Why Some iOS Versions May Avoid Showing 69 Degrees in iPhone Weather App

While some early speculation saw assumptions that this was part of a censorship effort, the leading theory now has experts looking in another direction.

July 14, 2021

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Is there, as some activity on your timeline this week may have suggested, a war being waged against the versatile numeric pairing of 69?

As best as a number of experts on the matter can tell, most likely not. Still, the mysterious disappearing act of the ‘69’ temperate reading in the iPhone Weather app for some iOS users has inspired equal parts predictable jokes and understandable concern.

Indeed, as 9to5Mac’s Michael Potuck reported on Tuesday, the timeless number recently started being hidden in the iOS default Weather app. While those using iOS 15 beta are able to get a 69 when meteorologically accurate, some using iOS 14.6 and earlier were getting readings in the app in which the number was rounded up or down.

In a prior report from the Verge’s Chaim Gartenberg, the 69 issue was further detailed alongside the disclaimer that it wasn’t currently clear whether this was due to “a bug or an intentional attempt from Apple to cut down on 69-related humor.”

The latter option, however, is unlikely. As many have since convincingly theorized on Twitter and beyond, the Apple team may have been pulling data in Celsius and converting to Fahrenheit, causing rounded numbers.

Complex has reached out to Apple for comment.

The iOS 15 general public launch is slated for later this year. The latest operating system was first announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference back in June.