Apple’s iOS 7 Presents Problems for Square and Others

Square Inc. sent a notice to customers today warning that updating their iPhones and iPads to the latest version of the iOS operating system could prevent Square’s card reader from working properly.

The issue, which users can fix on their own, is a new privacy setting that controls which apps have access to the device’s microphone. Square’s plug-in card reader uses the device’s headphone jack to read swiped card payments.

According to Square, there are two ways to fix this problem. When the Square Register app first launches after iOS7 is installed, it will prompt the user for access to the microphone.  The user must approve access to use Square Register normally.

If the user denies access, Square Register won’t be able to read swiped cards. The second fix is to go into the device’s settings and adjust the privacy rules for microphone access from there. Square provides step-by-step instructions for this process on its website.

Other payment apps have fixed iOS 7 issues through software updates. PayPal Here, which is PayPal’s alternative to Square, pushed out an update on Sept. 25 with “critical fixes for iOS 7 compatibility,” according to its update notes. Shopkick, which relies on the device’s microphone to detect when a user has visited a merchant partner, published an update on Sept. 24 with “important bug fixes that improve walk-in detection for iOS 7 users,” its update notes say.