestions are welcome.
thanks
bbao
early this morning when i was checking emails and messages on my iPhone 5s, it seemed suddenly not responsive to my touch and gestures. it simply froze there for a while, about 10 seconds if i remember correctly.
then it went crazy. the phone looked like working on its own, switching between apps or opening an app, typing something randomly, turning pages to left or right, or scrolling the content up and down, just like a toddler was operating the phone.
i tried double pressing the Home button to switch apps but I could only see the floating apps for a very short while, then the chaos continued. i also tried starting Siri by holding down the Home button, i could see Siri started and showed its options but that's all. it lost control, totally.
initially I thought the chaos was caused by my touch and gestures when the phone was frozen. but I then realised it was not true simply because i definitely didn't operate blindly that much. the phone kept doing in an insane way and no sign shown to stop.
thanks God the Power Off function still worked and I stopped the crazy behaviour finally.
after rebooting the iPhone 5s, everything is back to normal and like nothing happened before.
but WHY?
anyone of you ever had the same or similar experience before? what can cause this issue? a sign of being attacked or targeted?
all comments and suggestions are welcome.
thanks
bbao
ASKER
thank you for your prompt reply John.
yes, I never turn off my iPhone. i believe the phone was designed to be nonstop. :)
but WHY this could happen? any official Apple KB recognises this issue?
yes, I never turn off my iPhone. i believe the phone was designed to be nonstop. :)
but WHY this could happen? any official Apple KB recognises this issue?
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A hard reset would be a good idea at this point. That refreshes all apps without deleting anything. iOS is not immune to software glitches.
Press and hold the home button and the off button simultaneouly. Hold until your phone reboots. It only takes a minute or so.
If the problem reoccurs, you may need to restore to factory settings. Backup to iCloud first.
A good article here:
http://www.isunshare.com/iphone-ipad/three-ways-to-hard-reset-iphone.html
Press and hold the home button and the off button simultaneouly. Hold until your phone reboots. It only takes a minute or so.
If the problem reoccurs, you may need to restore to factory settings. Backup to iCloud first.
A good article here:
http://www.isunshare.com/iphone-ipad/three-ways-to-hard-reset-iphone.html
Do you have the latest IOS updates installed? I'm not using an iPhone regularly. My Android 6.0.1 device gets updated every month and I never reboot between updates.
ASKER
> This happened to me before as well and the best solution is just shut it down.
so it should be a known issue and not uncommon for iPhone users?
i would speculate that Apple is also aware of the issue but i am wondering if they could recognise it publicly. if there is no official solution or patch (not the power recycle quick-fix here) against it, I would guess it is a serious bug not fixed by Apple.
> Another thing is that don't take your phone to any place that has high humidity
is it okay for iPhone staying on in an unventilated environment such as under clothes (does happen at home)? if not, will it be a chance to cause this disorder?
> A hard reset would be a good idea at this point
a hard reset is NOT a preferred fix here as it cleans all custom made settings. it would take hours for me to get every thing manually restored.
> Do you have the latest IOS updates installed?
yes, the device is fully patched, currently running iOS 9.3.2 (13F69).
> My Android 6.0.1 device gets updated every month and I never reboot between updates.
an Android device does not need to reboot between updates? even for a major upgrade?
so it should be a known issue and not uncommon for iPhone users?
i would speculate that Apple is also aware of the issue but i am wondering if they could recognise it publicly. if there is no official solution or patch (not the power recycle quick-fix here) against it, I would guess it is a serious bug not fixed by Apple.
> Another thing is that don't take your phone to any place that has high humidity
is it okay for iPhone staying on in an unventilated environment such as under clothes (does happen at home)? if not, will it be a chance to cause this disorder?
> A hard reset would be a good idea at this point
a hard reset is NOT a preferred fix here as it cleans all custom made settings. it would take hours for me to get every thing manually restored.
> Do you have the latest IOS updates installed?
yes, the device is fully patched, currently running iOS 9.3.2 (13F69).
> My Android 6.0.1 device gets updated every month and I never reboot between updates.
an Android device does not need to reboot between updates? even for a major upgrade?
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I do not have to do a hard reset (although with a full backup that only takes 30 minutes).
Powering off is recommended from time to time because as we have said phones are fallible computers. If there were an easy fix, Apple would have fixed it long ago.
Expecting a phone NEVER to be power cycled is unrealistic from my perspective.
Powering off is recommended from time to time because as we have said phones are fallible computers. If there were an easy fix, Apple would have fixed it long ago.
Expecting a phone NEVER to be power cycled is unrealistic from my perspective.
A hard reset does not clear custom settings.
That's a factory reset.
That's a factory reset.
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I second the opinion from John of "Expecting a phone NEVER to be power cycled is unrealistic from my perspective".
A smartphone is essentially a computer like the desktop or notebook computer. You need to power off it and restart it from time to time.
You may ask a question why I cannot make my smartphone to work like my server which does not need to reboot for a very long period, say 3 months.
It is essentially different from server PC and client PC (endpoint) as client PC runs different kinds of software (app) on it and there are crashes among different apps and the OS from time to time which will result in weird situation which can only be fixed by restarting the client PC.
A smartphone is essentially a computer like the desktop or notebook computer. You need to power off it and restart it from time to time.
You may ask a question why I cannot make my smartphone to work like my server which does not need to reboot for a very long period, say 3 months.
It is essentially different from server PC and client PC (endpoint) as client PC runs different kinds of software (app) on it and there are crashes among different apps and the OS from time to time which will result in weird situation which can only be fixed by restarting the client PC.
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@Alan
> A hard reset does not clear custom settings.
ADAIK there is no such a "hard reset" term in the offical guides and instructions for Apple iOS. which kind of reset in the screenshot are you referring to?
image.png
> A hard reset does not clear custom settings.
ADAIK there is no such a "hard reset" term in the offical guides and instructions for Apple iOS. which kind of reset in the screenshot are you referring to?
image.png
Bing, that is why I suggest a reset and restore. That is the ONLY way to do a "hard reset. "
Your question was "after rebooting the iPhone 5s, everything is back to normal and like nothing happened before. but WHY?"
Normal behaviour for a computer. I just got home from travelling and after plugging in / unplugging to top up charge, touching the screen would not work. Turn OFF, Turn ON and all is well.
Normal behaviour.
Normal behaviour for a computer. I just got home from travelling and after plugging in / unplugging to top up charge, touching the screen would not work. Turn OFF, Turn ON and all is well.
Normal behaviour.
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A possible reason for the fix may also be that the system files became corrupt, and a restore of everything also fixed the system files. This is something that can happen on a install of OS X when you don't erase the disk. It's one of the possible methods of repairing OS X.
BTW, OS X needs to be rebooted once in a while to fix glitches. iOS does too. Whenever you do an update it does reboot. You can't leave it running forever without eventually experiencing problems, but it shouldn't require a daily or weekly reboot.
BTW, OS X needs to be rebooted once in a while to fix glitches. iOS does too. Whenever you do an update it does reboot. You can't leave it running forever without eventually experiencing problems, but it shouldn't require a daily or weekly reboot.
Actually, the fix I posted was given to me by Apple for the reasons stated.
I was responding to the thread in general, not just your specific instance.
iOS and now MacOS try and restore everything you had running at the shutdown time
I understand this. My point is that a properly running computer may (from to time) have temporary issues such that, when powered off and started up disappear.
This is what I think Bing faces - not a corrupted operating system (which of course, requires a full reset).
I understand this. My point is that a properly running computer may (from to time) have temporary issues such that, when powered off and started up disappear.
This is what I think Bing faces - not a corrupted operating system (which of course, requires a full reset).
Thanks John. I understand now.
ASKER
sorry for replying late and thanks for the contributions. a really nice discussion.
the biggest concern initially was if my iPhone was being attacked or infected by malware, now it seems most iPhone users may have this kind of experience in life.
personals I believe this is a bug or defect of current version of iOS, probably also of all previous versions. Apple may have already noticed this issue but just hasn't got an idea how to fix it. if this is the case, this muse be a system level design flaw.
I do agree this is very common for all computers including smartphones as there is no error-free OS and absolutely perfect design, but I also don't think it is a "normal behaviour" simply because any error like this in a computer system is caused by human mistake ultimately and can be fixed if the root reason can be identified.
the biggest concern initially was if my iPhone was being attacked or infected by malware, now it seems most iPhone users may have this kind of experience in life.
personals I believe this is a bug or defect of current version of iOS, probably also of all previous versions. Apple may have already noticed this issue but just hasn't got an idea how to fix it. if this is the case, this muse be a system level design flaw.
I do agree this is very common for all computers including smartphones as there is no error-free OS and absolutely perfect design, but I also don't think it is a "normal behaviour" simply because any error like this in a computer system is caused by human mistake ultimately and can be fixed if the root reason can be identified.
I power off each night. My spouse never powers off. Every once in a while "this does not work; I cannot touch / click; something else is wrong"
Power OFF then ON and all is well.
If you never power off, you can expect this occasionally.