Top iOS6 Problems And How To Fix Them

Apple iOS6 comes with more than 200 new features over 5.1.1. including local search available for Siri, VIP mailboxes, and a global Do Not Disturb. But the upgrade also created problems for customers who don't expect problems to come from an Apple device. I went to the Apple Discussions Forum to find the most common and frustrating problems for users who upgraded to iOS6 and found some surprising solutions.

Big Disclaimer: I am not recommending any of these fixes and you should perform them at your own risk. Like any DIY project, research as much as possible and lean on the side of caution.

WiFi Toggle Grayed Out

Many customers complained of WiFi simply not working after they upgraded their iPhone 4 and 4s to iOS6. Without WiFi disabled, your monthly data limit will be burned up faster than you can say, 'Airplane Mode.'

One solution was offered by bheirman:

After restoring my backup, my WiFi worked.

Zenrobot stumbled on a solution to restore the toggle. He wrote:

Then this evening I tethered my iPhone to an iPad via Bluetooth. After browsing on the iPad a few minutes, I disconnected the Bluetooth pairing and powered off my iPhone. An hour later I turned it back on, and there it was, the WiFi toggle: available.

Another user, Cool_js took his iPhone 4s -- which was still under warranty -- back to the Apple store. There he met a group of customers who had come with the same problem. The clerk replaced his 4s and Cool_js upgraded to iOS6 in the store. It worked.

iOS 6 Music Not Really There

nhorsthuis reported a problem post-upgrade on his iPhone 4. The Music app lists all the music that was there before the upgrade, but can't find many of the songs. In such cases the app will rapidly skip through songs until it finds one it can play.

So you touch "Substitute" by The Clash, iOS zips through a bunch of songs and then out comes "The Ballad of John and Yoko." We know it ain't easy folks; we know how hard it can be. There are many Music-related bug reports in the forum, but we picked this one because a lot of users reported it and we've seen it ourselves.

Note that many users on the thread conflate the issue with use of the iTunes Match, which syncs your music across different devices, but the problem can happen without Match enabled.

Many users on the thread report various tricks which worked for them. Many use 3rd party tools to delete music on the iPhone from a Mac. But none seem to work generally.

Except one, and it's a drastic measure.

First, make sure you have a current backup of your device, and you want to do this docked to iTunes on a computer. Then, on iOS 6, go to Settings-General-Reset and choose "Erase all Content and Settings". You'll get a couple warnings about what you're doing, but keep going. This wipes your device back to factory default.

When you reboot it will enter the out-of-box setup procedure after which it will tell you to cable up to your computer to restore your backup. Follow the prompts. Your device will turn off at one point and you'll have to turn it back on and the restore will continue. Depending on how much content you have, the restore could take many hours.

But in the end, you'll have all your content back and the missing-music-bug will be fixed -- at least according to many users on this forum.

Cannot Connect to the iTunes Store

Many users in the Apple forum have written that after upgrading via WiFi they cannot connect to the iTunes Store.

After trying many things, millermoth wrote:

Reboot and hold down [both] buttons until the apple appears. Hold on even after that. You should get image telling you to connect by USB to the computer. Do so. Mine worked fine after that.

Change the date seemed to work for most though. joltes wrote:

There was an issue with Passbook causing the App Store to crash. The solution I found was to change your date in the settings to today's date, only in 2013. After changing, go back and try to open the App Store again. If it fails again (which mine did) go to settings and change your date back to today. It worked after that. I don't know why, but it did.

Here is Apple's solution for a failure to connect to the iTunes Store.

Battery Life More Like Battery Death

I upgraded yesterday to iOS6, wrote Ralf99. I left my phone charged 100%. After 4 hours on standby it was down to 3%. I went to sleep with at least 90% battery life and woke up it was down to 66%. Was never like that before. Is there any way I can revert to IOS 5.1.1?

Actually there isn't a way to downgrade to iOS 5.1.1 unless you saved your SH blobs before you upgraded. Those are unique software identifiers that associate the OS with the hardware.

As far as battery life, StrAuchXl wrote:

I found out, that there is in the settings a point called advertising, if you switch this off the battery is nearly back at the point you were used to when it was running with iOS5.

More specifically: Deactivate the feature "Limit Ad Tracking" in Settings->General->About->Advertising->Limit Ad Tracking=OFF.

iMaps is Beautiful but iNaccurate

Haxion wrote:

I have upgraded my 4S to iOS6, and let's forget about all the other errors I get with my apps. But the fact that my map doesn't open any locations & can't find me any directions is the most annoying one! It even can't find the directions from my house to the next street!

And Beamer79 wrote:

Search for Manchester United Football Club - the most popular football club in the world - and Apple shows you Sale United Football Club, a community team for ages five and above.

What to do? Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote:

...you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Do you have a problem or a comment about your Apple device? If so, Apple wants to hear from you. They say they read every comment, but won't respond to any of them.