14 DAY TRIAL // A bug affecting recurring alarms on iOS devices has been confirmed as widespread, with Australia and Tasmania customers reporting the latest incidents. Those who had their alarms set to go off periodically were woken up an hour early. Most recently, Apple confirmed the existence of a patch set to arrive in an upcoming software update.
While iOS 4.2 will undoubtedly incorporate the appropriate fix for this unpredictable misbehavior on behalf of iPhones worldwide, there is strong indication that Apple will actually roll out iOS 4.1.1 to tackle the bug, ahead of the iOS 4.2 release scheduled for November.
It is believed that next in line to get hit by the alarm bug are Europe, set to enter DST on October 30th, and America on November 6th, according to a report by Cult of Mac.
If true, Apple must at any cost intercept the bug with an incremental release of iOS 4 which, according to the aforementioned source, should be iOS 4.1.1.
What’s more, Cupertino has confirmed that it is aware of the bug. In a statement provided to ZDnet Australia, Apple said through a spokesperson "We're aware of this issue and already developed a fix which will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.”
While this doesn’t say anything about the patch arriving sooner than November, it is reasonable to assume Apple will not be ignorant of the issue, even more so knowing that it is actually set to affect more customers come October 30th, and November 6th.
By not releasing the patch ahead of iOS 4.2, it would be like waiting for a time bomb to go off without trying to cut any of the wires.
If iOS 4.1.1 emerges soon, it will be interesting to see if Apple includes anything extra, such as a jailbreak patch, or new features.