Apple has identified an “issue” with the GasBuddy app that may result in some iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max devices becoming “unresponsive,” according to an internal announcement shared with Apple Stores today. The memo was obtained by MacRumors from a reliable source.
Apple says affected iPhones will have a black screen with an endlessly spinning wheel—aka a respring loop. In its memo, Apple says it is working with GasBuddy to “resolve” the issue, which started “sometime after October 18, 2018.”
If a customer reports the issue at an Apple Store, Apple has instructed its Genius Bar employees to force restart the iPhone, and then ask the customer to uninstall the GasBuddy app. If the device is still unresponsive, Genius Bar employees are instructed to continue with the standard service process.
It’s unclear why the GasBuddy app is crashing some iPhones. A spokesperson for GasBuddy said its team “has been and continues to investigate,” and delayed further comment until the company has more insight about the matter. A spokesperson for Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment.
GasBuddy is a popular app for locating gas stations with the lowest-priced gas near you. The app, which claims to have 70 million users, relies on users submitting gas prices when they fill up to help alert others. GasBuddy also provides price hike alerts so that you can fill up before the increase.
According to GasBuddy’s release notes, the app was updated on October 17 with support for iOS 12. The update also “fixed some crashes.” On October 19, the app was again updated with bug fixes, including one that caused some location-based information to not appear on iOS 12 , and another with gas station details.
At some point between those updates, the issue causing some iPhones to become unresponsive began to occur, according to Apple’s memo.
MacRumors will update this article if and when we receive any new information from Apple or GasBuddy. In the meantime, if you have the GasBuddy app installed on your iPhone 8 or newer, it might be a good idea to uninstall it for now until this situation clears up. A software fix of some kind is likely on the horizon.
Related Roundups: iPhone 8, iPhone XSTag: GasBuddyBuyer’s Guide: iPhone XS (Buy Now)
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