A NUMBER of iPhone owners are having to fend off their storage space from zombie apps after updating their devices.
Long-deleted platforms have mysteriously reappeared on home screens due to a bug in the latest iOS 18.4 update.
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Several posts on Reddit and Apple’s Community Support forum over the past 24 hours have been flooded with reports from affected users.
They say third-party apps and games have cropped up on their handsets without actively downloading them.
According to reports, these apps appeared suddenly after installing the iOS 18.4 update that was released on Monday.
In most cases, it appears these resurrected apps are ones that had been deleted by the users months or even years ago.
“I just updated my phone to iOS 18.4 and this game [Ingress] installed with OS,” one person wrote on Reddit.
“I do not play games on my phone except chess… How is this possible.”
Another replied, saying: “I also had the issue. For me it was the game Last War.
“This behaviour is extremely weird… I can’t imagine Apple purposefully installing games after an iOS update.”
While a third person added: “This happened to me. I got Cooking Mama added to my home screen.
“What’s weird is that looking at the App Store, Cooking Mama shows “Get” instead of the redownload button.
“So according to the App Store, I’ve never owned it but it appeared on my device.”
The behavior doesn’t seem to be related to Apple’s Automatic Downloads option, MacRumors reported.
This is the setting that automatically downloads apps purchased on other Apple devices.
However, many affected users say they only own one Apple device – making a glitch in the Automatic Downloads feature unlikely.
The glitch also does not appear to be a result of a jailbroken iPhone or using a third-party app store.
It’s unclear how many users are affected.
Though most affected users have deleted the reappearing apps again – they could become a nuisance by eating into storage space.
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best…
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
