iOS 6 ‘Do Not Disturb’ Bug: Apple Says Issue Will Automatically Be Fixed Jan 7

It will definitely not sound good for millions of Apple fans all around the globe -- the company’s New Year was off to a bad start as many users reported on the very first day of 2013 that the popular “Do Not Disturb” feature in iOS 6 was not turning off as per the scheduling instructions.

However, the Cupertino tech giant quickly reacted to the issue and posted a support document on its website saying that the troubling “Do Not Disturb” bug in iOS 6 would automatically be fixed from Jan. 7 onwards.

“Do Not Disturb” is a feature that allows the users to switch on to silence the in-coming calls, alerts and notifications or pre-determine a certain period of time during which their iOS device will remain silent. But a number of users reported at the turn of the year that the feature remained active even after the scheduled time had elapsed.

Many readers over at MacRumors forums reported the issue late Monday night.

“I am in Japan so it is 2013, and I am finding that my iOS devices (iPhone 4 and iPad 2) are showing ‘Do Not Disturb’ even though it is outside of the time I set for them. Not sure if this is related to the new year. Reloading the devices does not help and the software is up-to-date,” said one forum member.

“I scheduled it to automatically turn on from 12AM to 8AM. It's 1PM here and it thinks it's still in the range!” said another forum member.

In its notice, Apple admitted that the bug was not affecting the iPhone users only but also the users of iPad and iPod Touch as well. The support document on the company’s website explained:

"Do Not Disturb scheduling feature will resume normal functionality after January 7, 2013. Before this date, you should manually turn the Do Not Disturb feature on or off."

To do this, the users will have to "tap Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb and switch Scheduled to Off."

At a time when many iPhone users were facing the notorious bug with the “Do Not Disturb” feature in iOS 6, Apple released an ad featuring tennis players Venus and Serena Williams that touted the very same feature for iPhone 5.

The ad showed the William sisters playing table tennis in a dream sequence. It told viewers that they might miss out on an awesome dream if they didn’t have the “Do Not Disturb” feature.

As 9TO5Mac rightly noted, “the ad is amusing, but the timing is oh-so painful.”