iPhone Xs and Xs Max users are reporting some annoying bugs

Claire Tourigny October 1, 2018

It hasn’t even been two weeks since the iPhone XS and XS Max were released, and they’re already having problems.

Several iPhone owners have come across an infuriating bug when charging their new phones – or rather, trying to charge their new phones. Apparently, some phones won’t charge when the screen is off. In these cases, attempting to plug the phone into a wall charger while in sleep mode is a fruitless venture, as the phone simply doesn’t respond.

Thankfully this problem is easily remedied – by turning on the screen, the issue is fixed.

This bug, which has apparently been a problem since the phones released, started making headlines after YouTuber Lewis Hilsenteger made a video on his channel Unbox Therapy titled “The iPhone XS Has a Serious Problem,” with the incredibly presumptuous tag #ChargeGate. The video shows Lewis plugging in an absurd number of iPhones into wall chargers and reporting that five out of the nine did not charge when their screens were off.

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This doesn’t appear to be a universal issue. So far only a few phones have been affected by this bug, but the full scope won’t be made known until Apple addresses the problem. Which, by the way, it is yet to do.

The exact cause of the bug is also unknown, though it’s speculated to be the result of an iOS 12 feature that makes it more difficult to extract data from the phone through USB. If that’s the case, then the issue will likely be fixed during the next iOS update. On the other hand, if it turns out to be a hardware issue, it could end up being a more difficult fix.

While this issue is, ultimately, rather small (just turn the screen on, guys,) it’s frustrating, seeing as these phones start at £999. If you’re going to charge exceptional prices, then you’d expect the product to at least charge itself.

However, the charging bug isn’t the only issue iPhone Xs, Xs Max and iOS 12 have been sporting lately. Apparently, iMessage has started combining and confusing contacts. This means a text sent to your sister might accidentally go to your dad, which is actually my worst nightmare.

This is apparently a nasty side effect of the iOS 12 update to iMessage, which allows Apple users with multiple numbers and devices to have all their messages pulled together in one neat little thread.

This handy feature has, however, led to some confusion on iMessage’s part, and users have no shortage of complaints. “I started a new conversation thread from my phone to each contact,” said one user. “They stayed separate until both answered, but then the conversations combined again. When I try to send a message to one of the contacts, it sends it to the other on the combined thread.”

Similar to the charging bug, the reason behind this problem is unclear. One theory is that iMessage is combining contacts who have the same Apple ID, but this has not been confirmed, and some users have reported similar issues where the contacts don’t share an ID.

Hopefully, this issue is also fixed in the inevitable update to iOS 12. If you still haven’t made the transition to 12, it might be best to hold off for just a little while longer. Sure, it has a lot of great features, but some of these bugs aren’t quite worth it.

As with everything new and shiny, wait for the inevitable bug fix and then have at it.