iOS14 bug is ruining the app — What to Do Now

iOS14 bug is ruining the app — What to Do Now

Have you upgraded to iOS 14? If you're like us, you're probably already experiencing some growing pains. You don't want to update your phone on day one and get a new digital treat.

The default app setting in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 is one of the most welcome new options in the OS, even if it is limited to just picking a new default email app and web browser app. Unfortunately, there is a glitch in this feature that breaks this functionality.

I don't know how often you reboot your phone. For me, it's only when something isn't working right (more on that later) or when the battery is empty.

However, when the iPhone restarts, any default app settings that you have saved (e.g., pivoting from Mail to Outlook or Safari to Chrome) are reverted to the Apple stock app.

I expect this to be fixed in iOS 14.1, or any next update. This is far from how this feature should work.

Annoyingly, there is currently no solution to this problem. Check out our guide to changing the default browser in iOS 14 for more information.

Last night I ran into a particularly frustrating bug that prevented me from using the search function on my iPhone. Pulling the home screen down to reveal the search field didn't help, as the iOS keyboard didn't show up.

Frustratingly, the only solution to this problem was to restart the iPhone (hold down the lock and volume up buttons, slide the power off switch, and turn the iPhone on while holding down the lock button).

As explained above, this will erase the default apps. Annoying, isn't it?

As you can see below, the App Store is not working properly on iOS 14. My colleague Kate Kozuch shared a recording of what happened on her iPhone when she tried to update the app. I, too, have seen this issue when trying to update an app (or simply downloading it for the first time).

Kate's solution? Keep updating the app. I did that when I first tried to download the app for the first time.

But when I needed to update the app this morning and noticed that the "Update All" button in the App Store wasn't working, I found another way.

The first thing I did to fix things was to try installing the apps one at a time. But when I ran into that error again, another solution I found was to open the app before trying to update it again.

Opening the app could solve the problem because the first time the update failed, the app in question showed a blue dot (indicating an updated app). When the app is opened, that button disappears and may tell iOS that this app is ready for an update.

Overall, these minor and annoying growing pains remind me why I tell my parents to wait a while (at least until the first .1 or .3 update) to update their phones. I know that when you download new software on release day, bugs are bound to follow and I would rather wait than troubleshoot.

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