An increasing number of iPhone users are reporting a persistent iOS 17 bug that causes the app switcher to suddenly appear when they are typing on the screen. If you have experienced this frustrating issue, you are not alone.

iOS 17 General Keyboard Feature
Apple Community forums and Reddit contain similar reports of people being kicked out of Messages, Notes, and other apps mid-sentence only to find themselves in another app because they were still tapping the screen when the app switcher suddenly appeared.

You can see it in action here. The bug can be hard to replicate, but it seems to happen to affected users when they have been typing on the virtual keyboard at pace for a while. The bug has been reported in all versions of iOS 17 up to and including the most recent iOS 17.1.2 update, and some users have returned their ‌iPhone‌ only for it to occur on the replacement device, suggesting that Apple is not sufficiently aware of the problem.

Until Apple deals with the issue, there is a temporary fix – or more accurately a workaround, since it involves turning off Reachability, a feature that some users will undoubtedly miss. Reachability is an optional feature that lowers the top half of the screen so it's within easy reach of your fingers. Here's how to disable it.

  1. Open Settings on your ‌iPhone‌.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Under "Physical and Motor," select Touch.
  4. Turn off the switch next to Reachability.

turn off reachability

Disabling Reachability appears to stop the typing bug in its tracks for everyone affected, which suggests Apple has an unidentified sensitivity issue linked to the accessibility feature.

(Thanks, Anna!)

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Top Rated Comments

krspkbl Avatar
25 months ago
I think it's time iOS goes to a 2 year release cycle if Apple can't handle the job.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DMG35 Avatar
25 months ago
iOS 17 has got to be the most bug riddled OS Apple has ever released.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Blue Hawk Avatar
25 months ago
iOS is full of bugs and issues since iOS 13
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aldo82 Avatar
25 months ago
Only happened once to me so far but was shocked when it did!

Ona side note, I find reachability so much more fickle to activate since ios17. It’s almost not worth having it switched on now it’s so inconsistent in activating
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Seanm87 Avatar
25 months ago

iOS 17 has got to be the most bug riddled OS Apple has ever released.
You obviously don't remember ios13
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mazz0 Avatar
25 months ago
Anyone else have a bug on iPad where the cursor randomly moves while you're typing, even with an external keyboard?

I don't just mean the mouse cursor, I mean the typing cursor, the point where your letters are input. So you end up typing nonsense because the letters go in the wrong places.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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