iOS 11.2 update issued overnight, fixes Dec. 2 crash bug, adds Apple Pay Cash [Updated]

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If you awoke Saturday morning to find your iPhone or iPad crashing when you get notifications, there's a fix waiting for you: a major update from Apple that also adds some new features.

iOS 11.2 was released early Saturday. Typically, Apple released major software updates at midday, but this one is . . . special. It fixes a nasty bug that causes some iPhones to crash when they receive a notification.

From the Apple Support document that details the issue:

If your device with iOS 11 unexpectedly restarts repeatedly on or after December 2, 2017, learn what to do.

Use these steps to turn off notifications for all the apps on your device, then update your device to iOS 11.2:

Tap Settings > Notifications. Tap an app, then turn off Allow Notifications. Repeat this step for each app. Update your device to iOS 11.2. After updating, tap Settings > Notifications and turn Allow Notifications on again for each app.

That's right. You have to disable each app's notification individually.

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The bug only causes a crash when you get a notification that comes from an app, rather than from a service over the internet.

iOS 11.2 also adds Apple Pay Cash, which lets you send money directly to other people. However, while it's enabled on the phone, apparently it has not yet been activated on Apple's servers.

The update also adds support for faster wireless charging for the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X. The devices previously supports charging up to 5 watts, and this update kicks that to 7.5 watts. However, you'll need a charger that supports the faster speeds, as well.

Installing 11.2 also adds explanatory text when you turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in the Control Center to indicate that doing so does not disable those radios, but rather only disconnects them. This allows Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to say connected to the Apple Watch or Apple TV, even if they are no longer connected to other peripheral devices.

MacRumors has a full list of the fixes and new features.

This has been a bad week for Apple's Quality Assurance team.

On Nov. 28, a bug was disclosed that allowed anyone to log into a Mac running macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra) with the highest privileges without using a password. Apple fixed that in less than 24 hours with a patch, which came with an apology and a promise to audit its development process.

But that patch brought its own issues, breaking file sharing. A patch for the patch came the next day.

And now, iOS users are spending their Saturday morning turning off notifications one-by-one, and updating their iPhones.

Your only solace may come in the knowledge that the person in charge of the quality control of Apple's software is having a worse morning.

Update 12.3.17: If you have not yet updated to 11.2, you should do so now. Even if you are not experiencing the post-Dec. 2 crashes, once they start, your device could go into a reboot loop that would make it difficult to do the update.

This iOS bug gets nastier. As more notifications try to launch, phone now rebooting every 30 seconds making it impossible to turn off each app notification. https://t.co/pdzIhapGXp — Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) December 3, 2017

If this happens, you can try quickly going into Settings > General > Date & Time between reboots, turn off automatic time/date setting and set the date manually back to Dec. 1, the day before the crash is trigged. As soon as you've finished doing the update, go back into Settings and turn automatic date setting back on.

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