iOS 9.3.2 Beta Reportedly Fixes 'White Screen of Death' Game Center Bug

by

A long-standing bug in Game Center that renders many games unplayable has reportedly been resolved in the latest public beta of iOS 9.3.2.

Game Center for iOS is a necessary component of many turn-based multiplayer App Store titles, which rely on Apple's social gaming network to enable gamers to invite friends, start multiplayer matches, and compete for high scores.

The bug, which first appeared in iOS 8, affects many popular games of the sort and involves the Game Center app launching as a white screen, crashing games to a white screen, and/or the Settings app freezing when Game Center's options are selected.

TouchArcade forum member and journalist Craig Grannell's video of the bug in action.

MacRumors sister site TouchArcade, which has a thread in its forums discussing the bug spanning over 75 pages, now notes that the 'white screen of death' bug appears to have been resolved, although given the long-standing nature of the problem, gamers remain understandably wary.

Well, community members of ours who are brave enough to install beta iOS system updates have reported that Game Center is once again working for them in the iOS 9.3.2 beta. Now, before getting too excited, it's important to have a hefty dose of realism with all this: The Game Center bug is a vicious beast, and many people on our forums have thought they slayed it, only to have it return inside of a couple days. I'm cautiously optimistic, but by no means ready to strike up the band and declare the Game Center bug fixed.

The latest posts on the forum thread suggest that Apple's latest beta has resolved the problem for many affected users, although claims of official confirmation from Apple that the bug is fixed remain unsubstantiated.

Apple released the first beta of its upcoming iOS 9.3.2 update to public testers last Thursday, just a day after seeding the beta to developers.

Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 9.3.2 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.

Tags: Game Center, iOS 9.3.2

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Read Full Article • 73 comments
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
Read Full Article • 119 comments
airtag purple

Apple's Website Lists AirTag 4-Pack at Shockingly Low Price [Updated]

Friday November 7, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple's online store in the U.S. is suddenly offering a pack of four AirTags for just $29, which is the same price as a single AirTag. This is likely a pricing error, and it is unclear if orders will be fulfilled. Apple has not discounted the AirTag four-pack in any other countries that we checked. Delivery estimates are already pushing into late November to early December, suggesting...
Read Full Article • 98 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
Read Full Article
ikea smart home devices

IKEA Debuts 21 HomeKit-Compatible Smart Bulbs, Sensors, and Controls

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:08 pm PST by
IKEA today announced the upcoming launch of 21 new Matter-compatible smart home products that will be able to interface with HomeKit and the Apple Home app. There are sensors, lights, and control options, all of which will be reasonably priced. Some of the products are new, while some are updates to existing lines that IKEA previously offered. There are a series of new smart bulbs that are...
Read Full Article • 77 comments
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on MacBook, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Read Full Article • 5 comments
Apple fitness plus feature

Future of Apple Fitness+ 'Under Review'

Sunday November 9, 2025 5:30 am PST by
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue. Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
Read Full Article • 164 comments
maxresdefault

In-Depth iPhone Battery Experiment Pits Slow Charging Against Fast Charging

Friday November 7, 2025 1:19 pm PST by
HTX Studio this week shared the results from a six-month battery test that compared how fast charging and slow charging can affect battery life over time. Using six iPhone 12 models, the channel set up a system to drain the batteries from five percent and charge them to 100 percent over and over again. Three were fast charged, and three were slow charged. Another set of iPhones underwent...
Read Full Article • 171 comments
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
Read Full Article • 218 comments

Top Rated Comments

Boatboy24 Avatar
Boatboy24
125 months ago
White Screen of Death + Game Center does not equal 'Bug'. That is a significant upgrade.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
John Mcgregor Avatar
John Mcgregor
125 months ago
What's a game centre?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SMIDG3T Avatar
SMIDG3T
125 months ago
Apple should get rid of Game Center and simply embed it in the apps themselves, not sure if that's possible but that'd be a lot better.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bushido Avatar
bushido
125 months ago
speaking off, i havent opened this app since iOS 6 or so. I assume it still does not sync ALL games automatically to the Cloud which would be the only reason to use it?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nagromme Avatar
nagromme
125 months ago
Sweet! The one GameCenter problem I have NOT had!

(It's actually been good to me the past half year or so.)

Game Center was supposed to be Apple's answer to Xbox Achievements. However, as with so many Apple services, they just released it with a lot of marketing hype only to let it fade into obscurity.
Obscurity? It's functionality for gamers—not a PR push. Gamers demand achievements, high score tracking, and turn notifications. GC offers developers a ready-to-go way deliver those features, among others. GC is used constantly and heavily, by numerous titles.

When it has bugs they need to be fixed, but it certainly didn't "fade into obscurity."

(Interesting that so many people are posting about the app, which this article is not about. It's about the service impacting games, which is far more important than the rarely-needed central app.)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kupkakez Avatar
kupkakez
125 months ago
I never open Game Center either but the problem some people were having is if a game utilizes Game Center and you were affected by the "bug" you couldn't even launch the game.

I'm surprised it took Apple this many months to fix it. I first read about this on TouchArcade and the iOSgaming subreddit around Christmas time.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments