What To Do When Your iOS Device Stops Responding/Freezes
iOS devices not responding and/or freezing is not a new bug for Apple. iOS has included a force reboot function since its early days. With the release of iOS 27, just a few days ago, that freezing device bug seems to have received some new attention. Today’s post will go over the steps you need to take to trigger a force reboot of your iPad or iPhone. iOS 27 Apple
How To Force Restart Your iPad or iPhone
For starters, if you need to force restart your iPad or iPhone, this process will NOT erase your data, and should work even if the screen itself is frozen. These steps are for devices going back to iPhone 8 and virtually all iPads.
To Do A Force Restart On iPhone
- Press and quickly release the Volume Up button
- Press and quickly release the Volume Down button
- Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo Appears (which should be about 10 seconds), then release the side button
To Do A Force Restart on iPad (Without a Home Button)
- Press and quickly release the Volume Up button
- Press and quickly release the Volume Down button
- Press and hold the Top button until the Apple logo appears (which should be about 10 seconds), then release the Top button.
How Is iOS 27 Triggering Devices To Freeze
To start this section, let us just say “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME”. Yes, you can do the force reboot (as listed above), but why do you want to freeze your device unnecessarily? Apple is aware of the issue, and a fix for this will be released soon. The steps that cause the device to freeze are being provided as DON’T DO THIS information. If you do, then you are doing this at your own risk.
In previous versions of iOS, you used to swipe down from the top-center of the screen to check your notifications. In iOS 27, swiping down from the top-center now opens the Siri AI ask interface. So keep that in mind. Notifications are now accessed by swiping down from the top-left corner.
- Swipe from the top-left corner (for notifications)
- Before you get to the end of your notifications, swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center. Once open, dismiss it to close it.
If you do those 2 things in that order, you will find that your phone is no longer responding to anything you do, and the only solution is a force restart to clear the freezing, non-responsive lock on the phone.
Final Thought
Due to the many changes in iOS 27, I’m sure this will not be the only thing Apple will have to fix. Due to the nature of a freezing device not providing a proper experience, I’m sure Apple will have a fix for this soon.
Source:
- Apple – Force Restart iPhone
- Apple – Force Restart iPad
