Nov 25, 2010 09:42 GMT  ·  By

Widespread issues affecting pretty much every version of the iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.x builds indicate Apple has done a sloppy job at trying to alleviate all the reported problems experienced by iOS customers worldwide, following the Summer launch of iOS 4 - the latest major release of “the world’s most advanced mobile operating system.”

Apple may well be on the verge of another PR disaster (following the “antennagate” fiasco), going by the sheer number of complaints coming from iOS device owners all around the world.

While iPhone 3G users are likely the most affected of the lot, with Apple failing to fix slow performance yet again, iPod touch owners are not much further down on the disappointment scale, as their portable players continue to exhibit poor battery performance, following the release of iOS 4.2.1.

Some iPhone 4 users continue to report problems with the proximity sensors on their handsets, or so would indicate a poll that is actively being conducted by cultofmac.com.

Admittedly, many are saying that Apple managed to fix the issue this time around, yet a third of the surveyed individuals remain affected, according to the poll results so far.

It remains to be seen whether Apple can further alleviate the problem. Should the bad experience stem from a hardware (design) flaw, some users may never see their proximity sensor behave as expected.

There are new problems as well, according to a new thread on Apple’s Discussions forum. Many users are signaling “incredibly slow” WiFi/Internet connectivity after applying iOS 4.2 (iOS 4.2.1).

Notably, most of those complaining about the matter are iPad owners.

Apple is known to have encountered a WiFi bug just as it was planning to roll out the final build of iOS 4.2. In order to fix the problem, the company reportedly handed iOS testers new beta builds, which delayed the planned iOS 4.2 launch. This, eventually, added another increment to the final iOS 4.2 release - 4.2.1.

Unfortunately, the WiFi issue may not have been properly addressed.

Want more (Android fanboys)? There is more.

Apparently, iOS 4.2.1 does a great job at upgrading the firmware on a user’s handset while also messing up their music library in the process.

Multiple iPhone users, including yours truly, can confirm that upgrading to a stock iOS 4.2.1 IPSW results in an empty iPod library on the first reboot.

Fortunately, the media is not physically erased. It simply doesn’t appear on the iPhone / iPod touch’s screen as the user fires up the iPod app.

There is already a workaround for this: users must connect their device to their computer, play a song on their device through iTunes, disconnect, and launch the iPod app again. This forces the software into rebuilding and displaying the physically-existent music library.

The least Apple could do, for its part, is post a simple support document with the workaround (now that others have figured it out).

With all these problems stemming from iOS 4 and its subsequent incremental iterations, one has to wonder:

how much more can faithful Apple customers endure?

For some, there’s no doubt that Apple’s lack of response to some problems is actually a way of forcing them into upgrading to newer, more expensive hardware (i.e.: iPhone 4, iPod touch fourth-generation).

Whether or not this is the case, Apple may want to add another increment to its much-anticipated iOS 4.2, before people start to express their frustration on a much bigger scale.

The Mac maker is (reportedly) known to be planning a release of iOS 4.3 which focuses on bringing “subscription billing APIs.”

The update is also expected to improve AirPlay, a wireless streaming feature, and is reportedly tied to the launch of an exclusive iPad news application - the brainchild of Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the head of the media giant News Corp., Rupert Murdoch.

Should Apple have planned an event for the iOS 4.3 launch, as noted by the knowledgeable pundit John Gruber (of The Daring Fireball), the company may want to push an iOS 4.2.2 software update onto customers, fixing all the above-mentioned bugs, before folks lose interest in whatever iOS 4.3 packs in terms of new functionality.

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