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15 Common iOS 12 Problems & How to Fix Them

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iPhone and iPad users have discovered problems lurking in the newest version of iOS 12.

The latest version of iOS 12 is causing problems for some iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users. Some of these problems are new, others have carried over from the previous versions of iOS.

The current list of iOS 12 problems includes weird battery drain, issues with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth problems, issues with Touch ID, sound problems, and more.

While some of these problems might require a fix from Apple or a visit to an Apple Store, others can be fixed from the comfort of a computer chair or couch.

If you’re using an iPhone 6s or newer, and you’re still running iOS 12 for some reason, think about upgrading to Apple’s iOS 14 update. It could help.

In this guide we’ll take you through fixes for the most common iOS 12 problems. If you’re dealing with battery drain, connectivity issues, or something else entirely, take a look at our list before you get in contact with customer service or take your device into a store.

How to Fix iOS 12 Installation Problems

If your download or installation gets stuck, there’s a simple fix that should take care of the problem.

If you aren’t able to download the latest version of iOS 12, you’ll want to hard reset your phone or tablet. To do this, hold down the home button and the power button at the same time until the device reboots.

If you’re experiencing long download times, you’ll either want to wait a few minutes and try again or investigate your internet connection. It could be an issue with your router.

How to Fix iOS 12 Battery Life Issues

If you’re noticing faster battery drain than usual, it might not be the iOS 12 update causing the issues. Rather, it could be a rogue app or some of your bad habits.

In some cases, battery life might even out after a few days. Your device is acclimating to a new update and sometimes it’ll even out on its own.

If you’re experiencing extreme battery drain after installing iOS 12, take a look at our list of fixes. It’ll walk you through some of the best ways to get a handle on bad battery life.

If you can’t find a solution, you might have a bad battery. In that case, you’ll need to get in touch with Apple about a replacement. If you live near an Apple Store, make an appointment at the Genius Bar. They’ll be able to diagnose your problem in minutes.

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How to Fix iOS 12 Bluetooth Problems

Bluetooth problems can popup at any time and they can be rather tricky to fix. If you’re unable to connect your iPhone or iPad to a Bluetooth device, here are a few solutions that’ve worked for us in the past.

First, you’ll want to forget the Bluetooth connection on your device:

  • Head into your Settings.
  • Tap Bluetooth.
  • Select the connection using the “i” in the circle.
  • Tap Forget this Device.
  • Try reconnecting.

If that doesn’t work you’ll want to reset your device’s Network Settings. To do this:

  • Go to your Settings.
  • Tap General.
  • Tap Reset.
  • Tap Reset Network Settings.

The process will take a few seconds and your device will forget all known Bluetooth devices. It’ll also forget your known Wi-Fi networks so make sure you have your passwords handy. Try reconnecting your device and see if it works.

You also might try resetting your device’s settings back to their factory defaults. To do this:

  • Head into Settings.
  • Tap General.
  • Tap Reset.
  • Tap Reset All Settings.

This will also cause your device to forget all known Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections so make sure you’ve got the proper credentials handy.

You’ll also want to download the latest iOS 12 update if you haven’t done so already.

How to Fix iOS 12 Wi-Fi Problems

If you’re experiencing slow network speeds or dropped connections after installing the iOS 12 update, here are a few things you should try.

Before you start fiddling with settings on your device, investigate your connection. If you’re on your home Wi-Fi network try unplugging the router for minute and then plugging it back in.

If you can’t access the router you’re connected to or if you’re sure it has nothing to do with your Wi-Fi network, go into your device’s settings.

First, try forgetting the Wi-Fi network that you’re having trouble with.

  • Head into your Settings.
  • Tap Wi-Fi.
  • Select your connection by tapping the “i” in the circle.
  • Tap Forget this Network at the top of the screen.

This will cause your device to forget the Wi-Fi password so have that handy.

If that doesn’t restore your connection, try resetting your network settings.

  • Go to your Settings app.
  • Tap General.
  • Tap Reset
  • Tap on Reset Network Settings.

This will also cause your device to forget Wi-Fi passwords so make sure you have it on hand. If none of those help, you’ll want to head over to Apple’s guide to Wi-Fi problems.

If you haven’t installed the latest version of iOS 12 yet, you’ll want to do that.

How to Fix iOS 12 Cellular Data Problems

If your device suddenly starts telling you you have “No Service” and you can’t connect to your LTE or 4G connection, here’s what you should do.

First, you’ll want to make sure there isn’t a cellular outage in your area. Check social media for reports and/or get in contact with your service provider on Twitter. We also recommend checking Down Detector to see if others in your area are having similar issues.

If you determine the issue is unrelated to a network outage in your area you’ll want to restart your iPhone or iPad and see if that jumpstarts the connection.

If that doesn’t return things to normal, try turning Airplane Mode on for 30 seconds before turning it off. Airplane Mode kills all of the connections on your device.

If turning Airplane Mode on and off doesn’t work, you’ll want to try toggling Cellular Data and/or LTE off to see if that helps.

If you want to shut LTE off:

  • Go into Settings.
  • Tap Cellular.
  • Tap Cellular Data Options.
  • Tap Enable LTE.
  • Toggle it off.
  • Leave it off for a minute then toggle it back on.

If you want to shut off Cellular Data completely without turning off your other services:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Tap Cellular.
  • Tap Cellular Data.
  • Toggle it Off.
  • Leave it off for a minute and toggle it back on.

How to Fix iOS 12 Stuck in Landscape Problem

Our devices occasionally get stuck in landscape when trying to move the screen back into portrait mode. It’s a common iOS problem, but it’s one that you should be able to fix in seconds.

The first thing to try is locking and unlocking the device. Hit your power button once to shut off the screen and then enter your pin/use Touch ID/Face ID to open your device.

If that doesn’t help get the screen out of landscape, try restarting the device. Power it down, leave it off for a few seconds, and then power it back on.

If that doesn’t help you should try turning Reduce Motion off to see if that alleviates the issues. To do that:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Tap General.
  • Tap Accessibility.
  • Toggle Reduce Motion off.

You can always toggle it back on.

How to Fix iOS 12 Touch ID Problems

If your device’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor suddenly stops working you’ll want to first make sure there isn’t any dirt or sweat on  the Touch ID sensor. You’ll also want to make sure you don’t have any oil on your hands because this could cause the sensor to misread your fingerprints.

If none of those apply, you’ll want to try retraining your fingerprints on your device. To do that:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Tap Touch ID & Passcode.
  • Enter your Passcode if you have one.
  • On the next screen tap on each print and select Delete Fingerprint.
  • After you do this tap on Add a Fingerprint… to re-train your Touch ID.

How to Fix iOS 12 Sound Problems

If you’re start noticing sound distortion, fuzziness, or no sound at all, here are a few steps to take.

First, restart your device. Power it down, wait 30 seconds or so, and then turn it back on. This has worked for us numerous times.

If that doesn’t help, look at your speaker grille and check for any debris. If you notice something there, carefully remove it and see if your sound improves.

If that doesn’t work, try toggling Bluetooth off and on. This sometimes fixes the issue.

If you’re experiencing sound issues in a specific app, try closing the app and restarting it. If that doesn’t work, you should download the latest update.

How to Fix iOS 12 Haptic Feedback Issues

If your device’s haptic feedback suddenly stops working on your device you should be able to remedy the problem by restarting your device.

You can also try toggling the feature off and on by heading to:

  • Settings
  • Tap Sounds & Haptics.
  • Toggle System Haptics off.
  • Restart the device and toggle it back on.

If that doesn’t work, you’ll want to reset all of your settings:

  • Head to Settings
  • Tap General.
  • Tap Reset.
  • Tap Reset All Settings.
  • How to Fix iOS 12 FaceTime Problems

How to Fix iOS 12 FaceTime Issues

If you suddenly can’t make or receive FaceTime calls, you’ll first want to make sure there aren’t any problems over at Apple. If FaceTime is showing a green symbol, try one of these fixes.

First, make sure your device is properly connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network. You should also check to make sure FaceTime is on.

  • Head into Settings.
  • Tap FaceTime.
  • If you notice a message that says “Waiting for Activation”, turn FaceTime off and then toggle it back on.

If FaceTime is on and you’re connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network, try restarting your phone or tablet. Wait a few seconds and then power it back on.

If you’re having trouble connecting FaceTime over a cellular network, make sure cellular data is currently turned on for FaceTime.

  • Head into Settings.
  • Tap Cellular.
  • Scroll Down and make sure FaceTime is toggled on.

How to Fix iOS 12 Random Reboots

If your phone or tablet starts randomly rebooting itself (goes black for a second and comes back, goes black and you see the Apple logo, etc) here are a few fixes to try before you take your phone into Apple.

First, restart the device. Power it down for 30 seconds to a minute and then power it back up. If you haven’t turned your device off in awhile, this could help.

If you’re still noticing random reboot issues, update all of your applications. Check the App Store and make sure all of your applications are up-to-date.

How to Fix iOS 12 App Problems

If one or more of your apps are giving your problems after updating to iOS 12, here are a few things you can try on your own before getting in contact with the developer.

Try restarting your device. Power done your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and power it back on. If that the app’s still acting weird, you’ll want to check the App Store for an update.

Developers are pushing out iOS 12 support updates and the latest version could fix these issues. Make sure you read reviews from iOS 12 users before you install the latest update.

You can also try deleting the app and downloading it again. This has worked for us in the past.

If you still can’t figure out how to fix the problem, get in contact with the app’s developer and see if it knows about the issue. If it does, it might have a manual fix or an ETA on an update.

How to Fix iOS 12 Visual Voicemail Issues

Visual Voicemail is busted for some iOS 12 users. If you can’t get visual voicemail to popup on your device we’ve got a few things to try.

First, try letting the voicemail play all the way through. Once it’s finished, exit the app and re-open it. If that doesn’t work, you’ll want to restart your device.

We’ve also had success flipping Airplane Mode on for 30 seconds and turning it off.

How to Fix iOS 12 GPS Issues

Several iOS 12 users are reporting issues with GPS. This is another common iOS problem and it can be solved fairly quickly provided something’s not wrong with your hardware.

First you’ll want to try a simple restart. If restarting your phone or tablet doesn’t help, you’ll want to try toggling Airplane Mode on and off to see if that jumpstarts things. If it doesn’t, go into your location permissions and make sure you’re permitting the app to use GPS.

To do that:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Tap Privacy.
  • Tap Locations Services at the top.
  • Tap on the app that’s giving you issues and make sure you’re using something other than “Never.” If you have Never selected GPS won’t work with the app.

You can also try toggling Location Services off and on to see if that restores the connection:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Tap Privacy.
  • Tap Locations Services at the top.
  • Toggle Location Services off, wait a few seconds, and toggle it back on.

If that doesn’t help, try resetting your device’s network settings:

  • Go to your Settings.
  • Tap General.
  • Tap Reset.
  • Tap Reset Network Settings.

How to Fix iOS 12 Screen Time Problems

iOS 12’s new Screen Time feature is extremely useful if it’s working properly. If you’re encountering a problem with Screen Time, here are a few things to try.

First, try restarting your device. This could dislodge the issue. If it doesn’t, you’ll want to try disabling Screen Time before enabling it again. To do this:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Tap Screen Time.
  • Scroll Down and tap Turn Off Screen Time.
  • Tap Turn Off Screen Time.
  • Turn Screen Time back on from the same screen.

If you’re still having issues, try setting the time and data automatically on your device. To do this:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Go to General.
  • Tap Date & Time.
  • Make sure Set Automatically is toggled on.

If this doesn’t help, try resetting your device’s settings:

  • Head into Settings.
  • Tap General.
  • Tap Reset.
  • Tap Reset All Settings.
4 Reasons Not to Install iOS 12.5.6 & 10 Reasons You Should

Install iOS 12.5.6 for Better Security

Install iOS 12.5.6 for Better Security

If you're on the fence, here's one of the best reasons to install iOS 12.5.6 right away.

iOS 12.5.6 has a vital security patch on board and it will protect your device(s) from harm. If you want the details, head over to Apple's website.

If you missed the iOS 12.5.5 update, it brought three security patches to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You can learn more about the trio on Apple's security site

If you missed iOS 12.5.4, you'll get that update's important security upgrades with your iOS 12.5.6 update. If you're interested in the particulars, head on over to Apple's website for more.

If you skipped iOS 12.5.3, you'll get its security patches with your upgrade. Both of its patches were related to WebKit. If you want to learn more about them, head on over to Apple's security site

If you skipped iOS 12.5.2, you'll also get its security patch with your upgrade. You can read more about it over on Apple's website

If you also skipped iOS 12.5, you'll also get its patch with your upgrade. Apple's outlined the update's patch in detail on its security site

If you missed iOS 12.4.9, you'll also get its four security patches with your upgrade. You can read more about those right here

If you skipped iOS 12.4.7, you also get the update's three security patches (two for the Mail app and one for Wi-Fi) with your upgrade to iOS 12.5.6.

If you're running software that's older than Apple's iOS 12.4.4 update, you'll want to download iOS 12.5.6 in the near future because it brings iOS 12.4.4's security patch to your device. You can read about it right here.

If you're running software older than iOS 12.4.2, you'll get an its patch with your upgrade. You can read about the security contents of iOS 12.4.2 right here

If you're on software that's older than iOS 12.4.1, you'll get iOS 12.4.1's security patch with your iOS 12.5.6 update. You can read about that patch right here

If you're on software that's older than iOS 12.4, you get iOS 12.4's patches with your iOS 12.5.6 update. 

iOS 12.4 brought 19 security patches to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. If you're interested in the specifics, you can read about them on Apple's security site

If you're running software older than iOS 12.3, your iOS 12.5.6 update carries iOS 12.3's security patches on board. The iOS 12.3 update brought 23 patches and you can read about all of them right here on Apple's site. 

If you're on software that's older than iOS 12.2, you'll get iOS 12.2's security patches with your version of iOS 12.5.6.

iOS 12.2 brought a whopping 41 security patches to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can read more about the iOS 12.2's patches over on the company's website

It's important to note that Apple's iOS 12.2 update patched up an exploit that allowed websites to use motion sensors to "fingerprint" devices.

The exploit, discovered by researchers in Europe, uses JavaScript to snag data from a device's accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer when the user visits an infected website. If the attack is successful, a device can be tracked around the internet. 

Fortunately, Apple's patched up the issue. If you skipped it, you'll probably want to move to iOS 12.5.6 soon.

If you're on software older than iOS 12.1.4, you get four important security patches including fixes for a widespread FaceTime eavesdropping bug that lets you call someone via FaceTime and hear the audio coming from their phone before they pick up the phone.

If you're on software older than iOS 12.1.3, you get some additional patches with your version of iOS 12.5.6. Again, they're baked into your upgrade.

Apple lists a grand total of 23 patches on board iOS 12.1.3 and you can read about all of them over on Apple's website. 

If you're on software older than iOS 12.1.1, you should install the iOS 12.5.6 update on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch today. 

The iOS 12.1.1 update brought 17 patches for potential security exploits. They'll will help protect your phone. You can read about them here.

If you're running software older than iOS 12.1, you'll get 24 patches from that update with your version of iOS 12.5.5.

If you're on software that's older than iOS 12.0.1, your iOS 12.5.6 update brings two additional patches. Both patches are for potential lock screen exploits.

Long story long, if you store sensitive data on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you have some really good reasons to upgrade to iOS 12.5.6 today.

Last update on 2024-03-11. This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to read our disclosure policy for more details. Images via Amazon API

12 Comments

12 Comments

  1. Claire O'Connor

    10/17/2018 at 6:26 pm

    I seem to be having download issues. I get images sent by friends via text message and the image gets stuck downloading and I don’t get the image.

    Also I have found that my safari is bigger than my screen and therefore not seeing the proper website.

  2. Catherine

    11/03/2018 at 9:08 pm

    Since I’ve downloaded iOS 12.1 I am unable to save photos from Google onto my phone to use with Facebook posts. I used to download pictures of birthday cakes from Google to my photos then upload these to my Facebook account to post with birthday wishes for friends. Now when I attempt to save a photo, I get the message “Image save failed” I am not happy with this

  3. Rob

    11/13/2018 at 10:48 pm

    I downloaded iOS12.1 two days ago. Now my phone doesn’t turn on at all. Can’t restart it, do a hard restart, iTunes doesn’t recognize my device. It’s just a paper weight with a black screen now. Heading to an Apple Store tomorrow to see what they can do.

    • anuj kapoor

      06/19/2019 at 12:39 am

      Hi Rob, please update what happened with apple store? Actually, I am facing the same issue and my phone is stuck with the apple logo

  4. Nick

    11/22/2018 at 6:01 am

    My Siri dont work, headphones dont work, another total crap update!!!!

  5. Morgan Teague

    05/01/2019 at 4:12 pm

    My phone has been restarting, haptics sometimes don’t work and I just realized I can’t hear phone calls. This is really frustrating. I know it’s the software. I hope 12.3 comes out soon.

  6. John Ian Bobbitt

    05/08/2019 at 6:35 am

    I noticed all the solutions or to turn off and back on. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work with many issues. I go so far as to say that this article doesn’t tell anybody anything that they don’t already know if they’ve used an apple product for more than five minutes.

    My cellular data reception is some junk, or rather, the phones ability to interpret the signal that it gets. I went so far as to replace the Sim card with a brand new one and have it activated. There’s absolutely no reason why I should have 50 MB per second download speed but I’m still buffering. Nor is there any reason that my phone should constantly be trying to acquire a signal when there’s a tower From my carrier looming over my house. The problem I never have any of my other devices from Apple. A great reception up until now. So for some reason, I’m flying through my data every month because my phone is constantly doing something, and that something is not allowing me to use it. Apple diagnostics, by way of their customer support line, Just tells me my device is in full operational condition. But my two month old iPhone 6s has a 93% efficient battery Already from overheating constantly in the search of its location or signal.

    And yeah, turned it off and back on. And everything else is seasoned Apple use her nose might affect these things.

  7. Terri

    06/05/2019 at 7:08 pm

    12.3 is a terrible update. I’ve had issues ever since. I totally locks up and I can’t do anything. And sometimes I can’t even shut it down. Plz help

  8. Mary D.

    08/09/2019 at 2:28 pm

    Thank you SO much for these tips. I have been having the worst connectivity issues with WiFi and cellular since the update. Even Siri has been totally confused. Doesn’t Apple test anything anymore before they launch something?

    This is quite a list of issues, but thank you for your insight. They seemed to have fixed problems I have been having.

  9. Ty

    08/15/2019 at 1:40 pm

    Message on lock screen says update is available but the close and detail buttons do nothing. Can’t open the phone does not recognize Touch ID and does not allow passcode to be used. Tried reboot and phone will not shut down. Nice looking paper weight though

  10. Amari

    08/21/2019 at 3:58 pm

    I’m not sure if it’s just me but certain features on my camera such as portrait and even video constantly reboot my iPhone 8 plus, it’s recently only happened like within the past few days of me downloading the update I believe and sometimes even opening up the camera just reboots it. Does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks in advance

  11. G

    08/27/2019 at 1:40 am

    Bloody useless information

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