At the end of this week, we look back on a series of unusual bugs and disruptions that made life unexpectedly difficult for users in the Apple ecosystem. Between December 23 and 26, various functional issues were reported by users regarding FaceTime, the Wo ist? app, AirPods Pro, Apple TV, iMessage as well as other Apple services and even a DHL Packstation.
FaceTime: Network switch leads to call termination
The first incident occurred during a FaceTime call between two iPhone devices. By disabling Wi-Fi on iPhone 1 and switching the mobile connection from a Telekom SIM to a Vodafone SIM, the connection was permanently interrupted. Apparently, no automatic reconnection took place; only restarting the call resolved the issue.
Wo ist?: Location confusion instead of security
A bug in the Wo ist? app caused a stir on the same day. While User1 indicated they had arrived at Standort1, their location was still shown to a contact as Standort2. At the same time, location sharing ended as planned at midnight, without the other party being clearly informed—so the previous Standort2 was assumed to be the current location. This raises questions about the reliability and security of location services.
AirPods Pro and iMessage: Volume fluctuations
With the AirPods Pro, it was noticeable that audio messages in iMessage were played back significantly more quietly than the music previously running. It is still unclear whether this error only affects certain model or software combinations. Affected users report relief by briefly pausing and restarting playback, but an official solution from Apple is still pending.
Apple TV: Home network chaos and control center issues
Several bugs were reported in connection with Apple TV. Various devices could not be assigned to the correct “Home” in the Home app—a circumstance discovered by Luc when switching between Dresden and Böblingen. Added to this were Wi-Fi issues, where the Apple TV suddenly became disconnected from the network and only worked again after being reconfigured via the “Ignore network” function. This was accompanied by the unexpected failure of the Apple TV control center.
DHL Packstation: Compartment can be opened multiple times
Away from the Apple world, a software error was discovered at the DHL Packstation: The same compartment could be opened multiple times with the same shipment. This may pose a security risk, especially if multiple people have access to the affected Packstation. Official statements from DHL or suggested solutions are currently not available.
Pages, iCloud Drive and Notizen: Working at the limit of patience
On December 24, there were also difficulties with Pages documents on iCloud Drive, which supposedly could no longer be opened. On the same day, the iOS Notizen app also came under criticism: The cursor suddenly jumped to the wrong spots, making editing more difficult.
iMessage on the iPhone 16 Pro Max: Keyboard disappears in the reply view
A final reported bug from this eventful week concerns iMessage on an iPhone 16 Pro Max. When attempting to reply directly in a chat, the keyboard menu remained blank. Only restarting the app provided relief—albeit only temporarily.
