How can I prevent app freezing while selecting text on my iPhone?

(1) Try and Force Restart your iPhone EXACTLY as shown below and see whether that resolves the issue:

• Press and quickly release Volume UP button
• Press and quickly release Volume DOWN button
• Press and Hold the SIDE button until an Apple logo appears and then release the Side button (Can take up to 20 seconds. (DO NOT release Side Button when invited to Slide Power OFF). 

(2) If the above does not work then - Double check to ensure that you have ample free storage space available on your iPhone. Open Settings ➡️ General ➡️ About ➡️ Available: Here you will see the available storage space on your iPhone. You should maintain at least 15GB or more free storage space for the iPhone’s efficient operation.

(3)) If the above is not the solution then -You may have a poor battery condition which cannot provide sufficient power for peak performance. What is the Battery Health of your iPhone? Open Settings ➡️ Battery ➡️ Battery Health and let us know which percentage you see for Maximum Capacity. Also note what is written under Peak Performance. If your battery's Maximum Capacity shows a value of 80% or less, then it has gone through its lifecycle and therefore should be replaced, according to Apple.

Axel F.

I have had this issue for a few months now. Tried restarting, hard reset sequence (that Alex F. mentioned before), clearing up space but nothing seems to help.

So frustrating since copy-paste is a daily task I need to do but now it's almost impossible since it works maybe 5-10% of time if that... Does not seem to matter what app I try to do it in. Also dictation seems to work randomly for me since this issue has started and selecting text from images does not work most of the time.

Also searching for updates was stuck and I could'nt update to iOS 17.5.1 and had to do it with the help of PC. This experience is a joke and it's basically the first time that this bad of a bug has been going on for a while and nothing seems to help. These are also the features I use multiple times a day so it really frustrates and limits the use of my phone.

Currently using iPhone 11, iOS 17.5.1

Hi Axel F, please take note Hard or soft resets are not always a solution as users have to re-setup personal config on the phone after the reset. Thus it doesnt matter to the systems at all. iMessage freezing specially using non-english input methods were reported so many times but Apple Team Dev was not care much. It's about coding issue inside the iMessage applet. I have checked Chinese, Korean, Portugese, Vietnamese (telex and simple telex), the screen will be freezing frequently if you changing to non-english typing and got freezing until you push up the imessage or restart the phone.

James Dory.

The same exact thing has been happening to me! I’m so glad I found this thread, because I’ve been feeling so frustrated that this update seems to have twisted my phone up. After the update, every time I try to select a text, my whole app freezes. I have to swipe out of the app completely, and sometimes when I get back on it’s still frozen and takes a minute for everything to reset. I also can’t search photos in my gallery, I couldn’t copy pictures for a while, and now it seems my phone just freezes up where text is concerned entirely. I need help. Tried to see if I can update it more, but everything gets stuck on a loading screen.

Tried this with my phone (I am having the same problem) but the phone starts to place an emergency call instead of rebooting. It's a 13 Pro Max running 17.4.1. Any advice? I have been quitting apps and rebooting the phone a lot in the last week or two, but it keeps happening: total freeze of the app (but not the OS) when I try to select text in the keyboard in any app.

Thanks,

-Matt

Having same issue.13pro max. Forced restart doesn’t fix it. I have over 40 gb available storage. Battery health is 86%. Along with this issue, I can no longer select text from a photo as I could before. Any other suggestions?

Iphone14, iOS 17.5.1.

For some reason, I cant access any text messaging (blank screen or frozen screen), can't access any text messaging settings (settings screen freezes when selected), can't make phone calls (blank screen), can't make Facetime calls (blank screen), and cant make voice or video calls over WhatsApp (button for video or voice call does nothing). Tried all the steps indicated by the user in this thread but they don't appear to work. It seems this behavior started when I disabled a group text's alerts, but since I cant access messages, I cant reverse the setting for the alerts of that group text. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

This fix only worked until I locked my phone. After unlocking, the text selection freezing issue came right back.

I repeated the process multiple times with the same results- issue resolved until I locked my phone.

Has anyone found a resolution for this yet?

Correct - issue resurfaces after hard reset. Hard reset is only a temporary fix.

incredible how little Apple cares about this issue that basically makes the phone unusable.

I have taken my phone to the Apple Store 5 time in the last year - so frustrating!

Why does my iPhone continuing to crash every time I try to select text and ask my Siri to read my text for me or if I select any text on my iPhone CRAHES on me???

I’m using version 18.1.1 on my iPhone 13 Pro Max it’s making me so angry, APPLE 🍎NEEDS TO STOP 🛑 RELEASING UP GRADES UNTIL THEY HAVE ALL GONE THROUGH AND ALL THE BUGS 🐜🪲🐛🐝 HAVE ALL BEEN REMOVED. APPLE 🍎 KEEPS RELEASING UPGRADES AND ALLOWS THEIR CUSTOMERS TO INDENIFY ALL THE BUGS 🐜🪲🐛🐝 AND ONLY THEN DOES APPLE 🍎 TRIES TO ELIMANATES ALL THE BUGS 🐜🪲🐛🐝 THE CUSTOMERS TO ALL THE WORK!!!!!

I’m FED UP WITH APPLE’S BULL💩!!!! This is ridiculous, and It’s getting beyond the the point where I don’t want to use an iPhone anymore. I’m gonna purchase Elon Musk‘s new phone i’m so fed up with APPLE 🍎‘s BS!!!

I’ve been dealing with this for over a month and the reset sequence you provided FINALLY fixed it - thanks so much!

You are welcome.

Axel F.

This didn’t work. :(

I have this for a week now. Tried reboot. Have at least 40 gb available, and it has the latest update.

Nothing worked.

Thanks you Axel this it worked! You rock!