How to Fix Common Issues for the IPhone and IPod Touch

The iPhone and iPod Touch are wonderful devices that can do so much for you. Almost everyone owns one nowadays. As users increased, so did a number of issues involving the use of these devices. Anyone may encounter these issues at some point, and it pays to know how to fix them even before they happen. I have compiled a small list of easy fixes here in this article, and I hope this will save you time and also keep you from resorting to sending the device back to Apple, when you can easily fix the issue yourself.

Issue 1: iPhone and iPod Touch stays forever on the Apple screen on start-up

Among the issues listed, this one is the toughest thing that could happen. Worse is that if you try searching this online, most of the posted steps to fix the issue are incorrect. In fact, it is easier to fix this issue than most have suggested. First of all, make sure your iPhone or iPod Touch has enough battery life (even with this issue, the device can still be charged). Open iTunes on your computer. Then while the device is off, press and keep holding the home button (i.e. the lone button at the front). While still held down, plug the iPhone or iPod Touch to your computer. Don’t let go of the button until the screen changes to a restore mode. There should appear a command prompt in iTunes that that will require confirmation for a system restore. There’s no need to worry about losing any data if you recently synced your device. And all the while you thought you couldn’t fix it yourself!

How to Fix: While turned off, plug the iPhone or iPod Touch to iTunes, simultaneously while pressing and holding the home button.

Issue 2: A recently downloaded app cannot be found in any of your iPhone’s screens/pages

It’s actually amusing that some people who have encountered this have voiced this issue in the App’s comments section in iTunes blaming the developer and wanting their money back. Actually, the truth is, the app has been downloaded and installed on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Note that the iPhone and iPod Touch have a search screen (which wasn’t among its original features) that can be accessed by either pressing the home button twice, or flicking to the left of the first page/screen. If you type the app’s name in the search field, that app would surely show up. Apparently, the issue here isn’t the app or iTunes, but simply that the current installed apps have exceeded 11 pages/screens on your iPhone or iPod Touch, which is the current maximum. To fix this issue, you basically have to delete enough apps to have space for that app you just downloaded. If your device is plugged in iTunes, it can also be seen that your app is located in a greyed page. Those grey pages are the invisible pages.

How to Fix: Delete/uninstall apps from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Issue 3: An app constantly crashes

There are several situations why this would occur. For some, you can fix, and for others, you’re better off waiting for an update. The universally accepted fix for this issue is to give your iPhone or iPod Touch a hard reset. A hard reset is done by pressing and holding both the sleep/wake and home buttons simultaneously until it turns off. That’s an instant fix!

How to Fix: Do a hard reset on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Issue 4: The category “Other” in your iPod Touch’s disk space breakdown is suspiciously too large

There may come time when you start wondering why your free space is smaller than what it should be. When you plug your iPhone or iPod Touch in iTunes, you notice at the bottom of the screen that the orange bar is consuming way too much space. How much is too much space? For an 8GB iPod Touch, if your “Other” category consumes more than 1GB, then that’s too much space. To fix this issue, you have to do a restore of your device.

How to Fix: Sync, back-up your iPhone or iPod Touch then restore it to factory settings.

Issue 5: An App’s update does not show up in iTunes

This issue only occurs for people with multiple accounts. There may be a time when you hear from a gaming website about the latest update to an app, and when you go ahead and click “Updates Available” from the Apps tab in iTunes, it doesn’t show up. The issue here is you are currently logged in to the wrong account. To fix this, log in to that account which purchased that app. Notice that I wrote iTunes instead of iPhone or iPod Touch in the subheading. This is because when accessing the Updates tab from the device’s App Store, it lists all available updates for all your installed apps. However, you would still run in to this issue. Keep in mind that you still have to log in to the corresponding account before you can actually download and install the update on your iPhone, iPod Touch, and even iPad.

How to Fix: Log on to the account which purchased the app.

You can certainly point out an issue I missed, but from my research and personal experience, these appear to be among the top of issues, which you think are serious, but you can actually fix by yourself. Truth be told, you can actually personally fix almost any issue that you may encounter. Feel free to pass along the knowledge to fellow iPhone and iPod Touch owners.

Be your own repair man. Fix away!

Note: This is part 2 of an on-going series of useful articles for iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad owners. Part 1 is an introduction to the App Store.