by Dan Moren
Apple promises fix for Lightning headphone control bug
Steve Kovach at Business Insider on a problem that’s been affecting users of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus:
The issue, which I’ve also experienced a few times while testing the iPhone 7, happens after you’ve left the EarPods plugged into the iPhone 7’s Lightning port for a few minutes. Audio continues to play, but the volume control dongle stops working, meaning you can’t adjust the volume, activate Siri, or answer calls.
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An Apple spokesperson told me the problem will be fixed in a future software update.
I’ve been experiencing the same problem with the Lightning-to-analog headphone adapter. Sometimes I just pause music and forget to turn it back on. I’ve even heard a faint electronic “click-buzz” after a few minutes of sitting there with the headphones plugged in but no music playing. Developer Scott O’Reilly documented the behavior on video. The current fix is to unplug the Lightning adapter and plug it back in.
I figured–as some others did–that this was some sort of power-saving routine, but if Apple’s going to fix it, then it seems that this isn’t the intended behavior. I’ve definitely found it annoying over the last few days, though hardly a deal-breaker. Perhaps it’ll just accelerate my adoption of Bluetooth headphones for everyday use.