Apple says it has fixed glitch that led to crashing apps
Server bug generated DRM code that caused some recently updated apps, including Instapaper, to crash when users tried to launch them.
Apple says it has resolved a problem that caused recently updated apps to crash when launched.
The company said in a statement that only a small number of users were affected by the glitch.
"We had a temporary issue that began yesterday with a server that generated DRM code for some apps being downloaded," Apple said. "The issue has been rectified and we don't expect it to occur again. Users who experienced an issue launching an app caused by this server bug can delete the affected app and re-download it."
The issue came to light yesterday when Marco Arment, the creator of Instapaper, reported that he was "deluged" by complaints from users who had downloaded Instapaper 4.2.3 and found that the app "crashed immediately" upon launch. The issue even occurred after users removed the application from their devices and reinstalled it with a clean version.
Upon inspection, Arment discovered that the culprit was a corrupt update of the app that Apple was distributing through its App Store. The update he had transmitted to Apple worked fine, so he contacted Apple about the issue, and soon a new, working update of his app was distributed.
Earlier today, Apple acknowledged the app update problem and told developers that should customers report problems with an app crashing, they could contact Apple directly to determine if the cause was an issue with the app or the App Store itself.