Customers furious with iPhone update

The Messages app has been redesigned to offer more expression options with the iOS 10 software update. Photo / AP

Apple customers are furious after the latest update to the operating software rendered their phones temporarily useless.

The company has been flooded with complaints when their phones were "bricked" after trying to install iOS 10.

The term "bricked" is used when phones cease to function and become as useful as a brick. While the problem is far from permanent, it has nevertheless annoyed customers who are reliant on their phones.

"We experienced a brief issue with the software update process, affecting a small number of users during the first hour of availability," Apple said in a statement.

"The problem was quickly resolved and we apologise to those customers. Anyone who was affected should connect to iTunes to complete the update or contact AppleCare for help."

Despite the seemingly easy fix, many of those affected took to social media to register their discontent and warn others of the issue.

iOS 10 update temporarily bricked my iPhone 6s Plus ... so yeah, I'd hold off on that. pic.twitter.com/qPFU1bpqZs

— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 13, 2016

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PHONE IS BRICKED

If you experienced the bricking problem, or perhaps encounter a similar issue in the future, here's what you should do:

1. Plug you iPhone into your laptop or desktop and open iTunes

2. Hold down the sleep and home buttons on your iPhone to reboot the handset. This is known as recovery mode

3. You should then see a prompt in iTunes that asks if you want to update or restore your device. Select update to continue the iOS 10 installation.

These three steps should allow you to set up your iPhone. If the update takes longer than 15 minutes, unplug it and start again.