Restore Missing iPhone Applications after 3.0 Firmware Upgrade
I was excited like many others to get the new Apple iPhone firmware 3.0 update last week. Installation was not an issue for me, even after coming from a jailbroken 2G (original) iPhone. That is, until I started looking for some of my applications. For some odd reason, there were several of my applications that had just disappeared. I finally found a fix which I will go into in a second.
Here are some of the symptoms and things that I tried first (gathered from around the web and from my own experimentation):
- Could not locate via Spotlight search – searching for the name of the app showed no results. It just wasn’t there
- iTunes showed that it synced – my iTunes showed that the application(s) were supposed to be synced
- Delete and Re-download didn’t work – I removed the application from iTunes by unchecking the box next to it so ensure that it wouldn’t sync next time. Then I tried to download it via my iPhone. The application would start to download but would hang and never fully install
- Purchase “free” application – I read somewhere that if you purchased a free application and tried the syncing again, that your missing apps would magically appear. This didn’t work for me.
- Not 3.0 compatible – some people suggested that the applications were not 3.0 compatible yet. This wasn’t the case for me because I knew someone who was using the applications in question with 3.0 without any issues.
- On another page – some people found their “missing” applications on another page to the right of the home page. This was not my case either and those apps on a different page would have shown up via a Spotlight search
- Re-sync numerous times – that was just something that I kept doing with no luck
So, after testing out all of the items, doing reboots and soft-restarts, I finally tried what eventually ended up working. And, it is really easy!
The Fix for Missing Applications
Note: be sure you fully back up your iPhone before you do this.
All that you need to do to fix this issue is to go into Settings > General and scroll all the way to the bottom and click the “Reset” button. Once you are in the Reset screen click: “Reset All Settings“. You will get a couple of “Are you sure?” type of screens and if you have a pass code set up for your iPhone, you will have to enter that as well.
After you do the Reset, you will need to re-attach to iTunes and restore from your backup. Depending on the amount of data, photos, music, videos, applications, etc., this may take a while. After the sync is finished, you SHOULD have all of your missing applications back and hopefully in full working order.
Please leave a comment if this (or a different trick) worked for you so that others can learn.
Did you find this solution useful? If so:
HTD says: Remember, there are solutions out there. Don’t be too afraid to try different things and when you find a solution, be sure to share it with others!
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- iPhone Firmware 1.0.1 released
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Thank you! It worked!
Phew I almost tried this out of fear. Just goes to show you should pause and think about it first. Clicking “sync” in iTunes did it for me.
Phew I almost tried this out of fear. Just goes to show you should pause and think about it first. Clicking “sync” in iTunes did it for me.
hi. I am reading how to restore iphone apps icons after upgrading
Unfortunately one of the icons missing is my “settings” icon. It totally disappeared.
iphone mom
hi. I am reading how to restore iphone apps icons after upgrading
Unfortunately one of the icons missing is my “settings” icon. It totally disappeared.
iphone mom
I tried all of the things in your list before even resorting to a google search. I figured I must've missed something. This did the trick and took less than a minute. Thanks for the help! Woot!
YES!!! I've been struggling with this for months. So glad I saw your comment before I did something rash! Thank you!
i recently unlocked/jailbroke my iphone 3G, i had all my icons showing after the jailbreak/unlock, no problem. An hour later my ipod, mail, calculator icons werent showing/missing. i have tried resetting the home screen, going to settings-general-restriction-enable, then disable, but was unsuccessful. Please somebody help me!!
ya well i accidentally put all of my apps in the category folder and now none of my apps are not on the home screen. not even settings. all i have is two bookmarks on my home screen. how do i get them back
ya nvm i fixed it somehow. wut i did was put the two bookmarks in the bottom docks then it reset n got put in safety mode and i went to categories and removed all apps out of the folder n i fixed it. lol
YES the restrictions worked for me. FYI the app that was missing for me was Reqall.
Thanks for this short & simple instruction – it worked for me.
This worked great for me (and even gave me some apps back that i had lost when i got my phone unlocked, also by telia).
Took about 10 seconds to fix :)
I had the missing applications for most (all but two, i think) of my applications after restoring the last backup from my old iphone 3GS onto a replacement iphone after the original one stopped connecting to the telco network.
I tried the fixes suggested on this thread, but they didn't work. Hunting around for *.ipa, (on Vista), I found the apps under C:Users[NAME]MusiciTunesMobile Applications, and dragged them into the iTunes Applications folder (which was previously empty). From there it was a simple matter of synching the iphone, responding to the warning that all applications on the phone will be lost) and they are all now restored to the phone.
Hope this helps someone.
I found the ipa files of the apps still on my mac in the itunes/mobile applications folder. by opening these files from the folder they are directly imported to itunes and hence restored without any fuss…..
JW