iOS 18.4 is redownloading long deleted iPhone apps for some
by https://www.facebook.com/dujkan, Christian Zibreg · iDownloadBlog.comiOS 18.4 is redownloading long deleted iPhone apps for some
Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2025
For some iPhone owners, a bug in Apple’s latest iOS 18.4 software update seems to be redownloading long forgotten, previously deleted apps.
Complaints on the Apple Support Community forums and Reddit (threads 1, 2, 3 and 4) describe the issue that appears for some iPhone owners after updating their device to iOS 18.4, released on April 1, 2025. In many cases, users are greeted with apps on their Home Screen that they previously deleted, some dating back years.
To be clear, the bug does not cause iPhones to download apps the user has never downloaded before. Instead, it appears to simply resurrect some of the previously downloaded apps deleted months or years ago. For context, everything you download on your iPhone is stored in your App Store history, which is tied to your Apple account, enabling you to easily redownload any app from your history.
iOS 18.4 redownloading long deleted iPhone apps
The bug doesn’t seem to be connected to the automatic downloads option in Settings > App Store, which ensures that all installed apps are automatically kept up-to-date. It’s also unrelated to a similar option that automatically downloads apps purchased on other Apple devices because some of the affected iPhone owners that complained about this issue don’t own another Apple device.
MacRumors highlighted the issue, saying the bug affects iPhone owners who have never jailbroken their device or used an alternative marketplace outside of the App Store. It also affects apps that the user has only trialed.
Some people report that certain redownloaded apps show the Get instead of the redownload button (the cloud icon), indicating the user has never downloaded this app. However, this can happen when the developer releases a major new version as a new app while leaving the old version as a separate download for compatibility.
It’s unclear what percentage of iPhone owners who installed iOS 18.4 is affected. Apple has not commented on the issue, and probably won’t because there’s no harm for the user. If you see some long forgotten apps on your Home Screen after installing iOS 18.4, simply delete them and you’ll be fine.
My iPhone functions normally after updating to iOS 18.4, but I have this bug on my Apple TV. Yesterday, I was confused to find some of the previously deleted apps reappearing on the Home Screen of my Apple TV. I didn’t think much of it because it was too late, but this started happening soon after I installed tvOS 18.4.
Since Apple blogs have spotlighted this bug, Apple will probably include a fix for it in a future update to iOS. Watch this space, as we’ll keep you looped in.