Apple introduced folder management back in June this year with the release of iOS 4. The feature let users organize the apps on their homescreen into folders for quick and easy access.
While this feature is without doubt very useful, a number of users have complained all along about a bug that causes folders to "disappear".
According to these users, folders ocassionally get deleted resulting in the applications cluttering the homescreen once again. The root cause for this bug is yet to be determined though users have noted that the bug primarily affects folders when the user is in the process of updating certain apps.
Apparently, the latest iOS update does not seem to have addressed the issue. Instead, we are hearing that the bug may have now spread to the iPad as well. A number of users who have updated their iPad to the latest iOS 4.2 software update have reported similar issues. It is worth noting that the new iOS 4.2 update brings a common platform to all iDevices and brought features like folder management and multitasking to the iPad.
While Apple is yet to offer any official resolution in this regard, some users have come up with possible fixes to the problem. Folks at TiPb point us to one such fix:
"Update all your applications, move them into folders and then sync your iPhone/iPad."
Do remember to update your iTunes to the latest version before trying out the fix. We would like to hear from our readers who have been affected by the issue. Does syncing your iPhone after updating all the apps solve the problem? Please tell us how this works in the comments below.
[via TiPb]
I put all my porn in one folder, and its there
I refuse to update. Simple as that.
Good thing i didnt update to 4.2 im still on 4.1 jailbroken, baseband 01.59.00 ready to unlock
Yeah I have not updated too. Still on 4.1 bb 05.11. Waiting for a more stable release.
I didn’t lose my folders, but I lost every single song, video, and movie off my device…
Why does not Apple test it and leave it to developers?
Just stay on 4.1 because 4.2 is not stable indeed and the changes are not that big
I too lost the folders. However, as I downloaded and reinstalled each app, all settings/scores/details that were applicable, all reappeared. INCLUDING my banking logins. So beware, deleting bank apps before you sell your used iphone, may not necessarily wipe out your info!
Me I got the same problem. I can`t get apps to the device (iphone4) from i tunes lib.
I also have disappearing folders on iOS 3.2.2/iOS 3.1.2 / iOS 4.1/iOS 4.2.1 etc… on my iPod’s and iPad’s.
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Always after my youngest kid (2y and a bit old) has played with it.
Otherwise, i’m glad i updated to 4.2.1 and never had the dissappearing folders on any of my iDevices (3 iPods and 2 iPads)
I jail-broke and unlocked my iPhone 32GB, 3GS using Redsn0w to update to 4.2.1 with a Modem Firmware of 16.15.00. I used Ultasn0w 1.2 to unlock. Everything seemed to be working fine except the icons for many of my installed apps were no longer visible on the springboard. I could however access them through the search mode. They were all there but not visible. I tried syncing with iTunes and reinstalling the apps from the App Store to no avail.
Approximately 6 hours later all my app icons spontaneously reappeared on my springboard. I have no idea what made them disappear initially, and I have no idea what made them reappear so suddenly after such a long time. I thought that they would be lost forever. If anyone has an idea as to why this happened I would certainly be interested in knowing. I am happy to say that everything is working great at the present time, and the update was successful.
Possibly that apps might be hidden using sbsettings, or u might have restored (reset) home screen layout.
Nope, not true for me, never had this issue of folder disappearing.
Mine is legitimate iphone 4, not hacked, not jailbroken.
I jailbroke my 3GS with iOS 3.?, and ever since iOS4, my folders disappear all the time. Same problem, when updating Apps.
I thought it was due to using the categories app while JailBroken, BUT, my wife JUST got an iPhone 4, that came with 4.2 out of the box, and her folders disappeared this morning. She said, “I understand how you feel now when your folders disappear. Mine did too this morning.”
Her phone has never been jailbroken. She has synced with iTunes several times.
Joey
My advice to anyone on 4.1, stick with it – DO NOT UPDATE! You have been warned.
Steve Jobs and his team of inept developers need a check up from the neck up. In fact I’ll rephrase that… Anyone that that owns an Apple device and puts up with this cr*p month on month needs a check up from the neck up. That includes me.
We should all bill Steve Jobs for the time wasted messing about with these stupid toys. Then when he doesn’t pay, get the debt collectors in!
BTW found this site today… let it go, just let it go!
http://ihatemyiphone.com/
The work-around/fix/resolve for this I found to work on my iPhone was:
* Lock the iPhone locked
* Attach it to the PC and let it perform an automatic sync
* Inside iTunes: Under Library>Apps, update all apps
* Perform another sync
* Disconnect iPhone
* Unlock your iPhone and see if everything is okay.
Good Luck!
u guy guess wat? just go to cydia then go to packages then check if u have more then one scrollbored then delete the one that most likely says bigboss then delete that one and the taadaa!! fixed folder!!! just make sure u dont delete the one that says IHR. enjoy!
Maybe this is related to moving apps around in folders through iTunes instead of using your thumb to drag them around on your phone. The reason I do that is because it’s so much easier to drag them around with the mouse in iTunes than to try to drag from screen to screen on the phone. But, if you do that then zap! your folders get all screwed up when you do an over the air update of your apps.
apple better fix this #*^x thing soon or I’m going to get an Android!!!!!!!!!
It’s still happening on IOS5. Just updated and lost most of my folder structure so my 600+apps are half invisible since they don’t fit on 11 pages whereas with the folder structure I had on ios4, they fit on 4 pages
I am hoping that its some kind of glitch, hopefully i can get back everything
I’m not sure if this will work for you, but I once read the problem is that the sync creates the folders at the wrong time but that if you kill the sync after the apps have sync’ed (you may even be able to let it run), then sync again, the apps will now have folders available to them and they will be placed in their previous folder. The best part of this story is that I tried this method and it worked like a charm. The bad part of the story is that it happened to me on my OS4.5 update tonight and the resync is not looking like it’s going to fix it this time…
Still happens for me.. Should have searched for this article before upgrading to 5.01 obviously. Over a year since this article..
Well, guess I know what to do for the rest of the evening trying to re-organize some 214 apps.
:=(