The latest update for Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 8.3, has been having problems; the latest reported of which involve Bluetooth GPS receivers.
According to ForeFlight, a software maker focusing on flight navigation, a glitch in the operating system is reportedly preventing certain Bluetooth GPS receivers from transmitting data properly to apps in iOS devices.
The company wrote on its official blog that some of the earlier released GPS accessories, including the Bad Elf Pro and the Dual GPS 150, are not properly functioning with the ForeFlight Mobile app and other apps upon the update to iOS 8.3.
However, some receivers, including the Bad Elf Pro+ and the Stratus, seem to be unaffected by the operating system update.
As a temporary workaround, ForeFlight has advised its customers that own iPads capable of connecting to 4G networks to disconnect their Bluetooth accessories and instead use a Stratus or the built-in GPS receiver of their iPad. For owners of WiFi only iPads, the Stratus would then be their only workaround due to that version of the tablet not having an internal GPS.
Apple has been notified of the issue regarding iOS 8.3's incompatibility with certain Bluetooth GPS receivers, but there is no clear date on when a fix for the problem could be released. For the meantime, ForeFlight is suggesting that customers that heavily rely on Bluetooth GPS features should not yet upgrade their Apple mobile devices to iOS 8.3.
Apple released earlier this week the first developer beta for iOS 8.4, which could include fixes to the Bluetooth GPS issues. Apple may release a fix during this upgrade, though users affected by the problem would surely prefer that a patch be rolled out sooner.
Other reported problems for iOS 8.3 cover both iPhone and iPad devices, and include issues on the Touch ID, battery life and keyboard freezing, among many others.
There have been reports that the Touch ID feature is not properly working with the App Store, which eliminates the convenience provided by the feature with users having to input their password every time they make a purchase,
There are also some instances wherein users of the iPhone 4S and the iPod Touch 5th generation are not able to upgrade to iOS 8.3, finding themselves tuck in iOS 8.2.
iPad Air users have been experiencing worse problems. After updating to iOS 8.3, most apps are crashing when being used on the tablet.
There are also reports of the popup keys of keyboards freezing, which covers the rest of the keys, and battery life that rapidly depletes.
Photo: Omar Jordan Fawahl | Flickr
