Q: Rear camera stopped working after upgrade to iOS 9

It is definitely issue with software where flashlight app is badly impacted after software update (ios 9.0.1). Since flashlight app and rear camera app is associated, rear camera will not up until flash is on or in working state. I did try following which worked me for few days:

1. Close front and rear camera with your fingers and gently press camera and flash light side of your phone.

2. Keep both the cameras covered by your fingers and try to restart your phone. (Hard restart i.e. Lock button + home button). Please make sure all apps should be closed.

3. Once phone up, try to start flash light through control center wizard. You can find flash light works.

4. Now let flashlight keep remain on and start camera app.

5. Switch to rear and front camera and gently remove your fingers from camera lens.

6. You can find rear camera works in this state.

I've tried so many different methods and sadly none of worked on my iPhone5 with 9.0.1, 9.0.2 or 9.1.

I reckon the issue is not going to be fixed by a future iOS update - Apple could now hardly admit that it was a software problem afterall. (Press release: "oops, sorry people, it was software after all. My bad. Sorry especially to those people who have forked out €600 for a new iPhone")

I'm taking mine to a repair shop who will replace the rear camera unit for about €65. Least bad option?

Finally I went to an official repair partner and they changed it for a new one for free. My iPhone 5s was bought in May 2014 and as we have 2 years warranty here in Europe they replaced it without problem. It took about 5/6days because they sent my phone to Europe's central to try to repair it

but now I have my brand new iPhone 5s and camera works fine.

I have the same problem with IPAD 2 after IOS 9 update. When I open camera, I see a black screen with yellow focus square. If I switch to the front camera - all ok. When I switch back to the rear camera - on the screen freezes the last image from the front camera . Not a black screen, but screenshot from the front camera at the moment of switching . It is not hardware problem - it is software.

Looks like a software problem. Has anyone upgraded to iOS 9.2 beta? I'm really hoping Apple fixes this

I have the EXACT same problem on my iPhone 6 Plus.  And, when I switch to the rear camera, I get the ⚠️ icon on the top left part of the screen.  When I click on it, it tells me that the flash is disabled & that my iPhone needs to cool down before using the flash.  I had no problems whatsoever until I did the update.  Apple sure is screwing over its loyal customers.  I had switched to the Galaxy S5 Active for a few months, but I went back to an iPhone due to the awesome picture quality.  Now, I can't even take a freaking picture, and Apple is just turning their back on the problem.  Not cool, Apple...NOT COOL!  

Same problem here with my iPhone 5S.

Camera was working fine until I upgraded to iOS 9.  Getting the ⚠️ overheating warning as well.

Apple say it's a hardware failure, but I can't believe all our cameras failed at the same time.

In the past, I've always been impressed by Apple's customer service, but not anymore.

I have been looking forward to getting an iPhone 6s plus to replace my aging iPhone 5 but it might be time to rethink this strategy.

I took mine to a Mac repairer who said they could change the rear camera. However they reported the problem was on the motherboard and couldn't be repaired.

Same problem.  C'mon Apple

Well i had a very long "back and forth" with apple support online. They were friendly enough but didn't really offer any concrete fix other then; Go to a Genius Bar. I kept thinking a new Update would resolve the problem but lost faith after the wait and other peoples experiences. So In the end i went to the genius bar, the ran a diagnostic and found there to be a hardware problem (big surprise). My only option because i bought the phone in another country and it was out of warranty was to pay for a replacement phone. My thought was why pay for a 2 year old phone so i traded it in (as-is) and got a new phone iPhone 6s. Im still out of pocket the cost difference.

Summary: My opinion on the fault is same as another poster above, there was probably a minor flaw or existing fault with the flash or camera unit. It still worked on IOS8, but the new Power saving options introduced on IOS9 caused a fault in the phone. But what bothers me still is that there was absolutely nothing wrong with my Old iPhone 5s and i would have kept in longer if not for this problem. So now im left wth the dilema, is it worth Upgrading a perfectly good working apple product...?

So, I took my phone apart - removed the ribbon cable for the camera and the battery and the camera is working again. Conclusively proving that this is not a hardware fault - but a software fault. Flash, Focusing/ no Rear facing camera all affected. Hopefully Apple can fix this in a future update, otherwise, it is possible to rectify by simply unplugging the battery and the camera. Simple steps are on iFixit, but I acknowledge that many people don't want to start taking their phones apart.

Thanks for the info.  Maybe I'll try the same thing, as it seems that Apple doesn't care about fixing this issue.  I better not say anything more, as my previous post was removed.     I DO appreciate all the posts & ideas.  I'll try anything to fix this issue, as my iPhone 6 Plus is less than 6 months old (I didn't put insurance on it, because I always take great care of my phones).

IF your phone is less then a year and old and you live in the US then you have apple care that will cover the whole repair for free, IF you live in Europe then you even have 2 years of warranty or apple care and they will take care of if for free,". Do not open your phon because it will void your warrent!! go to the Apple Store and they will take care of it. no extra insurance needed.