Fix That Crashing iPhone/iTouch – A Beginners Guide

Matt Petch — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:51:33 +0000

There is no need to put up with the frustration of a crashing iPhone or iPod Touch. If your device is starting to crash or it has crashed on a grand scale and is no longer responding, try the following options. Your device should be working like new in no time.

Reboot

Often all that is required is a simple reboot. Your iPhone/Touch is really just a pocket computer. Like all computers if you never turn it off or restart it, problems can develop. This is possibly the the most common cause of iPhone/Touch problems. In normal operation your device is constantly switched on. When you press the power button at the top or when it appears to turn its self off It is actually just going into standby mode mode. This is so that it can jump into life again the moment you want to use it. To restart your device simply hold down the power button at the top until a red slider appears. Drag the slider to completely turn off your device. Don’t worry all of your data will be retained. Turn it back on by holding the power button again for a second or two. Be aware that its quite normal for your device to take a minute or so to start up from cold.

Force Quit

So what do you do if you’re in the middle of using your favorite app and suddenly it just stops responding? It wont scroll, the buttons wont work and even the main home button of your device wont take you back to the home screen. If an app just stops responding hold down the home button for six or seven seconds. This is the iphone equivalent of the Force Quit on a Mac or End Task on Windows.

Forced Restart

Sometimes a crash can be so severe that your device completely locks up. Fortunately there is a way of forcing it to restart. Hold down the power button as above but this time hold the home button at the same time until you see an Apple logo appear. This will actually force the machine to completely restart which will again take a minute or so.

Replace a troublesome application

If you have completely restarted your device but there is still one particular application that insists on crashing, you could try replacing it with a fresh copy. Make sure you have previously synced your device (before your app became troublesome) so you have a copy of all your app’s in iTunes. Delete the troublesome app by holding your finger down on it until it starts to jiggle. Tap the x that appears in the top left corner of the icon. The app has now been deleted and can be replaced with the copy in iTunes on your computer (You had previously synced your device hadn’t you?). Plug your device into your computer and wait for iTunes to open. In iTunes click your device icon in the column on the left; then click the Applications tab in the main window. Make sure the app you deleted from your device is selected for syncing then hit the Sync button in the bottom right. A new version of the app will be coped from your iTunes library and loaded onto your device.

Replacing your settings

No amount of restarting will help if it’s the actual data on your device that is corrupt. Luckily Apple has provided a way to replace key data. Open the settings app and select General.Scroll down to the bottom and select Reset. The first two items in the resulting list are Reset All Settings and Erase All Content and Settings. Ignore the other four items. Settings are all the ways in which you have customised the device for your own use and content is the media and data you have loaded on to it. Resetting settings will restore your device to its initial condition but keep all of the media you have added to it. Erase all content and Settings will completely remove everything leaving your device with just its Operating system and default apps, as when purchased. If you now re sync your device with your computer it will be populated with a nice fresh copy of your content.

Restore

If you are still experiencing problems it could be time to wipe the slate clean and start again. iTunes provides an option to completely remove all data from your device, including the operating system, then replace it with a fresh copy. Plug your device into your computer and wait for it to do a final sync and backup. Select your device in the left hand column. Make sure the summary tab is selected in the main screen and click on Restore. iTunes will now download the latest operating system and restore your device to its original factory settings. At this stage you will be asked if you wish to restore your iPhone or iPod Touch as new or restore all of the data and settings from the backup. There is of course a risk that restoring the data from the backup will reload corrupted data on to your device but it is probably easier to try this option first. If you still experience problems simply perform the operation again, but this time chose to set up as new.

I do hope this information has helped you restore your iPhone/Touch back to the smooth running device it was when you first starting using it. I welcome comments, additions or corrections.

AppleTap » problems

Fix That Crashing iPhone/iTouch – A Beginners Guide

Related posts