Apple Promises To Fix The Unresponsive iPhone X Display In Cold Weather

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The iPhone X is Apple’s most popular product in years. Many buyers will have to wait for weeks to get their hands on the device. But those who have already purchased Apple’s 10th-anniversary phone are experiencing some issues with the handset. Users have taken it to Reddit and other forums to complain about the iPhone X display becoming unresponsive in cold weather.

 What causes the iPhone X display to become unresponsive?

Reddit users complained that the iPhone X display loses touch functionality at near-freezing temperatures. On Thursday, Apple acknowledged the problem in a statement to The Loop. The tech giant said it was working on a software update to fix the issue. Apple didn’t give a timeline for the fix, but we expect it to arrive by the end of this year. The company has just rolled out the iOS 11.1.1, and the iOS 11.2 is currently in beta stage. The fix could be part of the iOS 11.2.

Users on Reddit pointed out it takes only a few seconds for the phone’s display to freeze up at near zero degree Celsius temperatures. Apple said in its statement that the display becomes unresponsive temporarily “after a rapid change to a cold environment.” It takes several seconds for the screen to become responsive again. This behavior is not expected from a $1,000 phone.

It is quite surprising to see Apple responding to an issue so promptly. It is a software issue rather than a hardware one, which means a software update would fix it. Some Reddit users speculate that the problem is caused by the sudden change in light from indoors to outdoors. Others believe the iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches could become unresponsive outside of Apple’s recommended temperature range.

Apple says the iOS devices should be used in ambient temperatures between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius or 32-95 degrees Fahrenheit. Going above or below the recommended range could prompt the device to “change its behavior to regulate its temperature.” Interestingly, many iPhone X display freeze cases occurred even at temperatures slightly above 32 Fahrenheit.

Millions of Apple customers live in regions where temperatures often fall below zero degree Celsius or go above 35 degrees. The screen unresponsiveness is a big issue particularly for the iPhone X owners as the anniversary iPhone doesn’t have a home button to fall back on.

How to get a virtual home button on the iPhone X

Talking about the lack of the physical home button, there is a way you can get a virtual home button on the screen and customize it to your liking. You can do it using AssistiveTouch in Accessibility. AssistiveTouch allows you to put a virtual, floating home button anywhere on the screen. It will be there on the screen at all times. You can even configure it to perform different functions based on single tap, double tap, long press, or 3D Touch.

Go to Settings > General > Accessibility, then select AssistiveTouch and toggle it on. Though AssistiveTouch can be used to perform many functions, you want the virtual home button for now. Select Customize Top Level Menu and there you can select the Home button. You can even adjust the opacity of the virtual button from Idle Opacity to ensure that it doesn’t distract you from the apps.

Now drag the virtual button to anywhere you want on the iPhone X display. AssistiveTouch does not disable the swiping gestures. You can switch between them whenever you want, and you can disable AssistiveTouch anytime. Apple has done a pretty good job with accessibility features, which can sometimes be useful to people tired of using the swipe gestures.

Apple updates the Workflow app

Earlier this week, Apple rolled out an update to its Workflow app. The update brings iPhone X optimizations, iOS 11 support, and tons of bug fixes and new features. Workflow has been available for free on the App Store since Apple acquired it earlier this year. It’s an automation app that can perform a variety of tasks. You can create workflows for creating GIFs from a collection of photos, pulling pictures from a web page, translating texts, sharing photos to multiple social networks at the same time, and more.

The latest update adds HEIF support to the Convert Image and HEVC support to Encode Media. It also brings support for more Health fields such as Insulin Delivery, Resting Heart Rate, Walking Heart Rate Average, V02 Max, and Waist Circumference. It lets you drag and drop files into a workflow, and run it with those files. The update also allows the iPhone X owners to share animojis and screenshots, and convert animojis into looping GIFs.

Apple describes the iPhone X as the “smartphone of the future.” It will set the tone for the next decade. A recent teardown revealed that the phone is indeed designed for 5G and augmented reality. The humongous consumer response to the iPhone X is pushing Apple’s stock price closer to the $1 trillion valuation.

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