[Update: Dec. 22] Pinch to zoom not working on Safari after iOS 15 update, other apps likely affected (possible workaround inside)

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…

Original story (published on November 26, 2021) follows:

Apple released iOS 15 in September and since then, the company also seeded two-point updates — iOS 15.1 and iOS 15.1.1 — aimed at fixing bugs. Moreover, iOS 15.2 should be coming anytime soon.

Having said that, the issues with Apple’s latest OS aren’t fully resolved even after these updates. While some issues are acknowledged and fixed in the recent updates, there are still some flaws that Apple needs to take care of.

Recently, some users on iOS 15 and iOS 15.1 reported blurry thumbnails in the Photos app. And now another issue with iOS 15 has come to light where some users are not able to use pinch to zoom functionality in some apps.

According to reports (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), several users have complained that the pinch to zoom function does not always work in Safari after upgrading to iOS 15. They say that sometimes the function works, but other times it does not responds.

Here are some reports for reference:

Same here, can’t pinch-to-zoom on Safari or Chrome or Mail. I thought it was a problem with my fingers at first, lol. This issue has been around for a couple months and still no update?? Phone is iPhone XS Max, 64 gig (Source)

I’ve got the Same Problem. On the X rn. I did a google search And can’t Find Anything. For Me it’s Happening On All websites Using safari. Super annoying. Takes Me 5-6 attempts to pinch to Zoom for Anything to Happen (Source)

And while sometimes the pinch to zoom works at the first attempt, it breaks again when zooming out using pinch out.

Besides Safari, several users have also reported the same issue with other applications as well including Chrome, Photos, and Mail app.

This makes it clear that this bug has nothing to do with a particular app, instead, it’s a glitch in Apple’s operating system.

Moreover, its been initially reported by users in iOS 15, however, some have also confirmed that this bug still persists even after iOS 15.1 update.

Meanwhile, a user has come up with a workaround for pinch to zoom not working issue which involves disabling the ‘Live Text’ feature. You can try this solution and see if it works until Apple fixes it.

Seems to be a problem with “Live Text”. I turned it off and zoom is much better.

Curious if it helps others.

To disable Live Text:

– Settings

– General

– Language and Region

– Live Text

I rebooted after the change using volume up, volume down and holding power until the phone rebooted, but this may not be necessary. (Source)

Unfortunately, Apple has not yet acknowledged this bug and we hope that the company fixes it as soon as possible. And when they do, we will update this space with the latest information, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, you can also check our dedicated iOS 15 bugs tracker where we have mentioned all the issues with Apple’s latest OS along with their status.

IST 10:21 am: iOS 15.2 is rolling out to eligible devices but users who have updated their iPhones report that the pinch to zoom issue still persists.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Apple section, so make sure to follow them as well.

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