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Call Mute Issue Still Frustrating iPhone Owners, Unlikely to be Fixed in iOS 5.1

Call Mute Issue Still Frustrating iPhone Owners, Unlikely to be Fixed in iOS 5.1

The iPhone 4S wasn’t without its share of launch troubles. The complaints of poor battery life have been well reported in the media, but there is another equally frustrating bug for some 4S users: the call muting problem.

Darrell Etherington reports for GigaOm:

 The issue in question is when the iPhone 4S (and according to some reports, the iPhone 4, too) mutes all audio on the caller’s end when placing an outgoing voice call. The person on the other end of the line can hear everything just fine, but on the caller’s end, there’s no ringing sound and no audio from a recipient speaking.

It’s been a problem since the iPhone 4S came out, with most users reporting that it only affects a call every so often, with the majority of calls being placed without problem. In an era where data services are eclipsing voice services on mobile devices, the problem has perhaps understandably taken a backseat to more pressing complaints of battery life issues.

While the battery problem appears to be more widespread, the muting problem is not a minor source of complaints, with one Apple Support discussion about the bug now at 111 pages and rising.

While Apple’s iOS 5.1 release is currently in testing with developers, there is no indication from Apple that it will address the muting issue. The new release is said to address the battery life problem, although some initial reports claim it may not even be accomplishing that.

I myself have not had any problems with outgoing calls on my iPhone 4S, but I don’t make a lot of outgoing calls. When I do, it’s usually in my car using the Bluetooth speakerphone feature. (Using a Bluetooth headset or speaker has been suggested in the discussion pages as a workaround for the problem.)

Have any of you had a problem with the muting issue?