SwiftUI Issues on iOS 16: App Freezes, Buttons Unresponsive, and Missing Data (Works Fine on iOS 17)

Question

Created Jan ’25

Replies 3

Boosts 0

Participants 3

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing significant issues with my SwiftUI app when running on iOS 16. These issues are not present in iOS 17, where everything works as expected. I’m hoping someone can provide insights or suggestions on how to address these problems.

The Problems

App Freezing:

In certain views, the app becomes completely unresponsive when running on iOS 16.
There are no clear patterns or console logs pointing to the source of the freeze.

Unresponsive Buttons:

Buttons stop working in some views. Tapping them does nothing, even though the logic and bindings are correct.

Missing Data:

Data fetched from services (remote APIs) or local storage doesn’t show up in the UI.

Expected Behavior The app should handle user interactions and display data correctly on both iOS 16 and iOS 17, without freezes or unresponsive elements.

Environment: Xcode Version: Xcode 15.4 Deployment Target: iOS 16 Testing Devices: iPhone 14 with iOS 17.6.1, iPhone 13 with iOS 18.1.1, iPhone 8 with iOS 16.4, iPhone 12 with 16.4, iPhone 8 Plus with iOS 16.0, iPhone 8 Plus with 16.7.10

Boost

Answer 1

Claude31 OP

Jan ’25

Does it work in simulators iOS 16 ?

Have you found any device where it works with iOS 16 ?

How is it you discover the issue only now ? Did it work in the past ? Did you change Xcode version in between ? Can you test with Xcode 16 ?

It seems that it affects older devices iPhone 8, iPhone 12, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus

So is it only iOS related ?

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Answer 2

Luciags OP

Jan ’25

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to reply and for your questions. Let me address them one by one:

Does it work in simulators iOS 16?

Unfortunately, the app does not work in iOS 16 simulators either. The same issues are present: the app becomes unresponsive, buttons do not work as expected, and data is not displayed properly.

Have you found any device where it works with iOS 16?

No, I haven’t found any device or simulator where the app works as expected with iOS 16. The issues persist across all my tests on this version.

How is it you discover the issue only now? Did it work in the past? Did you change Xcode version in between? Can you test with Xcode 16?

I discovered the issue recently because the app was built and tested with iOS 16 compatibility for the first time during this development cycle. Most of the devices available to our team are running iOS 17, which is why the app worked perfectly during earlier testing. I haven’t changed the Xcode version during this process, but I also tested the app on another Mac using Xcode 16.4, and the issues remained consistent.

I appreciate your question and understand the curiosity—it wasn’t an oversight, but simply the timing of compatibility testing.

It seems that it affects older devices (e.g., iPhone 8, iPhone 12, iPhone 8 Plus). So, is it only iOS-related?

I’ve also tested the app on an iPhone 13, and the issues occur with iOS 16 on that device as well. This makes me believe that it’s not related to older hardware specifically. For example, on the same iPhone 12 with iOS 17, the app runs perfectly fine, which points to iOS 16 itself as the source of the problem rather than the devices.

Finally, just to clarify, the minimum deployment target for the app is set to iOS 16.

Thank you again for your insights and suggestions

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Answer 3

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

Jan ’25

@Luciags Do you get the same results with just the relevant code in a small test project? If so, please share a link to your test project. That'll help us better understand what's going on.

If you're not familiar with preparing a test project, take a look at Creating a test project.

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