71 pc iPhone users in India face contact search issues after iOS 27 upgrade: Survey

Hyderabad: Six weeks after Apple Inc rolled out iOS 27 to iPhone users, a large number of Indian iPhone users are experiencing issues. A LocalCircles survey conducted this month found that 71 percent of iPhone users surveyed who have upgraded to iOS 27 or higher are experiencing issues pertaining to contact search.

The survey asked iPhone users, “Are you having difficulties accessing your iPhone contact list post upgrading to iOS 27 or higher?”

Out of over 18,000 who responded to the question, 71 percent of the respondents stated “yes”, 21 percent said “no” and 8 percent of the respondents did not give a clear answer.

Many reported that typing a name into the Contacts search function either returns no results or returns one only after a delay of several seconds, forcing them to scroll manually through hundreds of saved entries, or to switch to WhatsApp calling to reach people whose numbers the native dialler fails to display.

Users on iPhone 13, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro have reported identical behaviour, as have iPad users, and those with larger contact lists appear to be worst affected, with some reporting a delay of 10-15 seconds on every search where results were previously near instantaneous.

Given the volume of consumer complaints and the findings of the survey, LocalCircles said it will escalate the matter to the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to take up the iOS 27 contact search failure with Apple Inc. and seek a possible resolution.