Every new version of iOS comes with a ton of bugs and issues, some bigger than others, and iOS 14 is no different. Apple fixes many of these issues with subsequent software updates, but it’s helpful to know if the problems you encounter on your own phone are known bugs in iOS 14 – and learn about some workarounds and workarounds you can try.
Troubleshooting isn’t always an exact science, so keep in mind that it may take some detective work to figure out what’s going wrong with your own specific iPhone or iPad. It is possible that there is something else than iOS 14 is to blame for the problems you run into, but we should be able to help you figure it out in some way.
Bad battery life
iOS 14 has caused battery drain issues for many users, with iPhones reportedly not going nearly as long with Apple’s latest mobile operating system installed. It’s been mentioned in connection with every iOS 14 release, but looks like it the rollout of iOS 14.2 in particular, has caused battery life to take a hit.
Battery life is not specifically mentioned in the release notes for iOS 14.3, and it seems the problem – at least for some users – persists with widespread complaints on social media. Apple has not yet officially recognized it.
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But the company did provide some technical support earlier in the iOS 14 release cycle for those with both an iPhone and an Apple Watch, recommending a full backup and reset (instructions here and here) of both devices to troubleshoot battery drain issues. Unfortunately, apart from the usual battery saving tricks, a full reset is just about anything you can try while waiting for a software update to (hopefully) fix the problem.
No notifications
One of the most common (and frustrating) issues reported by iPhone owners with iOS 14 is the Messages app does not display notifications as it should. Alerts don’t show up on the lock screen and red badges don’t show up on the app icon in some cases, which is on top of a separate issue that caused text messages to be delayed.
This is a bug that Apple has acknowledged and is said to have been fixed with the iOS 14.3 update, according to the release notes. If you have noticed this happening on your own device, the first troubleshooting step is to update to OS 14.3.
If you are still not getting notifications for messages like you should, then there is no specific solution to try the basic solutions: Check your notification settings again, restart your handset and if nothing else works, reset it and start over (make sure it has been fully backed up first).
Choose new default apps
iOS 14 rather quietly introduced the ability to set apps other than Apple Mail and Apple Safari as your default email client and web browser respectively – the only problem was that iOS would very quickly forget which alternatives you selected and revert to the Apple defaults back after a reboot.
This is an issue Apple has addressed and is said to have been resolved, according to the iOS 14.0.1 update that was not long after iOS 14 itself pushed out. If for some reason you haven’t updated to the latest version of iOS, this should be enough to keep your default email and web choices.
If you’re still unsure how to configure this new feature, go to Settings and choose the email app or web browser of your choice from the long list of apps. You would then one Standard Mail app or a Default browser app option, which you can use to make your chosen app the default choice.
Losing WiFi connections
Wi-Fi and cellular issues always occur alongside a new iOS release, and iOS 14 has been no different – it must have something to do with the application of a brand new layer of software your phone (or the networks it connects to) often confusing resulting in dropped or unstable connections.
In the case of iOS 14, one of the most commonly reported issues was problems with lost WiFi connections. According to many users, iPhones tend to lose their connection to wireless internet and then refuse to reconnect, causing problems for pretty much anything you’d want to do on a smartphone.
This is a bug that Apple has identified and for which a fix has been applied – it should have been rolled out to your phone with iOS 14.0.1, which “fixes an issue that prevented your iPhone from connecting to Wi-Fi networks,” the release notes said. If you are still having issues after the update then you should try the standard troubleshooting techniques to try this fix a problem with the internet connection.
Specific app problems
There are always one or two apps that don’t work well with a new iOS release: developers have to work hard to get their software to work with Apple’s updated operating system, and sometimes bugs slip through the cracks. If this happens to you, watch out for app updates, or even ask the developers directly about it.
YouTube is a great example when it comes to iOS 14: picture-in-picture mode didn’t work, then worked and then stopped working. At the time of writing, it will only work correctly if you have a YouTube Premium subscriber (a previous solution for running YouTube in Safari has since been blocked).
The same goes for 4K playback via the YouTube app – it only works if you’re a paid subscriber. Other apps on your phone may have similar limitations so if you’re having issues or something doesn’t quite work in a particular app, focus your troubleshooting efforts on that app in particular.
Other problems
There are probably more problems than the ones we covered above, but these are the ones that have been reported the most. It’s worth keeping an eye on Apple’s official iOS 14 update pageas the company will list the bug fixes being applied to iOS as well as the new features being added.
Issues that have already been addressed since the initial iOS 14 release include issues with sending emails, displaying widgets, using Family Sharing, receiving incoming calls, wireless charging, the camera finder, audio levels of the headphones, an unresponsive lock screen, and more, so if you’re having issues with any of the above, update to the latest version if iOS 14 is worth a try.
If you’re having a problem that we haven’t covered here, some research on the internet should match up with someone else who has the same issues (try to be as specific as possible with your search). Good starting points are the Apple subreddit on Reddit and the iPhone discussion forums on the Apple site. Or tell us your problem below – maybe intrepid Gizmodo readers can help solve it.