iPhone 12 Pro freezing on iOS 17.4(.1) when selecting text (or sometimes when trying to type)

First of all, this thread is incredibly hard to find. For a while, I felt like I was the only one with this problem. Only way it showed up on Google was "iphone hang text select" and setting the date range to "last month". "iphone hang select text" e.g., you won't find any of it. Same goes for "ios text select crash" or "iphone mark text crash". (<- some fodder for Google right here ...)

So: Experiencing the exact same situation. Problem started on an iPhone Pro Max 15 with iOS 17.4, no change with 17.4.1.

• Hang / crash when selecting text (not always, but most of the times)
• Keyboard sometimes hanging itself up all of a sudden, need to restart
• BETTER after restart, forced or normal; but no more than for a few minutes
• Problem signing into the Security menu of iCloud (in Settings)

Let's see if we find some more common ground and maybe find the culprit here! Same as most of you, I've tried plenty of other stuff and changing settings, to no avail. Some things odd I noticed are:

• I cannot do a full backup to my Mac; neither via Finder or via iMazing; it goes on for many hours and doesn't finish
• I've got plenty of space, photos set to "Optimization" -> iCloud, only few stored on machine, yet at one point, my iPhone ran into "no more memory" and I couldn't save any more photos; it's a 512GB phone, actually plenty of space left - even with all photos stored on the machine instead of in the Cloud it wouldn't have been full
• my iMessages showed up in iCloud unusually high, I think around 300GB. Didn't make sense; I disabled iCloud Messages on all my machines, will have to wait two more weeks so after 30 days, they are actually fully erased on the Cloud, then try setting it to iCloud again

A few years back, I had an issue with Notes using up hundreds of GB of mobile data; no one could help. Called Apple so many times. My solution was: Accessing the IMAP server via Thunderbird, which showed me some "ghost" directories for notes. That was when they changed the way notes are stored, I think. Anyway: I deleted the folders (that didn't show up in Mac Mail) manually and that resolved that issue.

So, maybe some app / sync process is filling up the available space / RAM / processor / who-knows-what?

My questions to fellow sufferers of this issue would be:

• Can you check if any section uses up unsually much space on iCloud?
• did any of you run into a "space full" sort-of message even though you still had plenty of space?
• Did you ever have an issue with the Notes app, such as unsually high data volume when syncing?
• Is anyone using iMazing?
• Can you do a full backup of your iPhone to your Mac - one that actually finishes?
• Any troubles with iMessage size-wise, when looking at Space on iCloud and under the tab with the space needed on the volume / "hard drive" of your iPhone?

I would think we're gonna find at least one more commonality that actually causes this trouble. Seeing that it's so incredibly hard to find any similar reports on the web, it's not unreasonable to think this is a minority issue. Culprit must be somewhere, and Apple is probably not going through the trouble helping us there ... they will probably recommend a full reset. And: I would do one, but not w/o a full backup to disk (which I cannot do right now ...)

[Edited by Moderator]

I am having the same issues with my Iphone 12 Pro max, where my phone freeze not only after some copy/paste but also with Safari as well.

when this happen and I try to reset the device by holding the power botton and the volume up, the phone totally freeze. I am able to turn off the Iphone only by asking Siri "turn off my iphone".

the issue started to happen after the 17.4 update. I had some hope with the 17.4.1 but the bug persist...

Did more experiments to figure out where the root issue might be – and I think we are on to something. The iOS features that we are having problems with all require Apple ID.

• System Update: Apple ID is used to determine which iOS build is offered (i.e. developer, public beta, main release)

• Highlight text: maybe checking for other devices on network that is signed in to same Apple ID to facilitate copy/paste Continuity feature

To further corroborate our findings, the Apple Store app which uses Apple ID to track order and purchases is also non-functional (i.e. crashes on load)

So, a likely fix to this could be simple: signing in and out of iCloud account from Settings. See Sign out of iCloud on your devices - Apple Support for more details. Do give it a try and report back. Good luck!

I also have the same issues - The best workaround I've done so far is to never get and copy anything or close the app over and over again until it allows me to type.

For the update I had to connect to my Mac to do it as the update spun and never picked up 17.4 or 17.4.1.

Any luck with the iOS 17.5 update?

Good luck to you! Do keep us posted.

For the rest of us, please fill a bug report at https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/. My report number is FB13806510, you can quote that in own submission. For reference, the title for my report is "Unable to select text, or access network services dependent on Apple ID, including System Update"

Oh man that’s depressing to hear. Full restore is not an option for me right now. I did find a partial fix, if I disable predictive text and check spelling in the keyboard settings. At least it doesn’t crash in Messages and WhatsApp’s when I type or select text. Still crashes when selecting text in all other apps like Safari and Mail.

It sounds like you're experiencing quite a frustrating issue with your iPhone 12 Pro on iOS 17.4.1. Given that you've already tried several troubleshooting steps without success, here are a few additional methods you can try:

1. **Force Restart Your iPhone:**-If your iPhone won't turn on or is frozen - Apple Support

   - Quickly press and release the Volume Up button.

   - Quickly press and release the Volume Down button.

   - Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.

2. **Reset All Settings:**

   - Go to **Settings** > **General** > **Transfer or Reset iPhone** > **Reset**.

   - Select **Reset All Settings**. This will reset all system settings to default but won’t delete your data.

3. **Free Up Storage Space:**

   - Check if your iPhone has enough free storage. Go to **Settings** > **General** > **iPhone Storage** and make sure you have at least 1-2 GB of free space.

. **Try system repair:**

   - Since you’ve updated to iOS 17.4.1 without success, consider to repair. it can help fix many system issues without data loss.

5. **Contact Apple Support:**

   - If none of the above steps work, it might be a deeper issue with the iOS or hardware. Contact Apple Support for further assistance. They might provide specific solutions or recommend a service appointment.

Given your concern about losing the eSIM, I recommend trying all the above steps before considering a full wipe and restore. If a full restore becomes necessary, check if your carrier offers any solutions for reactivating your eSIM remotely. 

I hope one of these methods helps resolve the issue with your iPhone.

[Edited by Moderator]

Same thing on my 12 Pro.

I've only found two things on the phone that take 'a very long time' right now:

• Going into Settings -> General -> Dictionaries either hangs Settings app completely, or if I do a network settings reset lets me get in, but takes a few minutes.
• Trying to check if a Software Update exists from the phone just spins the spinner and never completes. (Via desktop connection it claims it's up to date).

Since the hang happens for me when the keyboard is used, and the dictionaries are what take forever to load, I suspect something related to those two things.

Incredibly frustrating to have to restart my phone a few times a day.

Update: 17.5 doesn't solve it, just for a mere few minutes.

Here's what I initially posted:

*sound of knock on wood* 🪵

(Possible) SOLUTION: Update to 17.5 which has just been released.

You most likely cannot do it via your iPhone (since "Update" stall is one of the issues), here's how you can update anyway:

• hook up your iPhone to your Mac (via USB)
• open your device in Finder, you should find it in the sidebar
• there, you should be able to run an update

Personally, I used iMazing 3 - which is a paid app, though, and hopefully unnecessary for the update process which can also be done via Finder; if you have it, though, might as well use it. On the first try, it didn't work and yielded an error message. Second try, all went well.

I've only tested it on 17.5 for a few minutes so far, so hopefully the problem won't return (as suggested by ChiffaNe, possible logs etc. might cause this - which would be gone after an update, but may fill up again - oh my, the next few days are gonna be filled with adrenaline ... 😳).

What works now and didn't before:

• highlighting / selecting text
• opening "Dictionary"
• opening and changing Siri voice
• opening "Updates" and either get an update available or up-to-date message

Will update if problem returns. I hope you won't hear of me ever again (at least on this thread, though) ... 😂

Wonderful idea, ervintwj - very much appreciated! Seems like you were spot on with your diagnosis. Apple ID is the culprit, and the solution most likely is:

• sign out from Apple ID (settings, first section)
• keep copies of your data on iPhone probably not a bad idea to save some time when you later re-add your ID
• sign into your Apple ID again (do use the manual way, the auto way via another iDevice seems to want to do a more thorough reinstall)

This does work. For now, at least ... Unless the problem comes back like after the update to 17.5 ... thumbs crossed.

Thanks again, ervintwj - VERY helpful.