Mobile gamers on iPhones who have not yet upgraded to iOS 13 may want to delay the update a bit longer, as it makes titles such as Fortnite and PUBG Mobile unplayable.
The latest iOS is packed with new features, one of which is a text-editing gesture that brings up commands such as undo, copy, and paste. The feature may be activated by pressing three fingers on the iPhone screen.
Unfortunately, mobile shooters such as Fortnite and PUBG Mobile often require players to have three fingers in contact with their screen. Two fingers are for moving the character and controlling the camera, while the third finger performs functions such as firing. The technique, which is referred to as the claw due to the positioning of the fingers, is bringing up the text-editing gesture while in the game.
In response to the flood of player complaints, Fortnite developer Epic Games and PUBG Mobile developer Tencent have both acknowledged the issue, with the latter even including an in-game notice on the possible interruption to matches due to the iOS 13 feature. No solution has been provided though, aside from holding off on upgrading to the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system.
There is no way to disable the text-editing gesture, so Fortnite and PUBG Mobile players who have upgraded their iPhones to iOS 13 will have no choice but to wait for a fix. Fortunately, Apple is working on a solution to the issue.
Apple will roll out iOS 13.1 on September 24, six days ahead of its previously planned release date of September 30. The update will fix the text-editing gesture to only activate in applicable situations, such as when the user is editing text, and will also allow app developers to specify the instances when the feature is active.
The iOS 13.1 update will also patch a lockscreen bypass exploit, as well as introduce several new features such as automated Siri Shortcut actions and an Apple Maps feature to share a user’s ETA to a destination. The iOS update will also introduce processor throttling for the iPhone XS and iPhone XR, a feature that drew backlash in the past but should be less noticeable in these newer models.